Nara was the cap­i­tal of Japan from 710 to 784. Dur­ing this peri­od the frame­work of nation­al gov­ern­ment was con­sol­i­dat­ed and Nara enjoyed great pros­per­i­ty, emerg­ing as the foun­tain­head of Japan­ese cul­ture. The city‘s his­toric mon­u­ments — Bud­dhist tem­ples, Shin­to shrines and the exca­vat­ed remains of the great Impe­r­i­al Palace — pro­vide a vivid pic­ture of life in the Japan­ese cap­i­tal in the 8th cen­tu­ry, a peri­od of pro­found polit­i­cal and cul­tur­al change.