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 RoomA 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 EnclosureThe 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.
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 Moat-Enclose Entrance GroundsThe restored circular moats with the earthen walls, fences and abatises aroundThe 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 South Inner EnclosureThe turret gate of the South Inner EnclosureThe inside 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 roomA set of jars used in a tomb
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.
The North Inner EnclosureA moat and fences surrounding the North Inner EnclosureThe gate of the North Inner EnclosureThe restored high-floored house
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.
The Main ShrineThe first floor of the Main ShrineThe top floor of the Main Shrine
Yoshinogari Ruins were a large-scaled moat settlement in the Kyushu Region. The settlement prospered from around the 4th Century B.C. to around the 3rd Century during the Yayoi Period. People usually do not call the ruins “castle”, but they had some features which are found in Japanese castles later. That’s why the Japan Castle Foundation designated the ruins as one of Japan’s top 100 castles.
The location of the ruins
Until about 3,000 years ago, during the period known as the Jomon Period, Japan had a warmer climate than now and abundant natural food. People at that time basically were able to live by hunting and gathering at the same place for a long time. However, in the late Jomon Period, the climate cooled down, making it difficult for people to earn a living easily. People had to move around to get enough food while coastlines expanded where the offing used to be. It is said these changes encouraged people to start farming on the newly created alluvial plains.
Climate Change and Beginning of Yayoi Period
Sannai-Maruyama Ruins in Aomori Prefecture, one of the representative ruins of the Jomon Period
The situation was similar to overseas, especially, the climate change was also said to have a big impact on the Chinese History such as the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period. The social structures and technologies greatly improved during these periods. Some of the new technologies were introduced to the Kyushu Region via the Korean Peninsula sometime from the 10th to 5th Centuries B.C. Among them, there were the three typical items: the paddy cultivation, the use of weapons, and the circular moats. This is recognized as the start of the Yayoi Period according to many historians.
The restored paddy fields and pit houses of the Yayoi Period, in Toro Ruins of Shizuoka Prefecture (licensed by Halowand via Wikimedia Commons)unearthed bronze swords, exhibited in the Tokyo National Museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons) one of the restored circular moats in Yoshinogari Ruins
These three items were related to each other. Farming needs socialization, making people live in one settlement. If the people wanted to expand their farms, their territory would collide with another settlement’s territory. This would also cause a conflicts or battles, leading to the use of weapons. Then, they would also need to protect themselves from attacks from others and to prevent their properties from being taken or stolen. As a result, they would surround their settlement by building circular moats with fences. Historians call them Moated Settlements, which is one of the typical features of the Yayoi Period.
The restored Moated Settlement in Yoshinogari Ruins
Appearance of First Countries
Socialization and surviving battles required strong leadership. As time passed, some excellent leaders appeared, and their settlements and territories became larger and larger. They might have been called the first kings with their territories also being called the first countries. In the northern part of the Kyushu Region around the 1st Century, there were several great countries such as the Country of Na, which sent an envoy to China. Yoshinogari was one of the great countries in the region.
The gold seal which Han Dynasty gave to the king of Na Country (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
According to the description of the Gishi-wajin-den — the history of Japan around the 3rd Century, written in China — there was a country called Yamatai governed by a queen. The country was established when many smaller countries made peace and united after they often battled each other. The queen, called Himiko, governed the united countries by making decisions like a shaman. She lived in the palace of the capital, which also had turrets and fences with soldiers to protect it.
Part of the Gishi-wajin-den (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
Large-scaled Moat Settlement
Meanwhile, Yoshinogari settlement was at its peak in the same 3rd Century with its an estimated population of about 5,000. The moats surrounding it were built doubled, and their perimeter reached 2.5 km. In fact, Yoshinogari Ruins is the only site ever discovered in Japan which had a set of a palace, turrets and fences like Yamatai Country. However, it is still not quite uncertain where the country was because there are too many possible sites for it. It can be said that so far, Yoshinogari Ruins clearly show us what the countries in the Yayoi Period looked like.
The restored palace and fences in Yoshinogari RuinsOne of the restored turrets in Yoshinogari Ruins
