Pyramid Outlier Asia 83 — Japan Region 11 in Japan Region 11, Japan is a Iron Age megalithic with stratified deposits and regional significance. Excavations reveal architectural phasing.

🇯🇵 Japan · Temple complex

Ise Grand Shrine (Ise Jingu)

Yayoi legend 4 BCE; historically Asuka period c.692 CE, rebuilt every 20 years · Yamato / Shinto (Japanese imperial)

Shinto's holiest shrine complex (founding legend 4 BCE, attested 692 CE) in primeval cryptomeria forest, dedicated to Amaterasu Ōmikami (Naikū) and Toyouke (Gekū).

🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village

Toro Yayoi Paddy Settlement

Yayoi Late 1st c BCE–1st c CE (late Yayoi classic) · Yayoi Tokai Etsu — Toro paddy tradition (Suruga plain)

Toro Yayoi Paddy Settlement — classic Yayoi late wet-rice village (1st c BCE–1st c CE, late Yayoi) on Abe River floodplain 4 km south Shizuoka, discovered 1943 (Land Reform) excavated 1947–48 by Y.

🇯🇵 Japan · Tumulus

Takamatsuzuka Tumulus

Asuka Late 645–710 CE · Yamato–Asuka with Tang Kaiyuan import

Asuka Tang-style painted round tomb (700 CE) at Takamatsuzuka — 23 m with Asuka bijin court ladies in Tang dress National Treasure.

🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village

Toro

Yayoi Early 300 BCE → Middle 100 BCE → Late 100–300 CE → Kofun · Yayoi (Tōkai–Suruga paddy culture)

Textbook Yayoi paddy (300 BCE–300 CE) at Toro Shizuoka — 370 waterlogged paddy plots with wooden spades and weir on Abe fan.

🇯🇵 Japan · Archaeological wonder

Yamaguchi Yonaguni Second Terrace – Sanninudai Extended Claim

Pseudoarchaeology 1992– claim (proposed 10,000 BCE Atlantis Mu) · Kimura Atlantis/Mu school

1992 second 'central castle' claim 2 km from Yonaguni main — sandstone fracture sea-stack misread as stepped podium at –15 m.

🇯🇵 Japan · Tumulus

Makimuku Keyhole Kofun

Early Kofun 250–300 CE (transition Yayoi→Kofun) · Yayoi–Early Kofun — Makimuku/Yamato nucleus (Kinai)

Makimuku Keyhole Kofun — Makimuku Kofun cluster's keyhole trio at Miyama foothills 3 km south Sakurai, earliest keyhole zenpo-koen (late 3rd c CE) defining Yamato Kofun genesis before Hashihaka…

🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village

Toro Site

Late Jomon 3rd c BCE → Yayoi 300 BCE–300 CE → Kofun · Yayoi rice-farming (Tokai Yayoi)

Toro — Yayoi rice-paddy village (1st c CE Yayoi, also 3rd c BCE late Jomon) 2 km south Shizuoka station, Abe River lowland, excavated 1943–47 (Japan's first post-war dig) by Matsumoto.

🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient city

Makimuku (Sakurai)

Yayoi Late 100–250 CE → Kofun Early 250–350 CE (Yamatai → Yamato) · Yayoi → Kofun transition (Yamato initial urbanism)

Yamato proto-city (180–300 CE) at Sakurai foot Mt. Miwa — 3 km village with palace pillars and Himiko Yamatai candidate (Wei Zhi 240 CE).

🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village

Kakinoshima Site

Initial to Final Jomon 7000–400 BCE (Jomon 1–6) · Jomon (southern Hokkaido, Minamikayabe)

Long-lived Jomon settlement and ceremonial terrace (c.7000–1000 BCE) at Kakinoshima, Hakodate, Hokkaido — 7.6 ha terrace settlement inhabited 6000 years from Early to Final Jomon, with 400+ pit…

🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village

Kamegaoka

Jomon Late 2000–1000 BCE → Final 1000–300 BCE → Yayoi transition · Jomon Late–Final (North Tohoku–Tsugaru lacquer)

Tsugaru Late Jomon lacquer capital (1000–300 BCE) at Kamegaoka hill — 8 ha with 27 red urushi vessels (20 layers) and jade magatama workshop.

🇯🇵 Japan · Tumulus

Ushivika Kofun Cluster

Yayoi late 3rd c → Kofun 4th–6th c CE · Yayoi–Kofun transition — Suo Bay Kitakyushu

Ushivika Kofun Cluster — late Yayoi to Kofun burial cluster (3rd–6th c CE, 11 mounds) on Suo Bay terrace at Kanda, north Kyushu, surveyed 1970s–90s.

🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village

Tawayama

Yayoi 300 BCE–300 CE (Early–Middle–Late) → Kofun transition · Yayoi (Sea of Japan coastal)

Sea of Japan Yayoi paddy village (300 BCE–300 CE) at Tawayama near Tottori — 150 m ring ditch with Izumo trade horizon.

🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village

Kitakogane Site

Early to Late Jomon 6000–1000 BCE · Early–Late Jomon (Date, Uchiura Bay)

Early to Late Jomon marine midden and ritual site (c.6000–1000 BCE) at Date, Hokkaido — 14.4 ha plateau site with massive shell mound (oyster, Scallop 3 m thick, 2500 m³), 70+ pit dwellings, lacquer…

🇯🇵 Japan · Megalith

Oyu Stone Circles

Late Jomon 2000–1500 BCE · Jomon Late

Twin Late Jomon double-stone circles (2000–1500 BCE) — Manza (46 m dia) and Nonakado (42 m dia) placed either side of prefectural road at Oyu, Kazuno, each concentric with sundial-like 2.1 m central…

🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village

Esan Jomon Site

Middle Jomon (3500–2500 BCE) · Middle Jomon

Middle Jomon volcanic piedmont village (3500–2500 BCE) — pit houses with Esan obsidian workshop.

🇯🇵 Japan · Megalith

Yonaguni Monument

Geological: Early Miocene sandstone (20 Ma) formation; if artificial, claimed Jomon or earlier (10,000–2000 BCE) · Disputed – natural geology vs hypothetical Jomon / lost Pacific civilization

Submerged sandstone formation off Yonaguni Island discovered 1986 featuring stepped terraces up to 27 m high, flat surfaces and apparent right angles at 25–30 m depth, extending ~150×40 m.

🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient city

Harunotsuji (Iki)

Yayoi 300 BCE–300 CE (Ikikoku under Wei Zhi Wa federation) · Yayoi Iki–Tsushima maritime (Wa – Wei Himiko federation)

Wei Zhi Ikikoku maritime capital (300 BCE–300 CE) at Harunotsuji Iki — 100 ha with 2 km moat, 47 Han mirrors and plaza warehouse.

🇯🇵 Japan · Tumulus

Mozu Kofun Cluster (Mozu-Furuichi)

Middle–Late Kofun 350–600 CE (Yamato mature) · Yamato Mozu–Furuichi Kofun tradition

Mozu Kofun Cluster — dense kofun cemetery (49 kofun inscribed, 160,000+ total in Japan, 4th–6th c CE) across Mozu and Furuichi plains 10 km south Osaka, excavated 1970s–2019 Shiraishi et al.

🇯🇵 Japan · Tumulus

Teraji

Kofun Middle–Late 400–600 CE (Kibi culture) · Kofun Kibi (Seto Inland-Kibi chiefdom)

Kibi keyhole tumulus (400–600 CE) at Teraji near Soja — 65 m yokoana corridor with Sue ware and Gaya bronze horse gear.

🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village

Mawaki

Jomon Early 5000 BCE → Middle 3000–2000 BCE → Late 2000–1000 BCE · Jomon (Noto Sea of Japan coastal, Hokuriku)

Mid-Jomon bayhead village (4000–1200 BCE) at Mawaki Noto — 30 m wooden post circle and 6 m pit-house row with dolphin harpoon.

🇯🇵 Japan · Tumulus

Hashihaka Kofun

Early Kofun 280–300 CE (Yayoi → Kofun) · Yamato early Kofun (Makimuku–Hashihaka)

Hashihaka Kofun — first large keyhole-shaped kofun (zenpō-kōen-fun, c.280–300 CE) 280 m long, 30 m high on Makimuku plain Sakurai, excavated 1970s–2000s Shiraishi.

🇯🇵 Japan · Archaeological wonder

Ruins of Jala

Early Bronze Age (3300–2100 BCE) · Early Bronze Age

Ruins of Jala in Iwate Prefecture, Japan is a Early Bronze Age (3300–2100 BCE) archaeological wonder attributed to Early Bronze Age culture.

Japan

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54 places · page 2 of 3

Oshoro Stone Circle

Ise Grand Shrine (Ise Jingu)

Toro Yayoi Paddy Settlement

Takamatsuzuka Tumulus

Toro

Yamaguchi Yonaguni Second Terrace – Sanninudai Extended Claim

Makimuku Keyhole Kofun

Toro Site

Makimuku (Sakurai)

Kakinoshima Site

Kamegaoka

Ushivika Kofun Cluster

Tawayama

Kitakogane Site

Oyu Stone Circles

Esan Jomon Site

Yonaguni Monument

Harunotsuji (Iki)

Mozu Kofun Cluster (Mozu-Furuichi)

Teraji

Mawaki

Hashihaka Kofun

Ruins of Jala

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54 places · page 2 of 3