Arao Minami, Higashi Chōda:
Conditions become clear from the Early through Late Yayoi at Arao Minami. Pottery with incised drawing is recovered from the ditch of a moated-precinct burial at Higashi Chōda.

Wooden coffin burial at Arao Minami (Early Yayoi) This was the best preserved wooden coffin burial. Approximately 1.5 m long and 0.5 m wide, the base and side boards were found.	Group of square moated-precinct burials at Arao Minami (Middle Yayoi) A road (blue dotted lines) can be seen going from the front left to the center of the upper right of the photo. Mt. Kinshōzan is visible beyond the roadfs end. Square moated-precinct burials were distributed in orderly fashion along both sides of the road. The depression at lower right in the photo is a large ditch cutting north-south through the eastern portion of the site, with an ascertained length exceeding 400 m (including inferred portions). Adapted from Hakkutsu sareta Nihon rettō 2014 [Excavations in the Japanese Archipelago, 2014] (Bunkachō [Agency for Cultural Affairs], ed., Asahi Shimbun Publications, 2014).
Group of pit-structures at Arao Minami (Late Yayoi to Early Kofun) A multitude of pit-structures were densely concentrated at the center of the site, cutting into one another. They are seen to have been rebuilt one after another over a short span of time.	Locations of the Arao Minami and Higashi Chōda Sites Located atop and at the tip of a low hill extending southward from Mt. Kinshōzan, at the northwest edge of the Nōbi plain. The Arao Minami site extends approximately 750 m north–south by 250 m east–west, with extensive burial and residential precincts. At the Higashi Chōda site, moats encircling the settlement in the Middle Yayoi, as well as moated-precinct burials from the Middle Yayoi to the Early Kofun plus mounded tombs (kofun) have been ascertained. Adapted from Hakkutsu sareta Nihon rettō 2014 [Excavations in the Japanese Archipelago, 2014] (Bunkachō [Agency for Cultural Affairs], ed., Asahi Shimbun Publications, 2014).
Distributions of features and loci of recovery of artifacts at Arao Minami Approximately 260 square moated-precinct burials from the Middle Yayoi to the Early Kofun, and about 560 pit-structures from the Late Yayoi to the Early Kofun periods are distributed over the site. Wooden coffin burials from the Early Yayoi period are located near a natural watercourse at the center of the sitefs western side. In the Middle Yayoi, square moated-precinct burials spread over the entire area of the site, and a large ditch approximately 10 m wide was dug running longitudinally north–south. A mirror with a concentric circle design possibly used in ritual was recovered from the ditch. From the Late Yayoi into the Early Kofun periods, pit-structures concentrated densely from the northern portion to the center of the site. Adapted from Hakkutsu sareta Nihon rettō 2014 [Excavations in the Japanese Archipelago, 2014] (Bunkachō [Agency for Cultural Affairs], ed., Asahi Shimbun Publications, 2014).	Decorated ritual pottery (recovered from Arao Minami) Late Yayoi to Early Kofun periods, third century. The item on top (incised comb-tooth pattern pottery) has a rim diameter of 33.7 cm. Among the pottery with stamped designs shown below, the item at upper right has a rim diameter of 12.6 cm. From the Late Yayoi into the Early Kofun periods in the northwest portion of the Nōbi plain, pottery is seen with decoration applied to the rims combining a variety of designs such as incised comb-tooth and zig-zag lines, mostly on pedestaled dishes. Among these are stamped designs which have their origin in the Japan Sea coastal region.
Pottery with incised drawing (recovered at the Higashi Chōda site) Final Yayoi to Early Kofun periods, third century; rim diameter 14.1 cm, height 24.8 cm. As the simplification of the drawing is rather advanced, it is considered to be the latest among Yayoi style drawings. The graphic below the photo is a scale drawing of the vase seen head on. A hunting scene with a dog chasing two deer, and two raised-floor buildings are depicted, from which some think this represents the taking of deer and spilling their blood as a way of claiming the earth of the grave for the interred, and praying for the rebirth of the soul. Adapted from Hakkutsu sareta Nihon rettō 2014 [Excavations in the Japanese Archipelago, 2014] (Bunkachō [Agency for Cultural Affairs], ed., Asahi Shimbun Publications, 2014).

Arao Minami and Higashi Chōda Sites, Ōgaki City, Gifu Prefecture

Material of Early Yayoi wooden coffins recovered at the Arao Minami site

Located on a low hill at the northwest end of the Nōbi plain, Arao Minami and Higashi Chōda are large-scale sites representative of the Nōbi region for the Yayoi to the Kofun periods.

Nine wooden coffin burials of the Early Yayoi period were ascertained on the western side of the Arao Minami site. The first examples of Early wooden coffin burials discovered for the Tōkai region, the material of the wooden coffin remained in three burials, and three cylindrical beads were recovered from one of these.

A large-scale group of moated-precinct burials of the Middle Yayoi

Construction of square moated-precinct burials began in earnest in the first portion of the Middle Yayoi period, based on the recovered pottery style (Asahi style, approximately 2,300 years before the present), and is seen to have reached a peak in the latter portion of that period (Takakura style, approximately 2,100 years before the present). The groups of square moated-precinct burials built on the northwest side of the site in the early portion of the Middle Yayoi, and on the northeast side in the middle portion of the period (Kaidachō style, approximately 2,200 years before the present), form orderly rows on both sides of the road running north–south, and comprise a valuable example for considering changes the in construction of these features. A total of 260 have been ascertained (230 from the Middle Yayoi), a number second only to the Asahi site in Aichi prefecture.

A large village of the Late Yayoi

The square moated-precinct burials which saw their heyday in the Middle Yayoi declined dramatically in number, and instead pit-structures were detected from the Late Yayoi into the Kofun periods. Extending to approximately 560 in number, a large settlement appears to have formed. The greater portion of the large amount of pottery was made locally, but the diversity of recovered artifacts included wooden implements and metal objects, giving vivid illustration of the livelihood and rituals of the settlement, and of exchanges with other regions. This can be regarded as showing the particular characteristics of this region at a time of transition, from the Yayoi to the Kofun periods. (Fujita Hidehiro)

Pottery with incised drawing recovered at Higashi Chōda

During an excavation conduction in the 2010 fiscal year, pottery (vase) with incised drawing was recovered from a square moated-precinct burial of the Final Yayoi to the start of the Kofun periods. It was recovered from within the ditch of the moated-precinct burial (inferred scale for the mound: 9.5 m long by 8 m wide). A vase thought to have been used in mortuary ritual for the burial, it has multiple drawings surviving intact on a single vessel, a precious item with few other examples nationwide. (Takada Yasunari)

(principal artifacts, Arao Minami and Higashi Chōda Sites)

Mirror with concentric circle design (recovered at Arao Minami) Late Yayoi–Early Kofun, second century. (Central item) Diameter: 8.6 cm. (Item at right) Surviving width: 3.1 cm. The central item is a rare domestically made mirror with a repeating pattern of half circles containing small dots. A portion has red pigment adhering to the surface. A portion of a sawtooth design can be discerned on the small item at right. Dotted white line: Portion of the enlargement. (Small item) Inferred diameter: 3.1 cm.
Clay whistle (recovered at Arao Minami) Late Yayoi, second century. Length: 4.1 cm. This is thought to be a whistle from the shape. A circular design in red paint can be seen on the side.