Centralization and State Formation in Sixth- and Seventh-Century Japan

This chapter examines the process of centralization and state formation in Japan during the sixth and seventh centuries, a span of time incorporating the conclusion of Japan's final archaeological era, the Kofun period (250-600 ce), and the start of Japan's first historical period, the Age of Reform (c. 552-710 ce). A number of key events accelerated the political reform process, including the adoption of Buddhism in the mid-sixth century and the related political upheaval that led to the prominence of the Soga clan; court restructuring during the reign of the monarch Suiko and the regency of Prince Shotoku. Japan's sixth-century confederacy, led by the Yamato uji (clan), extended from central Honshu to Kyushu and comprised territories dominated by aristocratic uji. The Suiko reign (592-628) became an era of great social and political development in Japan. It began during the time of the powerful Sui dynasty (581-618), the centralized Chinese state that united northern and southern China after centuries of disunion.