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 recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

with the ruins of a middle

Jōmon period In Japanese history, the is the time between , during which Japan was inhabited by the Jōmon people, a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united by a common culture, which reached a considerable degree of sedentism an ...

(around 2500 BC) settlement in what is now part of the town of

Asahi Asahi (Japanese 朝日, 旭, or あさひ 'morning sun') may refer to: Places in Japan Cities * Asahi, Chiba (旭市; ''Asahi-shi'') Wards * Asahi-ku, Osaka (旭区; ''Asahi-ku'') * Asahi-ku, Yokohama (旭; ''Asahi-ku'') Towns * Asahi, Aichi ...

Toyama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Toyama Prefecture has a population of 993,848 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,247.61 km2 (1,640.01 sq mi). Toyama Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the ...

in the

Hokuriku region The is located in the northwestern part of Honshu, the main island of Japan. It lies along the Sea of Japan and is part of the larger Chūbu region. It is almost equivalent to the former Koshi Province (Japan), Koshi Province and Hokurikudō are ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1986.

Overview

The Fudōdō site is located at the eastern margin of the Toyama Plain at the end of a raised alluvial fan on the right bank of the

Kurobe River The is a river in Toyama Prefecture, Japan. The river is in length and has a watershed of . The river rises from Mount Washiba in the Hida Mountains and carves the deep valley known as the Kurobe Gorge. It comes out of the mountains at Un ...

. In 1973, an

archaeological excavation In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

found the remnants of 21

pit dwelling A pit-house (or pit house, pithouse) is a house built in the ground and used for shelter. Besides providing shelter from the most extreme of weather conditions, this type of earth shelter may also be used to store food (just like a pantry, a lar ...

s as well as nine food storage pits and many artifacts such as fragments of

Jōmon pottery The is a type of ancient earthenware pottery which was made during the Jōmon period in Japan. The term "Jōmon" () means "rope-patterned" in Japanese, describing the patterns that are pressed into the clay. Outline Oldest pottery in J ...

and

stone tool Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or knapped stone, the latter fashioned by a ...

s. Of especial interest was the central part of the ruins, which contained the foundations of a long oval structure measuring 17 meters east-to-west and eight meters north-to-south, making it one of the largest pit dwellings found in Japan. Two circular and two square stone-lined hearths were regularly arranged along the longitudinal axis. It is presumed that the building was not an ordinary residence, but served as a public structure, possibility for ceremonial purposes. The pottery included "flame-style" pottery from the Niigata region, and "tree-style" pottery from the Tohoku region, indicating that the community had long distance trade. Some of these artifacts, along with finds from other sites in the region, are displayed at the museum on the east side of the site. The site is now 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 ...

, with several reconstructed pit dwellings, and is open to the public. It is located about 15 minutes by car from Tomari Station on the

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...

Hokuriku Main Line The Hokuriku Main Line () is a railway line owned by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) connecting Maibara Station in Maibara, Shiga, with Tsuruga Station in Tsuruga, Fukui. The line formerly extended as far as Naoetsu Station in ...

References

External links

Toyama Prefectural tourist information home page

Toyama Prefecture Cultural Heritage

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fudodo Site Asahi, Toyama Historic Sites of Japan History of Toyama Prefecture Jōmon-period ruins

Overview

See also

References

External links