Due to the retirement of the website administrator, this site was moved from Kyoto University to «http://kyotohumanities.jp/soramitsu/». (May 11, 2023)
The old Japanese word soramitsu was used in classical Japanese poetry as ‘the pillow word (conventional epithet)’ for Yamato, the old name of the Nara region. Because the Japanese word sora means sky and mi means viewing, Nihon-shoki, a history compiled in the 8th century, explained the derivation of the word soramitsu by the legend that a deity named Nigihayahi-no-Mikoto viewed Yamato from a flying boat and then landed there. The text is as follows.
Finally, when Nigi-haya-hi no Mikoto soared across the Great Void in a Heaven-rock-boat, he espied this region and descended upon it. Therefore he gave it a name and called it Sora-mitsu-Yamato (Nihongi translated by W. G. Aston, p. 135).
Accordingly, this tour uses a satellite image as an index and
aerial photos in explanations of the various things you’ll discover.
Click the red dots to read the various descriptions. Clicking the blue dots leads you to the ground views.
(The light blue grid represents the city plan of the ancient capital.)
This satellite image is from LANDSAT ETM+ data acquired on August 25, 2000. The data was received and processed by JAXA Japan and distributed by RESTEC Japan.
Map of Kansai district of Japan showing the geographical context of Nara Data Source: digital elevation data and digital land use data provided by the Geographical Survey Institute of Japan Processed and visualized by Noboru Ogata. |
 |
Nara Women’s University Home Page