Taika (大化) was a Japanese era name (年号, nengō) during the reign of Kōtoku. The Taika era immediately preceded the Hakuchi era. This period spanned the years from August 645 through February 650.
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👉 Taika (era) in the context of Taika Reform
The Taika Reforms (大化の改新, "Taika no Kaishin; Reformation of Taika") were a set of doctrines established by Emperor Kōtoku (孝徳天皇 Kōtoku tennō) in the year 645. They were written shortly after the death of Prince Shōtoku and the defeat of the Soga clan (蘇我氏 Soga no uji), uniting Japan. The reforms also artistically marked the end of the Asuka period and the beginning of the Hakuhō period. Crown Prince Naka no Ōe (the future Emperor Tenji), Nakatomi no Kamatari, and Emperor Kōtoku jointly embarked on the details of the Reforms. Emperor Kōtoku then announced the era of "Taika" (大化), or "Great Reform".
The Reform began with land reform, based on Confucian ideas and philosophies from Tang China, but the true aim of the reforms was to bring about greater centralization and to enhance the power of the imperial court, which was also based on the governmental structure of China. Envoys and students were dispatched to China to learn seemingly everything from the Chinese writing system, literature, religion, and architecture, to even dietary habits at this time. Even today, the impact of the reforms can still be seen in contemporary Japanese cultural life.
In this Dossier
- ⭐ Core Definition: Taika (era)
- 👉 Taika (era) in the context of Taika Reform
- Taika (era) in the context of Kami (official)
Taika (era) in the context of Kami (official)
Kokushi (国司; also read Kuni no tsukasa) were provincial officials in Classical Japan. They were nobles sent from the central government in Kyoto to oversee a province, a system that was established as part of the Taika Reform in 645, and enacted by the Ritsuryō system. There were four classes of kokushi, from the highest to the lowest: Kami (守), Suke (介), Jō (掾), and Sakan (目). In the Middle Ages, an acting governor called mokudai, the daikan of the kokushi, took over the local government of the province, while the kokushi returned to the capital to take on a supervising role.
View the full Wikipedia page for Kami (official)