NARA PERIOD: The period in Japanese history during which imperial CHINA had its greatest impact on the country. The Nara period (645-794 A.D.) was marked by the TAIKA REFORM (645), in which a centralized bureaucratic government was adopted, based on the Chinese model, the establishment of the first permanent capital at Nara (710), and the establishment of BUDDHISM as the state religion (741). Among the great monuments of this period is the TODAI-JI TEMPLE. (See also Japan article).
