Noteworthy Archaeological Sites
Fukui Dōkutsu Historic Site:
A “cultural bridge” linking Paleolithic and Jōmon cultures.
Sasebo City, Nagasaki Prefecture
Odake Shell Midden:
91 human skeletons are discovered, the largest number nationwide!
Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture
Higashi Nara:
A vase with a dōtaku design is@newly discovered.
Ibaraki City, Osaka Prefecture
Kabutozuka:
Two haniwa
depicting women weaving cloth are recovered.
Shimotsuke City, Tochigi Prefecture
Dazaifu City/Chikushino City, Fukuoka Prefecture
Echizen Kiln Site Group:
Advancements in productive technology come to light.
Echizen Town, Fukui Prefecture
Chateau Kamiya Former Winery:
Mysterious, unknown facilities are discovered at an Important Cultural Property building!
Ushikushi City, Ibaraki Prefecture
The Power of Culture for Reconstruction:
Reconstruction after the Great East Japan Earthquake and buried cultural properties protection
Azuma-chō, Fukushima Prefecture / Takaōse, Miyagi Prefecture
Azuma-chō:
A core-type settlement of the Middle Jōmon period
Minamisōma City, Fukushima Prefecture
Takaōse:
Soil strata show traces of three tsunamis
Iwanuma City, Miyagi Prefecture
Jizōden:
A ring-shaped group of blocks from 35,000 years ago. Hunting and gathering together, a band made their camp
Akita City, Akita Prefecture
Nagatake:
Large-scale buildings and graves appear one after another from within a huge pile of earth
Kazo City, Saitama Prefecture
Arao Minami, Higashi Chōda:
Pottery with incised drawing is recovered from the ditch of a moated-precinct burial
Ōgaki City, Gifu Prefecture
Nomi Tomb Group:
A tomb group continually built across 300 years without interruption
Nomi City, Ishikawa Prefecture
Nishi Sanjōdai:
The residence of an Early Heian period Minister of the Right
Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture
Geba Shūhen:
Kamakura period armor is found near a Hachiman shrine
Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture
Shinagawa Battery:
The base portion of the battery has survived in good condition
Minato Ward, Tokyo Prefecture
The Power of Culture for Reconstruction:
Reconstruction after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Buried Cultural Properties Protection
Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima Prefectures
Minamisanriku Town, Miyagi Prefecture
Jizōdaira:
Stone tools for hunting are recovered in great numbers above and below AT
Saga City, Saga Prefecture
Midorikawa Higashi:
Four large-scale stone rods laid in a row are recovered from the center of a
stone-paved feature
Kunitachi City, Tokyo Prefecture
Nishi kawatsu:
A core settlement from the Early to the Late periods
Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture
Toriimatsu:
Excavation of river remains extends the range of the Iba ancient government office site eastward
Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture
Bizen Ware Kiln Site Group:
Changes from the Heian to Early Modern periods known from excavations
Bizen City, Okayama Prefecture
Sannō Site:
Features going back to an ancient city
Tagajō City, Miyagi Prefecture
Shinchi Town, Fukushima Prefecture
Akashiba Site, Shinchi Town, Fukushima Prefecture
Nakahigashi:
A campsite found in a buried river basin. The stone blade
manufacturing technique of 30,000 years ago comes to light.
Miyoshi Town, Saitama Prefecture
Urushishita:
Stone features in a
variety of shapes were placed at burial and ceremonial locations.
Kitaakita City, Akita Prefecture
Kyū Renpeijō:
A settlement large enough to rival Yoshinogari. Investigation
proceeds, bringing to light a “country” in Shikoku.
Zentsūji City, Kagawa Prefecture
Motodaka:
The oldest keyhole tomb in the San’in region. A water
management facility is discovered on the plain immediately below.
Tottori City, Tottori Prefecture
Ushikubi:
Investigation of the largest Sue ware kiln site group in Kyushu.
Precious documentary materials are added for the Wadō era
(708-715).
Ōnojō City, Fukuoka Prefecture
Takashima Kōzaki:
After a long and difficult underwater investigation,
the finds are collectively designated a Historic Site.
Matsuura City, Nagasaki Prefecture
Sites from the Satsuma Rebellion:
The site of a fierce battle, close-quarter fighting at Tabaruzaka is
excavated
Gyokutō Town and Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture
Miyanoue:
Large-scale tool production at a rich source of stone material
Minamikyūshū City, Kagoshima Prefecture
Aidani Kumahara Site:
One of the oldest clay figurines for Japan, with well developed breasts
Higashiōmi City, Shiga Prefecture
Isshiki Aokai:
One of the largest settlements on the Nōbi plain for the latter part of the Middle Yayoi.
Inazawa City, Aichi Prefecture
Hazaike:
The grave of a leading family in Sue ware production ?
Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture
Yokodaidō:
Large-scale iron smelting features
Minamisōma City, Fukushima Prefecture
Kawanishi:
Large-scale Medieval piled-stone shore edging
Tokushima City, Tokushima Prefecture
Scattered from the Inland to the Genkai Seas
Sado Kinginzan Site:
Introducing the latest Western technology just after the Meiji Restoration
Sado City, Niigata Prefecture
Kami Shiroi Nishi Ikuma:
A cluster of stone tools, made with the Setouchi technique, completely refitted as the original stones.
Shibukawa city, Gunma prefecture
Ōmori Katsuyama:
A half century after its discovery, a stone circle is re-investigated.
Hirosaki city, Aomori prefecture
Sugu Site Group:
The structure of a bronze implement production center for the "country of Na," and its change over time, come to light.
Kasuga city, Fukuoka prefecture
Makimuku:
A discovery enlivens debate over the country of Yamatai.
Sakurai city, Nara prefecture
Baba Minami:
A wooden writing tablet inscribed with a Man'yō poem and massive amounts of votive lamp dishes are recovered.
Kizugawa city, Kyoto prefecture
Okite and Nakazu:
Facilities of a Medieval harbor on the Japan Sea are discovered one after another.
Masuda city, Shimane prefecture
Nara City, Nara Prefecture
Ōtsubobata:
The oldest pit traps in Japan? Warm Tanegashima's Paleolithic
upsets the prevailing image of this era.
Nakatane Town, Kagoshima Prefecture
Ireibaru:
The only settlement maintained for 4,000 years on a southern isle.
Chatan Town, Okinawa Prefecture
Yanagisawa:
The recovery of multiple bronze halberds buried with a bronze bell.
Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture
Nakamura No. 1 Tomb:
Rarely found nationwide, a tomb with an unopened horizontal stone chamber.
Izumo City, Shimane Prefecture
Enmeiji:
A contract mokkan of the early seventh century administrative system is recovered.
Jōetsu City, Niigata Prefecture
Katsuyama City, Fukui Prefecture
Yamashita Foreign Residence:
Buildings and roads of the late Edo and Meiji periods are excavated.
Yokohama city, Kanagawa Prefecture
Iwami Ginzan, Ota city, Shimane prefecture
Takamatsuzuka Tomb, Asuka village, Nara prefecture
Tarō Mizuno No. 2:
Only completed stone tools are found. A Paleolithic camp site?
Tarō Mizuno 2 site, Kaneyama town, Yamagata prefecture
Kiyotake Kami Inoharu:
Fourteen pit dwellings of the Incipient Jōmon.
Kami Inoharu site, Kiyotake town, Miyazaki prefecture
Sakura no baba:
A kingly grave of Matsuro is rediscovered after sixty-three years.
Sakura no baba site, Karatsu city, Saga prefecture
Hirota:
Historic Site. A relay point on the “shell route.”
Hirota site, Minamitane town, Kagoshima prefecture
Tomori Matsunoto:
Bewitching shells emerge from the white dunes.
Tomori Matsunoto site, Amami city, Kagoshima prefecture
Shiotsukō:
A harbor on the north coast of Lake Biwa.
Shiotsukō site, Nishiazai town, Shiga prefecture
Osaka Castle:
The remains of a Toyotomi family feast?
Osaka-jō, Osaka city, Osaka prefecture
Kogumi:
A projectile point of quartz crystal, a rarity for the entire nation
Kogumi Site, Kasama City, Ibaraki Prefecture
Higashimyō:
A group of large-scale shell middens from the Earliest Jōmon
Higashimyō Site, Saga City, Saga Prefecture
Yamamoto:
The northernmost moated settlement on the Japan Sea side
Yamamoto Site, Kamihayashi Village, Niigata Prefecture
Ningyōzuka:
A group of bearded haniwa warriors
Ningyōzuka Tomb, Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture
Akōbō:
Built continuously over a 300 year period, the largest-scaled group
Akōbō Tomb Group, Oirase Town, Aomori Prefecture
Kannonji/Shikiji:
A mokkan telling the actual state of kanjaku (an inquiry into personal identity)
Kannonji and Shikiji Sites, Tokushima City, Tokushima Prefecture
Shagūji:
Yearning for the Pure Land of Supreme Bliss
Shagūji Site, Chikuma City, Nagano Prefecture
Hayakawa Stone Quarry Group, Odawara City, Kanagawa Prefecture
Yaita City/Nasushiobara City, Tochigi Prefecture
Taishô No. 3:
The first Incipient Jômon site is discovered in Hokkaido.
Taishô No. 3 Site, Obihiro City, Hokkaido
Zasshonokuma:
Stone daggers in complete condition are recovered from graves.
Zasshonokuma Site, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture
Mukadezuka, Nyûtabaru Group:
Haniwa resembling those found at Imashirozuka are recovered.
Mukadezuka Tomb, Nyûtabaru Tomb Group, Shintomi Town, Miyazaki Prefecture
Nikôji:
A temple built by immigrants?
Nikôji Abandoned Temple, Gose City, Nara Prefecture
Muramatsu Shirane:
A salt-producing village buried in the sand is discovered.
Muramatsu Shirane Site, Tôkai Village, Ibaraki Prefecture
Kôzuke:
Immigrants who brought horses and breeding techniques to Kôzuke
Kenzaki Nagatoro Nishi Site, Shimoshiba Yatsu Tomb, Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture
Hakata Site Group:
Largest trading port in the archipelago, serving as bridge to Asia
Hakata Site Group, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture
Tamukai Hiyamizu:
A stone tool production site of Upper Paleolithic man
Tamukai Hiyamizu Site, Hachinohe City, Aomori Prefecture
Shōfukuji:
Large quantities of acorns and woven basketry unearthed from a waterside site
Shōfukuji Site, Kurume City, Fukuoka Prefecture
Terashita:
An inland shell midden is investigated
Terashita Site, Hashikami Town, Aomori Prefecture
Yoshinogari:
An Early Han Dynasty bronze mirror is recovered from the seal of a burial jar's lid
Yoshinogari Site, Kanzaki Town/Mitagawa Town/Higashi Seburi Village, Saga Prefecture
Suyama:
A large-scale keyhole-shaped mounded tomb
Suyama Tomb, Kōryō Town, Nara Prefecture
Kitora:
Gorgeous murals grace the tomb's interior
Kitora Tomb, Asuka Village, Nara Prefecture
Hōryūji Wakakusagaran Ruins, Ikaruga Town, Nara Prefecture
Magome:
The first reconstruction nationwide of two seven-storied ceramic miniature pagodas
Magome Site, Inzai City, Chiba Prefecture
Jingamine:
A fortified residence from the end of the Heian period
Jingamine Castle Site, Aizubange Town, Fukushima Prefecture
Nihonbashi Nichōme, Kyōbashi Nichōme, and Nihonbashi Itchōme Sites, Chūō Ward, Tokyo
Shirataki:
An overwhelming volume of refitted materials revealing the very breath of Paleolithic man
Shirataki Site Group, Shirataki Village, Hokkaido
Kakura:
A circular settlement dotted with large-scale dwellings
Kakura Shell Midden, Tsukidate Town, Miyagi Prefecture
Asahi:
The moat abandoned, the settlement transformed at the start of the 2nd century
Asahi Site, Kiyosu Town, Aichi Prefecture
Imashirozuka:
Possibly the mausoleum of Emperor Keitai, yielding large quantities of huge haniwa
Imashirozuka Tomb, Takatsuki City, Osaka Prefecture
Kōrokan:
A guesthouse for ancient diplomacy is revealed in its entirety
Kōrokan Remains, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture
Darumaji:
A stone stupa deposited upright, a new facet of Medieval Buddhist relic belief
Darumaji Temple, Ōji Town, Nara Prefecture
Dejima Oranda Shōkan:
Western style pistol and bullets recovered together from the front line of foreign diplomacy in the Edo period
Dejima Oranda Shōkan Remains, Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture
HOME 
Dazaifu-related Site Group:
Niida Fortress Remains:
Haniwa from Imperial Mausolea
Reconstruction and Buried Cultural
Properties
Ōshimizu B and Sawairi B Sites:
Archaeological excavation for reconstruction:
Osaka Castle Wall Stone Quarry Remains:
Former Imperial Audience Hall, Nara Capital:
Former Temple Precinct of Hakusan Heisenji:
Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine:
Takamatsuzuka:
Kanpakuzawa, Hayakawa Group:
Kengamine, Takaharayama Group:
Hōryūji Wakakusagaran Ruins:
Nihonbashi Nichōme, Kyōbashi Nichōme, Nihonbashi Itchōme:
