Toro Site
Toro Archaeological Site · Toro Yayoi Settlement · Toro Jomon–Yayoi Wetland Village
Late Jomon 3rd c BCE → Yayoi 300 BCE–300 CE → Kofun·Yayoi rice-farming (Tokai Yayoi)·🇯🇵 Chūbu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Shizuoka City, Suruga Ward, Toro district on Abe River lowland 2 km south of Shizuoka station (Tokai plain), Japan
About
About Toro Site
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. Toro is the Yayoi type-site: 12 pit houses (3–4 m diameter) with central hearth, 30 irrigated rice paddies 10×5 m with ridge and inlet, and storehouse (takayuka) raised. Wooden tools, Yayoi pottery, and wooden weir preserved in waterlogged peat. Reconstructed park with paddy replica and pit houses. Demonstrates Yayoi rice intensification c.300 BCE–300 CE and Jomon→Yayoi continuity.
Why it mattersYayoi type-site — only preserved irrigated paddy system with pit houses and raised granary demonstrating rice adoption
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Jomon–Yayoi continuity at Toro vs migration?
Theories
- 01Yayoi rice as demic diffusion (Mizoguchi)
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.1st c CE Yayoi rice village; Jomon late phase 3rd c BCE underneath
- Period
- Late Jomon 3rd c BCE → Yayoi 300 BCE–300 CE → Kofun
- Culture
- Yayoi rice-farming (Tokai Yayoi)
- Builders
- Yayoi farmers (Toro villagers)
- Purpose
- Irrigated rice village demonstrating Yayoi paddy intensification on Tokai plain
- Excavation
- Excavated
3rd c BCE
Late Jomon paddy trace
1st c CE
Yayoi village with 12 pit houses and 30 paddies
1943–47
Matsumoto excavation — first post-war Japanese dig
1950
Reconstructed Toro park opens
On the ground
Structures & features
34.9580° N · 138.4060° E · 10 m · 2 mapped features
Yayoi Pit House Cluster (12 houses)
settlement12 pit houses 3–4 m diameter with central hearth at village north
34.9590° N · 138.4052° EIrrigated Rice Paddy System with Raised Granary
field system30 paddies 10×5 m with weir and takayuka raised storehouse south
34.9565° N · 138.4071° E