TRENDS IN ARCHAEOLOGY IN JAPAN

Medieval
MATSUI Kazuaki1 & MIZOGUCHI Akihiro2
As for trends of ﬁscal 2017 medieval archaeology, this article discussed city/village
sites, castle cities and medieval graves as site studies, and pottery/ceramics, production/distribution, and synthetic study as artifact studies.
For city/village study, Chusei Toshi Kenkyukai held a conference “Hakata as a Port City.”
It expanded the viewpoint to East Asia and focused on aspects of the city as a base fordomestic and international distribution and introduction of technology, as well as functions
as a military base. For publications, there was Chusei Toshi Kenkyukai ed. “Shukyotoshi”
Nara wo Kangaeru (Thoughts on “Religious City” Nara). It contained theses from various
angles on developmental processes of the medieval city Nara, and city functions in transition
to the modern city Nara.
As for castle study, Shokuhoki Jokaku Kenkyukai held its ﬁscal 2017 conference “NewViewpoint on Shokuho Period Castle Tile Study,” and discussed the relationship of artifacts
excavated with tiles and problems regarding tile making such as kobiki . Also, they helda conference with Sawayamajo Kenkyukai titled “Sawayama Castle Seen from Toyotomi
Castle.” Chugoku/Shikoku Chiku Jokan Chosa Kentokai held a conference titled “EarlyModern Castles Seen from Matsuyama Castle of Iyo,” and tried to compare castles in Japanand wajo including Matsuyama Castle of Iyo, and discussed noboriishigaki stone walls.
KAKEN “Chusei/Kinsei Ikoki ni Okeru Shugosho/Jokamachi no Sogo Kenkyu (Integrated
Research on Shugosho /Castle Towns in the Transitional Period of Medieval and Early
Modern)” held a conference “Osaka and Sekkasen in the Toyotomi Era,” and presentations/discussions were held as a culmination of the long research on shugosho and castle towns.
As for the study on medieval graves, a conference was held on the end of medieval
graves, progressed by Chusei Sosobosei Kenkyukai. The ﬁnal phase of medieval graves
was also discussed in the Kyushu region by Oitashi Kenkyukai and in the Shikoku region
by Takamatsushi Kenkyukai. It is inferred from these discussions that there was an end of
the burial system in Kyushu from the end of medieval to the Edo period, but there was the1 Contact address undisclosed(E-mail address undisclosed)
2 Shizuoka Prefectural Archaeological Center, 5300–5 Kambara, Shizuoka Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka 421–3203, Japan(Web address: http://www.smaibun.jp/)
JAPANESE JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY 7 (2019): 103–104© Japanese Archaeological Association

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JAPANESE JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY 7 (2019): 103–104

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possibility of continuation in Shikoku as in Kinai.
As for pottery/ceramic study, Chusei Doki Kenkyukai held a conference under the theme“Lineage and Dating of Domestic Ceramics,” and discussions were held on excavatedexamples from each consumption area and the relationship between chronological views
and historical dating. Boeki Toji Kenkyukai held a conference titled “Disparity of Imported
Ceramics. There were discussions that reorganized disparity held within imported
ceramics as differences between the product itself and values within products.
As for production/distribution study, results regarding “Collaborative Research: General
Study on Technology and Craftspersons in Medieval Times” which studied medieval
technology comprehensively was published in Bulletin of the National Museum of Japanese
History No. 210. It examined relationships between people, products, and technology
focusing on “technology that created the era” and “technology that supported everydaylife.” As medieval history study, ONO Masatoshi, GOMI Fumihiko, HAGIWARA Mitsuo
ed. Iseki ni Yomu Chuseishi (Medieval History Read in Sites) (Toyama: Koshi Shoin) waspublished. It proposed cooperation with document history and other ﬁelds in medieval
history as it promotes interpretation of features and artifacts recognized in archaeology.
Also, Chuseigaku Kenkyukai held the ﬁrst symposium under a theme “Illusionary Kyoto
Model,” and it discussed a deﬁnition of a culture that should be shared universally as thetraditional order of medieval is disappearing while the normative of Kyoto is still recognized.

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