Karako–Kagi
Karako Kagi Yayoi Settlement · Tawaramoto Karako-Kagi
Yayoi Early 300 BCE → Middle 100 BCE → Late 100–300 CE → Kofun transition·Yayoi (Yamato central chiefdom)·🇯🇵 Nara Prefecture, Shiki District, Tawaramoto Town, central Nara Basin (Yamato plain between Sakurai and Tenri), Japan
About
About Karako–Kagi
Japan's largest Yayoi walled town (c.300 BCE–300 CE) at Karako–Kagi in Tawaramoto — 42 ha double-moated settlement (outer moat 1.8 km, inner 1 km) with 107 pit dwellings, raised granary row and giant Yoshinogari-type ditch excavated 1970s–2000s. Karako–Kagi is Yamato Basin's counterpart to Yoshinogari (Kyushu) but 2× larger with 1,000+ wooden agricultural tools (Tang-type spades) and 70 bronze Dotaku workshop molds — proving central Yamato already had Yoshinogari-scale paramount village before Kofun emergence.
Why it mattersYamato's Yoshinogari-scale town proving dual-core Yayoi chiefdom (Kyushu vs Kinai) before Yamato state.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why Karako–Kagi collapses precisely as Makimuku proto-city rises 180 CE 5 km east?
Theories
- 01Center-shift from Karako to Makimuku marks Yamatai polity transfer; Kibi–Kinai bronze competition
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.300 BCE Early Yayoi moat; peak 100 BCE–200 CE
- Period
- Yayoi Early 300 BCE → Middle 100 BCE → Late 100–300 CE → Kofun transition
- Culture
- Yayoi (Yamato central chiefdom)
- Builders
- Yamato Basin Yayoi chiefs (pre-Yamato polity)
- Purpose
- Central Nara Basin paramount centre and Dotaku bronze foundry on Yamato grain–bronze axis
- Abandoned
- c.300 CE transition to Makimuku-type Kofun burial focus
- Rediscovered
- 1971 Yoshinogari-type moat detected; 1998–2005 Tawaramoto exposures of 107 houses
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.300–100 BCE
Early Yayoi single moat 1 km with paddy
c.100 BCE–200 CE
Double moat 1.8 km with 107 houses and Dotaku foundry 70 molds
1998–2005
Full settlement plan exposed as Yoshinogari counterpart
On the ground
Structures & features
34.5200° N · 135.8200° E · 50 m · 2 mapped features
Outer Double Moat and Palisade Bank (1.8 km)
fortification1800 m outer V-ditch 3 m deep with earthen embankment and timber palisade on Nara Basin plain
34.5205° N · 135.8205° ECentral Housing Cluster and Dotaku Foundry (107 houses)
settlement107 pit dwellings 5×4 m and Dotaku bronze foundry 15×10 m with 70 bivalve molds
34.5195° N · 135.8195° E