We start our journey from a place symbolic of the forming of this country. It is where Empress Saimei, the 35th and 37th emperor, tried to create the nation by accepting diverse cultures from many countries.

In 1902-1903, stone structures representing Mount Sumeru, believed to be the center of the Buddhist world, and a stone statue shaped like two people hugging that functioned as a fountain was accidentally unearthed from rice paddies. The Ishigami site is said to have been a state guesthouse of Japan, so it was a place where a variety of people, including foreign diplomats from all over Asia, interacted and where various cultures, academics and religions met.

This site of the state guesthouse, which was a venue for banquets, is now a rice field.