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 the ruins of a
Nara
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...
to
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 the city of
Chigasaki
is a Cities of Japan, city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 242,798 and a population density of 6800 people per km². The total area of the city is .
Geography
The city is located on the eastern ba ...
in
Kanagawa Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kana ...
in 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 ...
of
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 ...
. It was designated as a
National Historic Site from 2015.
Overview
In the late
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 ...
, 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 and
Taika Reform
The were a set of doctrines established by Emperor Kōtoku (孝徳天皇 ''Kōtoku tennō'') in the year 645. They were written shortly after the death of Prince Shōtoku and the defeat of the Soga clan (蘇我氏 ''Soga no uji''), uniting Japan ...
s, local rule over the
provinces
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...
was standardized under a ''
kokufu are the capitals of the historical Provinces of Japan.
History
As part of the Taika Reform (645) which aimed at a centralization of the administration following the Chinese model (''ritsuryō''), the kokufu and with it the office of the kokush ...
'' (provincial capital), and each province was divided into smaller
administrative districts
Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
, known as (郡, gun, kōri), composed of 2–20 townships in 715 AD.
Each of the districts had an administrative complex built on a semi-standardized layout based on contemporary Chinese design, and
Sagami Province
was a province of Japan located in what is today the central and western Kanagawa Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kanagawa''" at . Sagami Province bordered the provinces of Izu, Musashi, and Suruga. It had access to the Paci ...
was divided into eight such districts. Whereas as the governor (''
kokushi'') was an official dispatched from the central government on temporary assignment, the district rulers (''gunji'') were typically hereditary local chieftains or nobility.
The Shimoterao ruins are located in northern Chigasaki, in an area which corresponds to ancient
Kōza District and were discovered in 2015 during construction work on the nearby
JR East
The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...
Sagami Line
The is a railway line in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It approximately parallels the east bank of the Sagami River. The line connects Hashimoto Station in Sagamihara and Chigasaki Station in ...
railway tracks. Most of the ruins are underneath the Chigasaki Hokuryo High School and surrounding residential districts.
The complex is a roughly rectangular enclosure, containing the foundations of a large central building which served as the county seat, flanked by buildings to the right and left forming a U-shaped courtyard. The foundations of four raised floor buildings, presumably part of the granary complex for storing taxation rice were found to the north, and the ruins a large
Buddhist temple
A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism represen ...
were located to the south. On the west was the ruins of a river port, as the site is located at an elevation of 13 meters overlooking the Koide River. The buildings were completed from the end of the 7th century to the first half of the 8th century and appear to have been abandoned around the first half of the 9th century.
Chigasaki city has plans to relocate the school and to transform the area into an
archaeological park
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 and ...
. Adjacent to the site is the
Shimoterao Nishikata Site, a
Yayoi period
The started at the beginning of the Neolithic in Japan, continued through the Bronze Age, and towards its end crossed into the Iron Age.
Since the 1980s, scholars have argued that a period previously classified as a transition from the Jōmon p ...
settlement and
shell midden
A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofact ...
, which received separate National Historic Site designation in 2019.
See also
*
List of Historic Sites of Japan (Kanagawa)
This list is of the Monuments of Japan, Historic Sites of Japan located within the Prefectures of Japan, Prefecture of Kanagawa.
National Historic Sites
As of 1 August 2019, sixty-three Sites have been Cultural Properties of Japan, designated as ...
References
External links
Chigasaki city official site{{in lang, ja
History of Kanagawa Prefecture
Nara period
Heian period
Chigasaki, Kanagawa
Archaeological sites in Japan
Historic Sites of Japan
Sagami Province