Prince Shotoku, intent on strengthening Japan's central government, returns to the imperial family powers that had passed to the feudal nobles.

In emulation of the Chinese bureaucratic system of government, Shotoku establishes a system of court ranks that encourage the addition of merit to the traditional qualification of heredity as a requirement for advancement and the holding of office.

The missions he dispatches to China restores communications that had been cut off in the fifth century.

During Shotoku’s regency, Buddhist monasteries, such as the (now-lost) Hokoji and Wakakusa-dera, are constructed and furnished with bronze images of Buddhas made by immigrant Korean artisans such as the Tori group.

Tori Busshi creates the Shaka Triad at Horyuji in Nara as a votive offering in memory of Prince Shotoku.