Prince Naka Reform Movement

The Asuka Period, (552-710 CE) was an era of great reform. Buddhism and other foreign practices such as the Chinese written language, and the creation of an imperial state were instituted under Prince Shotoku (574-622 CE) and the Soga Family (who had emerged victorious in 507 after defeating the Uji nobility). After the death of Prince Shotoku and Soga Umako, tensions rose due to the questions of succession. Prince Naka, an insignificant member of the royal family, longed to rule Japan, and together with Nakatomi no kamatari, staged a coup d’etat that eliminated the Soga Family, and placed Naka on the imperial throne of Japan.
Like his predecessor, Prince Naka launched a fierce campaign of reforms, known as the Taika Reform (645-650 CE). The Taika Reform introduced new policies and practices, that were aimed at providing an economic system to support the new political structure, as well as diminishing the power of the Uji nobility. A system of land and tax reforms, the Taika Reform, abolished the privatization of land, and granted the state the sole authority to redistribute and distribute the land. Although the land was distributed equally among the people of Japan, certain land was granted to
With the Uji nobility now the bureaucracy, the Japanese aristocracy began to become educated. Now armed with the power of knowledge, the balance of power in the imperial court began to favour the court nobility. With unfettered power, the court nobility began to undermine the imperial family and directly challenge the land and tax reforms. Because the religious institutions of Japan were exempt from tax, the nobility began to donate their land to Shinto shrines, and Buddhist temples (which were often controlled by the nobility themselves.) This evasion of taxes by the nobility, eventually led to the adoption of the Shoen