Suo Kokuga Ato (Suo Domain Government Office Site)

The Kokuga was the name of the government office where government officials called Kokushi would perform their duties starting in the late 7th century. While many provincial offices were relocated or reduced due to the change and decline of the Ritsuryo system after the Heian period the Suo office came under control of Todaiji Temple starting in the Kamakura period and survived until the early modern period. The Suo Kokuga was presumed to have been the central government building of the local region and governed the entire provincial region, the port in the Hamanomiya area, and as far west as the Ohi embankment. It was the first government provincial office site in the country to have been designated a National Historic Site. The presumed located of the government office is now maintained as a park.