2022年8月 – ページ 2 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

88.Yoshinogari Ruins Part3

The ruins became the Yoshinogari Historical Park instead of an industrial park.

Later History

With the start of the Burial Mound Period in at the late 3rd Century, the Yoshinogari settlement rapidly decreased. Four keyhole-shaped burial mounds were built on the land of Yoshinogari. After a long time, local historians noticed that a lot of pieces of burial jars and earthenware were found in the area about 100 years ago. In 1986, Saga Prefecture decided to develop the area as an industrial park. As a result, before the development, there were some research on the buried cultural properties. Yoshinogari Ruins were meant to be destroyed after the research. However, the huge scale ruins were revealed in 1989. The media reported the ruins sensationally as if they were the Yamatai Country. Visitors suddenly rushed to the ruins, too. The prefecture reversed its decision and announced it would preserve the ruins instead. The ruins were designated as a National Special Historic Site in 1991. The Yoshinogari Historical Park finally opened in 2001.

The aerial photo of Hashihaka-kofun Tumulus, a representative keyhole-shaped burial mound in the 3rd Century in Nara Prefecture

Unearthed relics at Yoshinogari site, in the Exhibition Room

A distant view of the Yoshinogari Historical Park

My Impression

I think there are no other ruins like the Yoshinogari Ruins, which show the real image of the Yayoi Period. The ruins can be seen as a theme park rather than a historical park. You can see the settlements already had some elements of castles found in Japan later on. However, it’s up to you whether Yoshinogari Ruins should be considered are a kind of castle or not. I recommend visiting them and making your own impression.

The entrance of the North Inner Enclosure

The restored circular moats with fences at the Moat-Enclose Entrance Grounds

How to get There

If you want to visit the ruins by car, it is a few minutes away from Higashi-Sefuri IC on the Nagasaki Expressway.
You can park in the parking lots for visitors in the park.
If you want to use public transportation, it takes about 15 minutes on foot from the JR Yoshinogari-koen Station.
To get to Yoshinogari-koen Station from Tokyo or Osaka: Take the limited express from Hakata Station and transfer to the local train on the Nagasaki Line at Tosu Station, after using the Shinkansen super express or by plane.

Links and References

・Yoshinogari Historical Park

That’s all. Thank you.
Back to “Yoshinogari Ruins Part1”
Back to “Yoshinogari Ruins Part2”

88.吉野ヶ里遺跡　その３

遺跡は工業団地化を免れ、吉野ヶ里歴史公園となりました。

その後

３世紀後半の古墳時代の始まりとともに、吉野ヶ里集落は急速に衰退しました。吉野ヶ里の地には、４つの前方後円墳が築かれました。それから長い時間が経過し、郷土史家たちは約１００年前に、この地からは多くの甕棺や土器のかけらが見つかることに気が付きました。1986年、佐賀県はこの地域を工業団地として開発することを決定しました。その結果、その開発の前に埋蔵文化財の調査を行うことになりました。吉野ヶ里遺跡は、その調査の後は破壊されることになってしまったのです。ところが、1989年に巨大な遺跡が姿を現しました。マスコミは、まるでそれが邪馬台国であるかのようにセンセーショナルに報道しました。観光客も遺跡を見るために押し寄せました。県は工業団地化を撤回し、遺跡を保存していくことを発表しました。遺跡は1991年には国の特別史跡に指定されたのです。そして、ついには吉野ヶ里歴史公園が2001年にオープンしました。

３世紀の代表的な前方後円墳、奈良県箸墓古墳の航空写真

私の感想

弥生時代の姿をそのまま再現したものとして、吉野ヶ里公園の右に出るものはないと思うのです。また、この遺跡は歴史公園というよりもテーマパークのようにも見えます。更にこの集落は、後の日本の城で見られるいくつかの要素を既に持っていたようにも思います。しかしながら、吉野ヶ里遺跡を一種の城と見なすかどうかは、それを見た人の印象次第ではないでしょうか。実際にここに来てみて、自分なりの感想を持たれてはいかがでしょうか。

ここに行くには

車で行く場合：長崎自動車道の東脊振ICから数分のところです。公園の中にビジター用の駐車場があります。
公共交通機関を使う場合は、ＪＲ吉野ヶ里公園駅から歩いて約１５分かかります。
東京または大阪から吉野ヶ里公園駅まで：新幹線か飛行機を使った後、博多駅から特急に乗り、鳥栖駅で長崎本線の普通列車に乗り換えてください。

リンク、参考情報

・吉野ヶ里歴史公園
・「全集日本の歴史第１巻　列島創生記／松木武彦著」小学館
・「プロジェクトX挑戦者たち　王が眠る神秘の遺跡」ＮＨＫ出版
・「日本の歴史02　王権誕生／寺沢薫著」講談社学術文庫

これで終わります。ありがとうございました。
「吉野ヶ里遺跡その１」に戻ります。
「吉野ヶ里遺跡その２」に戻ります。

88.Yoshinogari Ruins Part2

The ruins look like a theme park.

Features

Ruins becomes Historical Park

Today, Yoshinogari Ruins have been well developed as the Yoshinogari Historical Park. The ruins are also one of the largest ones of the Yayoi Period in Japan, with over 100 hectares. The park has four entrances for visitors in all the directions. If you stand in front of the largest gate, the East Gate, it looks like a theme park. Many events are actually held in the park to attract visitors, including families and groups. Many buildings and structures of the Yoshinogari settlement were also restored after being excavated. The original excavated relics and items were buried again or taken to preserve them.

The East Gate of the Yoshinogari Historical Park.

The aerial photo around the castle

Moat-Enclose Entrance Grounds

If you enter the park through the East Gate and walk into the center, you will first be at the Moat-Enclose Entrance Grounds. There are restored circular moats around the wooden gate which looks like a shrine gateway. The moats are dug like a U letter (originally V letter), with fences on the earthen walls in front of them and abatises behind. This is where the real entrance of the settlement was in the past.

The restored circular moats with the earthen walls, fences and abatises around

The original cutout model of the circular moats like a V letter, shown in the Exhibition Room

South Inner Enclosure with people living

You will next find the South Inner Enclosure where people lived. There are also a turret gate, watch towers, a cooking house, a meeting room, and residences, surrounded by fences and moats. You can climb up to the platforms of these gate and towers to enjoy a view and understand how to protect the enclosure. They were also all restored based on the findings of the excavation.

The turret gate of the South Inner Enclosure

Beside the South Inner Enclosure, you can visit the Exhibition Room which shows the unearthed items and the history of the settlement. You should check out a lot of burial jars used as for tombs. A set of two jars were usually used in the tomb, with both rims put together to seal the body in. About 3,000 tombs were discovered at the site, and the total number is estimated to be about 15,000. This burial system is one of the features of the settlements in the Yayoi Period.

A lot of burial jars exhibited in the room

North Inner Enclosure, Center of Settlement

The highlight of the ruins should be the North Inner Enclosure, the center of the administration. The enclosure, which looks like a primitive castle, is surrounded by the doubled moats and dense wooden fences with an alternate gate. Of course, they were all restored as to what they had been. There are restored shrines, high-floored storehouses and houses, and watchtowers inside. You can see this is the special spot for the settlement at first sight.

A moat and fences surrounding the North Inner Enclosure

In particular, the Main Shrine is a building composed of two floors standing above high pillars. The first floor was supposed to be used as the meeting room for the leaders. The top floor was likely used to pray an oracle. Some figures are set in both floors to make visitors understand what the rooms were used for. The figure praying was probably made based on the impression of Himiko.

To be continued in “Yoshinogari Ruins Part3”
Back to “Yoshinogari Ruins Part1”