The work that sustained Heijō-kyō

A city and its government precinct

Wooden labels excavated at Heijō palace record supplies from the provinces. Officials and workers required food whose contents and origins could be checked. Founded as a capital in 710, Heijō-kyō depended on production and transport linking provincial communities with the gridded town and its northern administrative compound.

Major avenues divided the city and established ceremonial approaches. Left and right were named from the ruler’s south-facing position, reversing the intuitive reading of a north-up map. Urban organisation expressed a political viewpoint as well as a street grid.

Receiving supplies and administering them

Offices needed to record the types and origins of arriving goods. Wooden tablets served as labels and administrative records. Writing, counting and storing were everyday tasks behind monumental gates, connecting provincial supplies to the offices receiving them.

Officials and workers needed food, and buildings needed repair. Concentrating supplies supported the capital while imposing work on the places providing them. Origins written on tablets make the connections between provincial production, transport and central activity tangible.

Moving capitals and altered buildings

From 740 the political centre moved among Kuni, Naniwa and Shigaraki before returning in 745. The Daigokuden was dismantled and moved during these changes, and a later hall stood elsewhere at Heijō. The two sites do not represent two halls planned for simultaneous use: they record relocation and reorganisation.

After the move to Nagaoka in 784, the land and temples continued their own histories. Modern reconstructions interpret foundations and documents. Streets, tablets and layouts together reveal an administrative city linked to wider regions, even where its timber buildings are gone.

Before and after

1. 710

   Move from Fujiwara-kyō to Heijō-kyō.

2. 740

   Move to Kuni-kyō.

3. 745

   Return to Heijō-kyō.

4. 784

   Move to Nagaoka-kyō.

Key terms

Heijō Palace

The compound containing imperial residence, ceremonial and administrative spaces.

Suzaku Avenue

The main north–south avenue of the capital.

Left and right districts

District names based on an emperor facing south.

What supports the account?

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