🇯🇵 Japan · Rock art
Fugoppe Cave
Late Jomon to Epi-Jomon / Zoku-Jomon (c.300 BCE–350 CE, figures ~1600 BP) · Zoku-Jomon
Zoku-Jomon rock art cave (800 engravings, ~1600 BP) — winged figures pecked into soft Miocene tuff on Maruyama Hill.
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village
Korekawa Site
Middle to Late Jomon 3500–1700 BCE · Middle–Late Jomon (Hachinohe region)
Middle–Late Jomon lacquer production village (c.3500–1700 BCE) on the Nii River terrace at Hachinohe, Aomori — 3 ha with 80+ pit dwellings, large midden, and lacquer-ware workshop that produced 400+…
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village
Shimoyakebe
Late Jomon 3000–500 BCE → Yayoi 400 BCE–300 CE (paddy) · Jomon → Yayoi (Kanto lowland)
Waterlogged Yayoi lowland at Shimoyakebe — paddy wooden tools and chestnut pits in peat (3000 BCE–300 CE).
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village
Kashiwabara (Hokkaido)
Jomon Late 1000 BCE → Epi-Jomon 300 BCE–500 CE → Satsumon 500–1100 CE → Honshu Yayoi influence · Epi-Jomon (Hokkaido) with Yayoi rice intrusion
Hokkaido rice-frontier paddy trial (300 BCE–300 CE) at Kashiwabara Ebetsu — 8 pit houses with failed rice vs salmon–nut; paddy northern limit.
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village
Kamegaoka Stone Age Site
Final Jomon to Early Yayoi 1000–300 BCE · Kamegaoka culture (Final Jomon–Yayoi transition, Tsugaru)
Final Jomon–Early Yayoi ritual settlement (c.1000–300 BCE) on Kamegaoka plateau at Tsugaru City — 4 ha with 40 pit dwellings, ritual clay figurine (shakōki-dogū Goggle-eyed) concentration (over 200…
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village
Chōshichiyachi Shell Midden
Middle to Late Jomon 3500–1700 BCE · Middle–Late Jomon (Hachinohe wetland)
Middle–Late Jomon wetland shell midden (c.3500–1700 BCE) adjacent to Korekawa at Chōshichiyachi, Hachinohe — 2 ha midden (Corbicula and yamato shijimi) 3 m thick with 20+ pit dwellings and…
🇯🇵 Japan · Megalith
Kiusu Earthwork Burial Circles
Final Jomon 1200–800 BCE · Jomon Final Hokkaido
Late Jomon collective burial banked circles (1200–800 BCE) on terrace above Ushiku River at Chitose — 9 embanked circular enclosures diameter 12–75 m built of external ditch and internal bank housing…
🇯🇵 Japan · Archaeological wonder
Awazu Shell Midden
Incipient Jomon (12000) → Early Jomon 8000–6000 BCE (Jomon lakeshore forager) · Jomon (Lake Biwa Incipient–Early Jomon)
Incipient–Early Jomon lakeshore shell midden (c.12000–6000 BCE) on Lake Biwa eastern bank at Awazu, Otsu — 0.8 ha freshwater shell mound (Seta shijimi clam) excavated 1962–86 by Shiga Prefecture,…
🇯🇵 Japan · Archaeological wonder
Torihama Shell Midden
Incipient→Early→Middle Jomon 10000–1000 BCE (Jomon hunter-fisher-gatherer with peat preservation) · Jomon (Wakasa Bay Incipient–Early Jomon, Neolithic without agriculture)
Early–Middle Jomon shell midden and wetland village (c.12000–3000 BP, 10000–1000 BCE) at Torihama lowland wetland near Lake Mikata, Wakasa, Fukui — 2 ha peat midden excavated 1962–85 by Wakasa Mikata…
🇯🇵 Japan · Megalith
Oshoro
Jomon Mid–Late 2500–1800 BCE (Hokkaido) · Jomon Hokkaido (Oshima–Shakotan)
Hokkaido Jomon stone circle (2500–1800 BCE) at Oshoro Otaru — 30 m with 47 boulders and Fusen rock art above Oshoro Bay.
🇯🇵 Japan · Megalith
Takasago Burial Site
Late to Final Jomon 1800–400 BCE · Late–Final Jomon (southwestern Hokkaido)
Late–Final Jomon collective cemetery (c.1800–400 BCE) adjoining Irie Site at Lake Toya, Toyako, Hokkaido — paired with Irie as single property Irie–Takasago (UNESCO 1632 dual).
🇯🇵 Japan · Temple complex
Asukadera (Hōkō-ji)
Asuka 593–710 CE (Suiko–Jomei) · Asuka Buddhist (Baekje immigrant artisan school → Japanese)
Asukadera (Hōkō-ji) — first full Buddhist temple in Japan (596 CE) at Asuka, founded by Soga no Umako with immigrant Baekje artisans (Koreans) per Nihon Shoki.
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village
Odai Yamamoto I Site
Incipient Jomon (15000–10000 BCE) → Initial Jomon (10000–6000 BCE) · Incipient–Initial Jomon (Tsugaru)
Initial Jomon (Incipient) settlement (c.15000–13000 BCE) at Sotogahama, Tsugaru Peninsula — 0.7 ha terrace with earliest pottery in Japan (Odai Yamamoto I pottery, 16500 cal BP via AMS), ground…
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village
Oishi Yayoi Site
Jomon Late c.3000 BCE → Yayoi Early–Middle 500 BCE–100 CE → Edo overburden · Jomon → Yayoi (Tokyo Hongō branch)
Tokyo's Yayoi name-bearer extended — Yayoi 2-chome Oishi precinct on Hongō (1884 Yagi, Yayoi type).
🇯🇵 Japan · Tumulus
Asuka Kitora Tomb Star Chart Ceiling
Bronze Age (2200–800 BCE) · Bronze Age
Asuka Kitora Tomb Star Chart Ceiling in Nara, Asuka, Japan is a Bronze Age (2200–800 BCE) tumulus attributed to Bronze Age.
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village
Tawayama Shell Midden
Jomon Early 5000 BP → Late Jomon 3000 BP · Jomon San'in coastal — Tawayama Hamayu tradition
Tawayama Shell Midden — Jomon mid-to-late shell midden (5000–3000 BP) on Tawayama hill at Lake Koyama 5 km NW Tottori, San'in Sea of Japan coast, excavated 1980s–90s by Tottori University.
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village
Nabatake (Saga)
Jomon Final 1000 BCE → Yayoi Incipient 930–600 BCE → Yayoi Early 600 BCE–100 CE · Jomon–Yayoi rice transition (Saga plain)
Japan's earliest rice contender (930–600 BCE) at Nabatake Karatsu — paddy bunds 2×1.5 m with incipient rice and ard-marks vs Itatsuke debate.
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village
Teraji Okayama Settlement
Yayoi Early 300 BCE → Middle Yayoi 300 CE · Yayoi Sanyo — Ongagawa Yayoi with Mumun immigration
Teraji Okayama Settlement — Yayoi moated paddy village (300 BCE–300 CE) on Ashimori River terrace 15 km west Okayama, Sanyo Inland Sea plain, excavated 1990s.
🇯🇵 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 · Ancient village
Futatsumori Shell Midden
Early to Middle Jomon 4500–2500 BCE (Jomon 2–4) · Early–Middle Jomon (Tōhoku coastal)
Early–Middle Jomon coastal shell midden and settlement (c.4500–2500 BCE) at Shichinohe on the Lake Ogawara plain — massive shell mound 120×80 m (Late Jomon layers 3 m thick) with 40+ pit dwellings,…
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village
Irie Site
Late to Final Jomon 2000–500 BCE · Late–Final Jomon (Lake Toya)
Late–Final Jomon permanent settlement (c.2000–500 BCE) at Lake Toya, counterpart to Takasago cemetery — 1.2 ha Irie terrace with 50+ pit dwellings, large shell middens, and lakeside fishing weirs…
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village
Tagoyano Site
Late to Final Jomon 2500–400 BCE · Late–Final Jomon (Tsugaru coastal)
Late to Final Jomon shell midden (c.2500–400 BCE) on the Japan Sea coastal dune at Tsugaru City, Aomori — 6.3 ha site with shell mound (Corbicula, Ezo surf clam) 2.5 m thick, 30+ pit dwellings, and…
🇯🇵 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…