Kitora is a small, round burial mound on a hillside in Asuka, the cradle of the Japanese state, south of Nara. From the outside, it looks like a grassy hump, unremarkable. Inside, when researchers inserted a fibre-optic camera in 1983, they found a stone chamber painted with some of the most extraordinary images in Japanese art: the four guardian animals of the cardinal directions, the black tortoise-snake of the north, the blue dragon of the east, the white tiger of the west and the red phoenix of the south, along with figures of the twelve zodiac animals with human bodies, and on the ceiling an astronomical chart showing the constellations, one of the oldest such star charts in the world. The tomb dates from the late seventh or early eighth century, and its occupant remains unknown. To preserve them, the paintings were removed from the walls and restored, and some are displayed at the Shijin no Yakata, a museum built next to the tomb.
Asuka was the seat of the imperial court in the sixth and seventh centuries, when Buddhism arrived from Korea and China, and Japan adopted Chinese-style government, writing and culture. The area is full of traces of that time: temples, palace sites, mysterious stone sculptures like the Sakafune-ishi and the Kame-ishi, and other painted tombs, including Takamatsuzuka, opened in 1972 with paintings of court ladies.
The landscape is gentle and rural, with rice fields, persimmon orchards and low wooded hills, and in early autumn red spider lilies bloom along the edges of the paddies. Asuka has strict regulations to preserve its historic landscape, so there are no high buildings and little development.
The roads around Asuka are narrow and quiet, winding through fields and villages. The area is popular with cyclists, and you can rent bicycles in the village, which is a good way to explore the scattered sites. On a motorcycle, the roads south into the Yoshino mountains, famous for their cherry blossoms, offer more challenge, with tight bends through cedar forests.
Kashihara, Gose and Sakurai, all about seven kilometres away, have fuel, convenience stores and restaurants. The best seasons are spring and autumn. Try kakinoha-zushi, sushi wrapped in persimmon leaves, a speciality of the Nara region.