Editing Nara Prefecture (section)

===Medieval Nara===
[[File:Kouyou of Yoshinoyama.JPG|thumb|right|The red autumn leaves in Yoshino]]

At the rise of the [[Minamoto clan|Minamoto]] to its ruling seat and the opening of [[Kamakura shogunate]], Nara enjoyed the support of [[Minamoto no Yoritomo]] toward restoration. [[Kōfuku-ji]], being the "home temple" to the [[Fujiwara clan|Fujiwara]] since its foundation, not only regained the power it had before but became a ''de facto'' regional chief of Yamato Province. With the reconstruction of [[Kōfuku-ji]] and [[Tōdai-ji]], a town was growing again near the two temples.

The [[Nanboku-chō period]], starting in 1336, brought more instability to Nara. As [[Emperor Go-Daigo]] chose [[Yoshino District|Yoshino]] as his base, a power struggle arose in Kōfuku-ji with a group supporting the South and another siding the North court. Likewise, local clans were split into two. Kōfuku-ji recovered its control over the province for a short time at the surrender of the South Court in 1392, while the internal power game of the temple itself opened a way for the local samurai clans to spring up and fight with each other, gradually acquiring their own territories, thus diminishing the influence of Kōfuku-ji overall.