A long time standing

The statues of Prince Shotoku and his mother, Empress Hashiudo, face the sea on the coast at Taiza in the northern part of Kyoto Prefecture.  Shotoku (574-622), a member of the imperial clan, exercised political leadership from the end of the sixth century to the beginning of the seventh century and created Japan's first constitution. Shotoku and his mother moved to Taiza to escape the successive wars in Nara.

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