2Visiting National Heritage — Retrospecting
History by Trip to Kyushu
By Naoyuki Haraoka

Author Naoyuki Haraoka

Introduction

Ruins of Hashimuregawa

Kyushu Island, the southern part of the Japanese archipelago, iswell known for its hot springs, beautiful scenery, and fine local cuisine— all of which are good resources for tourism. Above all, it is one of
the best places to learn about the history of Japan, as it is one of themost advanced regions of the country with the longest traceable
history. You can visit a number of ruins from prehistoric times such as
the Jomon Period (from about 10,000 years ago until the 4th centuryBC) and the Yayoi Period (from the 3rd century BC to the 3rd centuryAD), which is before the Japanese imperial family succeeded inachieving rule over the nation in the 5th century.
Ruins in Kyushu also tell of the beginning of our relations with ourneighbors through such evidence as the similarity of soldiers’ graves,the architecture of housing, and the products of industry with those ofruins in China or Korea, the most advanced nations in Asia during
those periods. Learning the history of relations between nations is an
important step in advancing foreign policy to achieve mutual
understanding, since I believe that foreign policy consists of efforts tobuild blocks on the foundation of past relations step by step.
Two ruins in Kyushu that I visited in August this year, Hashimuregawa
and Yoshinogari, speak clearly of the beginnings of relations between
Japan and its two main neighbors.

The Hashimuregawa Ruins are located in the city of Ibusuki inKagoshima Prefecture at the southern tip of Kyushu, an area wellknown for its hot springs with their source in Mt. Kaimon, once anactive volcano. This 1,000-meter mountain, resembling Mt. Fuji in its
beautiful shape, though much lower, has also made an important
contribution to the advancement of Japanese archaeology.
In 1915, Moritake Nishimuta, a pupil at Shibushi Junior High Schoolin Ibusuki, found two fragments of ancient earthenware, one with apattern of rope markings and the other much simpler, in an area covered
with volcanic ash on his way to school. After the fragments were studied
by archaeological experts, a research team of archaeologists discovered
the ruins there containing these two different styles of earthenware. Dr.
Kosaku Hamada, the leader of the team, confirmed that the simpler
earthenware, known as Yayoi ware, came from the upper layer of theearth above the layer of volcanic ash, while the other one with the ropemarking pattern, Jomon ware, known as “Ainu earthenware”, came fromthe lower layer beneath the volcanic ash.
Until that time, 1918 or 1919, it was generally believed by Japanesearchaeologists that these two different kinds of earthenware were
produced at the same time, since two different cultures or races
co-existed during the same period. But thanks to the volcanic ash
having made a clear distinction between the two layers of earth where
the earthenware was found, it was proved that each belonged to adifferent age. This was how for the first time in Japanese history it wasproved that the Jomon Period preceded the Yayoi Period. This volcanic
ash layer was created by the eruptions of Mt. Kaimon, the first one
around 4,000 years ago, the second around 2,000 years ago, the thirdin 675 and the final one in 874. The last one was the biggest and wecan learn about it from one of the oldest Japanese history books titled
Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku (The True History of Three Reigns of Japan),edited by Michizane Sugawara, Shihei Fujiwara and others at thebeginning of the 10th century. The entire village of Hashimuregawa
was buried under volcanic ash, just as Pompeii in Italy was completely
buried under ash and pumice by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79
AD.
The remains of human bones discovered in the Hashimuregawa
Ruins also tell us that men active during the Jomon Period were very
different from those active during the Yayoi Period. The human bodyreconstructed from the remains of bones during the Jomon Period is

Photo: Author

The ancient village of Yoshinogari — a glimpse of Japan’s remote past

60 Japan SPOTLIGHT • January / February 2017

150 cm tall and bending forward, while the one for the Yayoi Period isaround 160 cm tall and seems to be walking upright. Their faces also
seem to be different: the former has a chiseled face and the latter has aflat one. Thus, different people created these two civilizations. Judging
only by appearances, the former resembles Southeast Asians today
and the latter resembles Chinese and Koreans in Northeast Asia.
Can we then assume that the Hashimuregawa Ruins show us anintersection between Southeast Asian civilization and Northeast Asian
civilization between these periods?

Photo: Author

Ruins of Yoshinogari
The Yoshinogari Ruins are located in the Yoshinogari Valley about
40 minutes by car from Saga Airport in Saga Prefecture, in thenorthern part of Kyushu. They were discovered during the process ofthe prefectural government’s large-scale industrialization project thatsaw the spread of large manufacturing plants in the 1980s. On Feb. 22,1989, a research team of archaeologists discovered the remains of alarge village, which in 1991 the government nominated as a special
historic spot. It was decided the following year to develop a national
historic park to preserve these ruins. At that time, there were views inacademia that these remains could date from the Yamataikoku, ahistorical Japanese state thought to have existed in the 3rd century AD
in the late Yayoi Period and ruled by Queen Himiko, who was referred
to in an ancient Chinese history book titled Gishi Wajin den (Recordsof Wa People in the Book of Wei) written by Chen Shou in the 3rdcentury. There were even some views that the Japanese imperial family
could originally be from this kingdom in Kyushu since the remains are
so large, around 50 hectares, and were presumably protected by many
soldiers. Although that view is not regarded as correct today, theseremains are anyway evidence of an independent state existing in Japanat that time.
These ruins believed to be from the Yayoi Period show that thewhole village was ruled by a king, as we can see a royal palace
separated from the village and the people’s residential area. There arealso some barracks for soldiers and scaffolds for watch-keeping
guards, as well as moats surrounding the village and the palace. Thismeans the Yayoi Period in Japan was not a peaceful time but an age ofbattles and conflict among villages and states. The beginnings ofagriculture that characterized the Yayoi Period in Japan probably
created income inequalities and the wealthy villages would haveneeded to protect their own wealth against possible invasion by people
from other villages who were suffering from poor crops or wanted to
expand their territory. The Gishi Wajin den is correct in saying “thenthe country of Japan was divided into so many states and they werealways fighting against each other.”
There is also much evidence of the deep cultural influence of theKorean Peninsula and China. The remains of carbonized rice crops
indicate the practice of rice farming, while the existence of silk clothing
proved by remains of silk in the coffin of a seemingly wealthy man, as
well as funerary urns and other kinds of iron ware and bronze ware,suggest the close relations between the Yoshinogari village and Koreaand China. Silk and funerary urns were commonly used in those

The shape of stone coffins — evidence of the cultural influence of China and Korea

countries at that time. There are also tombs in the ruins very similar toones in the Korean Peninsula during the same period. The shape of atomb can speak eloquently of history. After the Japanese imperialfamily succeeded in unifying Japan as a nation in the 5th century, theshape of a tomb for rulers became standardized, while before that in
the Yayoi Period there were various tomb shapes, many of which had astriking resemblance to tombs in Korea and China. There must havebeen a mass migration from China and Korea during the Yayoi Periodthat brought such cultural products and customs to Kyushu.
You can guess the possibility of such a mass of immigration fromthose two nations to Japan during this period from the history ofChina and Korea as well. This period corresponds to a few changes
among the ruling dynasties in China, such as from the Qin Dynasty tothe Former Han Dynasty in the 3rd century BC, and the change fromthe Former Han Dynasty to the Xin Dynasty, as well as the change
from the Xin Dynasty to the Later Han Dynasty in the 1st century AD. It
is easy to imagine a mass of people defeated by a new dynasty leaving
China as political refugees and moving to Japan on the occasion ofeach change of power, coming through the Korean Peninsula where
each Chinese Dynasty had been strengthening foreign relations withKorean kingdoms during these periods.

Kyushu — Crossroads of Ancient Civilizations
It is hard to discover the truth during the prehistoric age, since very
few verbal records were preserved. In the case of the Yayoi Period inJapan, the Gishi Wajin den is the only written record. We can only
guess and imagine what could have happened from archaeologicalremains. But it would seem most likely, judging from the remains ofthese two ruins, that Kyushu Island used to be a cultural crossroads
among different Asian civilizations. This is surely an important point toremember when thinking about the future of these three countries’
foreign relations.
Naoyuki Haraoka is executive managing director and editor-in-chief of JapanSPOTLIGHT

Japan SPOTLIGHT • January / February 201761