TRENDS IN ARCHAEOLOGY IN JAPANThe Committee for the Protection of Buried Cultural
Properties
SEKIGUCHI Norihisa1
Fiscal 2017 activities on protection of buried cultural properties are reported herein.
The ﬁscal 2017 national meeting of the Committee for the Protection of Buried Cultural
Properties (the Committee) was held on May 26 at Taisho University, attended by 32
members. In the meeting, it was decided to conduct a new questionnaire by the Committee
which is a continuation of questionnaires that have been conducted in the last ten years.
An information exchange session of the Committee was held on Oct. 22 at Miyazaki
Municipal University, attended by 17 members. Reports were made and opinions wereexchanged on damage to cultural properties and reconstruction from the heavy rainfall innorthern Kyushu, present states and problems on protection of buried cultural properties in
Miyazaki Prefecture, preservation problems in various parts of the country, and so on.
The board of directors meeting was held nine times in ﬁscal 2017. The board of directors
mainly discussed new issues on protection of buried cultural properties, information andproblems brought up from regional subcommittees and the Committee members. Especiallyrevision of the Law for Protection of Cultural Properties was repeatedly discussed as amajor topic in ﬁscal 2017.
Request for preservation of archaeological sites by the Committee was submitted for twosites in ﬁscal 2017, and there were six answers for these requests. Also, there was one answer
for a preservation request submitted in ﬁscal 2016.
The following archaeological sites were discussed by the Committee in ﬁscal 2017: 1.
Shinmei site in Bando City, Ibaraki Prefecture; 2. Takaosan mounded tomb in Numazu
City, Shizuoka Prefecture; 3. Nishiiwano site in Kashiwazaki City, Niigata Prefecture; 4.
Noborioji tile kiln sites in Nara City, Nara Prefecture; 5. Wareishijizo buddha sculpture in
Mihara City, Hiroshima Prefecture; 6. Jono site in Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture;
7. Maehata site in Chikushino City, Fukuoka Prefecture; and 8. Koshima clinic site inNagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture.
As for the partial revision of the Law for Protection of Cultural Properties, deliberationby the government’s advisory body has been conducted since June 2017. While it proposes
1 Mito City Board of Education, 2036–2 Otsukacho, Mito, Ibaraki 311–4143, Japan(mocha@nk.rim.or.jp)

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comprehensive preservation and utilization of regional cultural properties, it promotes
utilization of cultural properties as tourist attractions. While it includes important issues
regarding direction of future administration for protection of cultural properties, it holds arisk of overusing cultural properties, and therefore the Japanese Archaeological Association
submitted a public comment on Sept. 28, 2017 and has expressed its opinion on March 8,2018.
As for the poster session at the general meeting and the convention, the Committee
presented “Excavation Research on Buried Cultural Properties due to Reconstruction
Projects of the Great East Japan Earthquake (5th Report)” with examples from different
prefectures.
A talk with the Agency of Cultural Affairs was held on March 20, 2018. Preservation
problems on Noborioji tile kiln sites and Takaosan mounded tomb, revision of the Law forProtection of Cultural Properties and measures for damages to cultural properties caused bythe Kumamoto Earthquake were discussed.

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