Clay tiles bearing kanji inscriptions unearthed at the site of Asukadera, thought to be Japan's first genuine Buddhist temple, have been placed on display for public viewing until 13 September in the Exhibition Room of the Fujiwara Imperial Site in the city of Kashihara, part of the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties.

The tiles are thought to date between the end of the 6th century and the early 7th century, around the time of the temple’s founding, and the kanji inscriptions are some of the oldest examples of their kind discovered in Japan. Kanji are adopted Chinese characters used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana and katakana.

The tiles include one inscribed with the character for “flight,” which is the first character representing the name “Asuka” and could be the oldest written material to refer to the temple. Haruyuki Tono, a professor of ancient Japanese history at Nara University, said, “The second kanji meaning ‘bird’ in the word ‘Asuka’ has not been confirmed, but the tile could be the oldest written record that refers to Asuka with a combination of the ‘flight’ kanji and this second one.” (The Asahi Shimbun)

Two other characters read “megawara,” meaning “flat tile,” and three characters read “shirakabe,” thought to be the name of an artisan’s group or clan. There are also three characters that could denote the rank of a monk, four identical characters meaning “many,” and two identical characters meaning “name”—possibly etched by someone practicing their handwriting.

The temple complex is located in the village of Asuka in Nara Prefecture. Founded in 588, about 60 years after the introduction of Buddhism to Japan, Asukadera was Japan's first full-scale temple. Unfortunately, the original buildings were lost to fires and earthquakes, and the existing structures date back to 1632 and 1826. Previous buildings included a pagoda and a large auditorium.