The Hōki Provincial Capital Site (伯耆国庁跡, Hōki Kokucho ato) is an archaeological site consisting of the ruins of the Nara period to early Heian period Provincial Capital of Hōki Province, located in the Kokufu, Kokubunji, neighborhood of the city of Tottori, Tottori Prefecture in the San'in region of Japan.
[1] Following the Taika Reform (645 AD) which aimed at a centralization of the administration following the Chinese model (ritsuryō), provincial capitals were established in the various provinces, headed by an official titled kokushi, who replaced the older Kuni no miyatsuko.
[3] This system collapsed with the growth of feudalism in the Late Heian period, and the location of many of the provincial capitals is now lost.
The Hōki Provincial Capital was located on a hill with an elevation of about 40 meters, on the western outskirts of Kurayoshi city.
Archaeological excavations beginning in 1969 and continued from 1973 through 1978 confirmed that the site measures 273 meters from east-to-west, 227 meters from north-to-south, and was surrounded by two-meter wide moats on all sides, and that it was divided into an inner enclosure (government area) where ceremonies were held and an outer enclosure (kanga area) where practical work was conducted.