The is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

with ruins of a

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the cap ...

to early

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...

government administrative complex located in what is now part of the town of

Kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the sp ...

in Kami District,

Miyagi prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,305,596 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefecture to the nort ...

in the

Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (''ken''): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains a ...

of far northern

Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separ ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The site was proclaimed a National National Historic Site in January 1999.The site was excavated in 1986. It is roughly contemporary with Taga Castle to the southeast.

Background

In the late

, after the establishment of a centralized government under the ''

Ritsuryō , , is the historical law system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Chinese Legalism in Japan. The political system in accord to Ritsuryō is called "Ritsuryō-sei" (律令制). ''Kyaku'' (格) are amendments of Ritsuryō, ''Shiki'' (� ...

'' system, the imperial court sent a number of military expeditions to what is now the

of northern Japan to bring the local

Emishi The (also called Ebisu and Ezo), written with Chinese characters that literally mean "shrimp barbarians," constituted an ancient ethnic group of people who lived in parts of Honshū, especially in the Tōhoku region, referred to as in contemp ...

tribes under its control. Per the ''

Shoku Nihongi The is an imperially-commissioned Japanese history text. Completed in 797, it is the second of the ''Six National Histories'', coming directly after the '' Nihon Shoki'' and followed by ''Nihon Kōki''. Fujiwara no Tsugutada and Sugano no Mamichi ...

'', following a huge earthquake in the year 715 AD, a large number of people migrated to this area from the southern

Kantō region The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Slight ...

, forming numerous fortified settlements.

Description

The ruins are located on a plateau at the southeast end of a group of hills extending from the Ōu Mountains towards the Osaki plains of northern Miyagi Prefecture. The site consists of the remnants of a fortified square enclosure, approximately 300 meters east-west by 250 meters north-south, with an earthen

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * "O'er the Ramparts We Watched" is a key line from "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the ...

, presumably surmounted by a wooden

palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymology ''Palisade' ...

. Inside the outer enclosure was an inner enclosure protected by an earthen wall 57 meters east-west by 58 meters north-south, with post holes and foundation stones indicating the locations of political affairs and ceremonial buildings, and numerous granaries for storing tax rice. This was a typical layout for local government administrative complexes built per the dictates of the ''Ritsuryō'' administration. It was built in the middle of the first half of the 8th century and was abandoned in the middle of the 10th century. The site was backfilled after excavation, and there is now nothing to be seen at the site today except for a commemorative stone marker .It is located about 30 minutes by car from Furukawa IC on the Tohoku Expressway.

References

External links

*https://www.pref.miyagi.jp/site/sitei/kuni-siseki31.html Miyagi Prefectural Agency for Cultural Affairs]
Kami Town official home page
{{in lang, ja History of Miyagi Prefecture Nara period Heian period Kami, Miyagi Archaeological sites in Japan Historic Sites of Japan Mutsu Province

Background

Description

See also

References

External links