Japan's first Buddhist culture, flourishing in the early 7th century under Empress Suiko and Prince Shōtoku. Strongly influenced by Paekche, Koguryŏ, and China's Northern and Southern Dynasties, it produced the Hōryū-ji Golden Hall and Five-Story Pagoda (the world's oldest wooden buildings), the Shaka Triad by Tori Busshi (623), and the Chūgū-ji Bodhisattva. Tori Busshi pioneered Northern Wei-style sculpture with symmetrical, dignified features. Asuka-dera (596), Japan's first full-scale temple, also defines this era. This internationally oriented Buddhist culture marks the starting point of Japanese classical culture.

In 604, Prince Shōtoku promulgated the Seventeen-Article Constitution — Japan's earliest written law, grounded in Buddhist and Confucian ethics and famously beginning "Harmony is to be valued." The Twelve-Level Cap and Rank system (603) established merit-based promotion over hereditary aristocratic privilege. His missions to Sui-dynasty China (600, 607) accelerated the import of continental culture, Buddhism, and governance systems to Japan.

Flourishing in the late 7th century under Emperors Tenmu and Jitō, this culture emerged during the construction of the ritsuryō state. Strongly influenced by early Tang, it is characterized by youthful vigor. Representative works include the East Pagoda of Yakushi-ji, the Yakushi Triad, the Kōfuku-ji Buddha head, Hōryū-ji Golden Hall murals (burned 1949), and the Takamatsuzuka Tomb murals (discovered 1972) with their Four Gods and court ladies. Waka poets Kakinomoto no Hitomaro and Princess Nukata produced the early "Man'yōshū." A transition from temple-centered Asuka culture to state-sponsored culture.