Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"The Nara period (710–784) marked an emergence of the centralized Japanese state centered on the Imperial Court in Heijō-kyō (modern Nara). The Nara period is characterized by the appearance of a nascent literature as well as the development of Buddhist-inspired art and architecture. The smallpox epidemic of 735–737 is believed to have killed as much as one-third of Japan's population." [Wikipedia]
". . . in the third month of her reign, Gemmei announced that her capital would be at Nara, a city to which Heavenly Sovereign Mommu had intended to move, before his plans were cut short by death. . . . The city, which was known to her as Heijo, the City of Peace, would remain the capital for the next eighty years (the 'Nara period' of Japan)." [Bauer: Medieval World, p. 327-30]