Nukataji Temple Basket with Rows of Stripes (Hemp Cloth)

Nukatadera Garan narabini Jōrizu: An 8th-Century Map Woven on Hemp

Deep within the climate-controlled galleries of the National Museum of Japanese History in Sakura, Chiba Prefecture, lies one of the most extraordinary cartographic survivals of ancient East Asia. The Nukatadera Garan narabini Jōrizu (額田寺伽籃並条里図)—literally, "Map of the Precincts of Nukatadera Temple and the Surrounding Jōri Grid"—is an immense picture-map painted on four joined panels of hemp cloth, created in the late Nara period (8th century). Designated a National Treasure of Japan in 1977, it is the only surviving hemp-cloth jōri map in existence that was not transmitted through the Tōdaiji tradition, making it an utterly singular window into the landscape, land management, and religious architecture of ancient Japan.

For visitors fascinated by world cartographic history—from medieval European mappae mundi to the great Chinese stone-engraved maps—this piece of hemp fabric, roughly the size of a modern dining table, is a revelation. It shows a real Japanese landscape as it looked more than 1,250 years ago, drawn by people who actually lived there.

Historical Background

The map depicts a precinct of Yamato Province (present-day Nara Prefecture) centered on Nukatadera, an ancestral temple of the powerful Nukatabe clan, who held lands near the confluence of the Hasegawa and Saho Rivers. This low-lying basin was a strategic node in ancient Japan, where river traffic from the port of Naniwa (modern Osaka) funneled upstream toward the capital. The Nukatabe clan's prestige is reflected in the scale and care of their family temple.

The map itself is thought to have been produced close to the Tenpyō-hōji era (757–765), based on the names of individuals inked into its margins as notes. This dates it to the same cultural moment that produced the great Buddhist monuments of Nara—Tōdaiji, the Great Buddha, and the treasures of the Shōsōin repository. It was made not as a decorative object but as a legal and administrative document: a record of the temple's landholdings, used to defend the boundaries of temple property and to manage its agricultural revenue.

The temple it portrays, Nukatadera, survives today in greatly reduced form as Kakuanji Temple in Yamato-Kōriyama City, Nara. Tradition associates its origin with Prince Shōtoku's learning hall of Kumagori Shōja, though modern scholarship treats this linkage with caution. The map captures the temple at the height of its 8th-century prosperity, before the slow attrition of medieval warfare and temple decline.

Why It Was Designated a National Treasure

The Nukatadera Garan narabini Jōrizu was designated a National Treasure on June 11, 1977. Several features of the map elevate it above all other ancient Japanese maps:

• It is the only surviving hemp-cloth jōri-system map that was transmitted through a lineage other than Tōdaiji, giving scholars an entirely independent reference point for the study of ancient Japanese cartography.
• It preserves a fine-grained record of the jōri land-division grid in Heguri District of Yamato Province—specifically the 9th jō 3rd and 4th ri, and the 10th jō 3rd and 4th ri—rendered in the distinctive zigzag (chidori-shiki) plot-numbering system.
• It provides the clearest surviving plan of Nukatadera's temple complex, drawn in a Daianji-type layout with detailed halls, pagodas, gates, and auxiliary buildings highlighted in vermilion and black ink.
• Boundary markers (kekkai-seki) are marked at key points around the temple's landholdings, and marginal notes record land-use categories and areas, showing that the map functioned as a practical legal document.
• The impression of the "Yamato Province Seal" (Yamato-no-Kuni in) stamped across the surface confirms its official, government-recognized status.

Highlights and What to Look For

When facing the map—whether in its rare original showings or, far more commonly, in the museum's excellent full-size facsimile and digital displays—there are several things worth looking for.

The Grid of Ancient Land Ownership

The gridded squares covering most of the surface are the jōri system: a Chinese-inspired land-division scheme imposed on agricultural Japan from the 7th and 8th centuries onward. Each large block measures approximately six chō on a side (about 650 meters), divided internally into plots (tsubo). Reading the grid is like reading the DNA of ancient Japanese agriculture.

The Temple at the Heart of the Map

In the lower center, Nukatadera's buildings are drawn in small but precise elevation. The layout follows the Daianji style, with pagoda and main hall arranged around a cloister. The vermilion ink on the pillars and eaves contrasts vividly with the cool tones of the surrounding landscape.

Mountains, Rivers, and Sacred Boundaries

Around the grid, look for stylized hills, meandering rivers, and small stone markers (kekkai-seki) that demarcated the edges of sacred temple land. These are the earliest known pictorial representations of such boundary-stones in Japan.

The Red Seals of Office

Repeated across the entire surface of the map are the square red impressions of the Yamato Province Seal. Their measured cadence turns the map into both a landscape and a legal instrument.

Visitor Information

The National Museum of Japanese History (愛称"Rekihaku") sits within the grounds of the former Sakura Castle, a scenic and easily accessible location in Chiba Prefecture, about an hour from central Tokyo. Because the original hemp-cloth map is extremely fragile and light-sensitive, it is ordinarily stored in climate-controlled archives rather than on permanent display. Visitors usually encounter the work through a meticulously produced full-size facsimile and through the museum's excellent high-resolution digital galleries. Occasional special exhibitions bring the original out under strict preservation conditions—check the museum's website before your visit.

Beyond this single treasure, the museum's six themed galleries cover the whole sweep of Japanese history, from prehistory to the present day, in one of the country's largest historical collections.

Opening Hours

March through September: 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM. October through February: 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM. Final admission is 30 minutes before closing. Closed on Mondays (or the following weekday if Monday is a national holiday) and during the New Year period (December 27 to January 4).

Admission

General admission is 900 yen for adults and 500 yen for university students. High school students and younger are admitted free of charge. Holders of disability certificates and one accompanying caregiver enter free of charge. Special exhibitions may carry separate fees.

Access

From Tokyo Station, take the JR Sōbu Main Line rapid service to Sakura Station (approximately 60 minutes), then a local bus for about 15 minutes. Alternatively, take the Keisei Main Line from Keisei Ueno to Keisei Sakura Station (about 55 minutes by limited express), followed by a 15-minute walk or a 5-minute bus ride. A free parking lot is available for those arriving by car.

Surrounding Attractions

The museum is a gateway to a remarkable cluster of heritage sites around Sakura City. Immediately adjacent lies Sakura Castle Park, a beautifully preserved former Edo-period castle site famous for its cherry blossoms in spring and a spectacular plum garden in late winter. A short walk leads to the Sakura Samurai Residences (Bukeyashiki), three preserved samurai houses open to the public that offer a vivid sense of life in a castle town. The Kusunoki-tei tea house and the DIC Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art—one of Japan's finest private modern art collections, set in beautiful gardens—are also within easy reach. For those who wish to extend the historical journey to where the map itself originated, Kakuanji Temple in Yamato-Kōriyama, Nara—the modern descendant of ancient Nukatadera—remains a quiet pilgrimage destination and houses an Important Cultural Property seated Amida Buddha.