Few places in Japan can claim as much early history as the plain of Asuka, in the south of the Nara basin. In the seventh century, before Nara or Kyoto existed, the court moved from place to place, and for much of that century the centre of power was here. The Asuka Palace Site, also called Itabuki, was the residence of several sovereigns, and the building was reworked more than once. In 645, in the audience hall of this palace, the court strongman Soga no Iruka was cut down in front of the empress by Prince Naka no Oe and Nakatomi no Kamatari, an assassination that opened the way to the Taika reforms, the first attempt to build a centralised state on the Chinese model.
Today the site is a large, quiet field, with pale gravel marking the lines of the posts and low platforms showing where the halls once stood. It is not dramatic, and it asks for a little imagination, but the setting does a lot. The hills of Asuka rise on all sides, with small green mountains and neat terraced rice fields, and on a clear day the three Yamato mountains, Unebi, Miminashi and Kagu, appear in the distance. In spring, fields of yellow rapeseed and pink cherry trees appear along the lanes, and in September the red spider lilies bloom along the rice paddies.
The riding is small-scale and slow. The lanes of Asuka are narrow, winding and often shared with cyclists, since renting a bicycle is the favourite way to see the village, and signposts in English are limited. The prefectural roads around the district connect Sakurai and Kashihara, both substantial towns of over sixty thousand and over a hundred thousand people respectively, so fuel, convenience stores and restaurants are available within a short distance. Within Asuka itself, there is little more than a few shops and cafés.
Japanese traffic rules, with driving on the left, strict speed limits and polite but firm enforcement, apply, and farm trucks are common. Rain in the early summer, from June to July, can last for days, and summers are hot and humid. Spring and autumn are the best times.
Many of the places in Asuka are linked by a short loop, and a few hours are enough to cover the main ones, though the best advice is to take your time and let the landscape do its work.