Shōda temple ruins
The is an archaeological site with the ruins of a Hakuho period Buddhist temple located in the Shōda neighbourhood of what is now Naka-ku in the city of Okayama, in the San'yō region of Japan. The temple no longer exists, but the temple grounds were designated as a National Historic Site in 1972. History The Shōda temple ruins are located northeast of the city center of Okayama, at the southern foot of Mount Tatsunokuchi. It has been known for a long time that there is a temple site here, as fragments of roof tiles have often been found, but the name of the temple is unknown as there are no records. It is presumed to be a temple associated with the Kibi-no-Kamimichi clan, a powerful family in the ancient Kingdom of Kibi. Around this site, there are several kofun such as the Tojinzuka Kofun, as well as the ruins of the Bizen Kokufu and the Hata temple ruins, and the surrounding area was one of the centers of ancient Kibi into the Nara period. A small hall was originally built on this location in the first half of the 7th century. A full-fledged temple was built in the Asuka period