Toro Yayoi Paddy Settlement
Toro Site · Toro Yayoi Village · Shizuoka Toro Yayoi
Yayoi Late 1st c BCE–1st c CE (late Yayoi classic)·Yayoi Tokai Etsu — Toro paddy tradition (Suruga plain)·🇯🇵 Japan, Chubu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Shizuoka City, Toro paddy plain 4 km south of central Shizuoka, Suruga Bay plain at Abe River mouth, Japan
About
About Toro Yayoi Paddy Settlement
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. Sugihara (Meiji University) — Japan's first large Yayoi paddy excavation. Toro revealed waterlogged paddy grid (30×70 plots 2nd c CE), raised-floor granary posts, pit dwellings (12 houses), wooden spades, weirs, and rice phytoliths with Etsu Yayoi pottery. Preservation via Abe waterlogging: wooden tools, winnowing basket, and 370-m paddies show Tokai Yayoi intensive rice and Yayoi water management textbook. National Historic Site 1952 with park reconstructions.
Why it mattersJapan's classic Yayoi paddy type-site — waterlogged field grid textbook for Yayoi rice civilization
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Etsu vs Ongagawa paddy technique divergence
Theories
- 01Tokai plain as Yayoi rice heartland
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 BCE Yayoi paddy first ridge; peak 1st c CE
- Period
- Yayoi Late 1st c BCE–1st c CE (late Yayoi classic)
- Culture
- Yayoi Tokai Etsu — Toro paddy tradition (Suruga plain)
- Builders
- Yayoi rice farmers at Abe River delta plain
- Purpose
- Tokai Yayoi type-site for waterlogged paddy field system and Yayoi rice technology textbook
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.1st c BCE
Yayoi paddy grid cut on Abe floodplain
c.1st c CE
30×70 paddies and weir peak
1947–48
Sugihara waterlogged finds define Yayoi rice textbook
On the ground
Structures & features
34.9517° N · 138.4074° E · 8 m · 2 mapped features
Northern Waterlogged Paddy Grid
field370×250 m Yayoi paddy grid with wooden weir and 2nd c CE ridge at northern plain
34.9522° N · 138.4078° ESouthern Pit Dwelling and Granary Cluster
settlement12 pit dwellings and raised-floor granary posts on southern slightly higher levee
34.9512° N · 138.4070° E