Kawara-dera Temple Site (Gufuku-ji Temple)

One of Asuka's four great temples

This is the site of a temple once counted among the four great temples of Asuka, along with Asuka-dera, Yakushi-ji and Daikandai-ji.

It is thought to have been built by Emperor Tenji on the site of Empress Saimei's Kawara Palace, to pray for the soul of his mother, Empress Saimei. No reliable record of the year it was founded survives.

One pagoda, two golden halls

The temple's distinctive feature is its layout. Through the middle gate, the central golden hall stood straight ahead, and in front of it the pagoda on the east faced a second golden hall (the west golden hall) on the west. A pagoda and a golden hall standing as a pair is a layout found nowhere else in Japan.

Asuka-dera had one pagoda and three golden halls, Yamada-dera one pagoda and one golden hall, and Kawara-dera one pagoda and two golden halls. Every temple in Asuka was laid out differently, showing that Japanese temple architecture was still searching for its form.

The foundation stones have been laid out for visitors, so you can walk around and trace the positions and sizes of the buildings.

Foundation stones of "agate"

The foundation stones of the central golden hall were made of menō (agate), described as a kind of marble. It is a special stone not used at any other temple in Asuka.

This is taken as a sign that the temple was founded at an emperor's wish.

Gufuku-ji

In one corner of the site stands Gufuku-ji, which carries on the temple's lineage. It belongs to the Buzan school of Shingon Buddhism.

Kawara-dera was not moved to the new capital at Heijō-kyō (Nara) but stayed in Asuka, carrying on and shrinking over time through fires in the Kamakura period (1185–1333) and other events. Of Asuka's four great temples, only this one and Asuka-dera survived as temples on their original sites.

Visiting

On 26 July 2026 it was inscribed as a World Heritage Site, as one of the components of "Asuka-Fujiwara: Archaeological Sites of Japan's Ancient Capitals and Related Properties."

Right by the "Kawahara" stop on the Asuka loop bus from Kintetsu Kashiharajingu-mae Station. There is no charge to see the temple site.

Tachibana-dera is just to the south across the road, so the two temple sites face each other. Walk along the Asuka River and you will reach the Asuka Palace site and Amakashi Hill.