10 Aomori City, Aomori
Komakino Stone Circle
Designated as a Historic Site on Marcy 17, 1995
Stage IIIa (ca. 2,000 BCE) (Historic Site: ca. 2,000 BCE)
This site is located in Aomori City in central Aomori Prefecture, on a tongue-shaped plateau overlooking the Aomori Plain at an elevation of 80 to 160 meters. It is sandwiched between the Arakawa and Nyunai rivers, which flow through the western foothills of the Hakkoda Mountains. Deciduous broadleaved forests spread in the hinterland.
Before the stone circle was made, the ground was leveled by cutting higher land and filling lower land with the excavated soil. The circle consists of three rings that measure 2.5 meters, 29 meters, and 35 meters in diameter, respectively. It is surrounded by another set of stones placed in a ring that measures four meters in diameter and a row of stones that partly forms a fourth ring. The whole area is 55 meters in diameter. Besides the stone circle, a dumping ground, the remains of a spring, pit graves, and burial jars have been discovered.
Artifacts have been unearthed mainly from the dumping ground and burial area adjacent to the stone circle. These include not only pots and stone tools, but also items of a ritual character, such as clay figurines, miniature pots, animal- and bell-shaped clay objects, and triangular and circular stone plates. The unearthing of more than 400 triangular ritual stone plates indicates that rituals and ceremonies were performed at the stone circle.
This component part, dating from the first half of the maturation stage of sedentism, is a ritual archaeological site that centers on a stone circle. It is an important archaeological site that attests to a livelihood as well as rituals and ceremonies in a hilly area.
Site tours
- Location
- Komakino, Nozawa, Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture
- Access
-
From Aomori Station (JR Ou Main Line):
- Approx. 35 min. by car
From Shin-Aomori Station (JR Tohoku Shinkansen Line):
- Approx. 35 min. by car
From Aomori Airport
- Approx. 20 min. by car
Aomori-chuo IC (Aomori Expressway):
- Approx. 25 min. by car
From the Furukawa No. 3 bus stop (5 min. from Aomori Station on foot):
- Approx. 25 min. by Aomori Municipal Bus bound for Oyanabe to the Nozawa bus stop, and then 30 min. on foot
From the Aomori City Komakino Site Preservation Museum:
- Approx. 5 min. by car
- Site guides
-
One guide is stationed (free, in Japanese, for 30 to 40 min.).
- Reservations are required two weeks in advance.
- Remarks
- Closed in winter (from November 16 to April 30)
Visitor facilities
- Name
- Aomori City Komakino Site Preservation Museum
- Address
- Sawabe 108-3, Nozawa, Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture, 030-0152
- Tel.
- 017-757-8665 / +81-17-757-8665
- Fax.
- 017-757-8670 / +81-17-757-8670
- Website
- Hours
- 9:00 – 17:00
- Closed
- Year-end and New Year's holidays (December 29 – January 3)
- Admission
-
Free
- Facility
information -
- Access
-
From Aomori Station (JR Ou Main Line):
- Approx. 30 min. by car
From Shin-Aomori Station (JR Tohoku Shinkansen Line):
- Approx. 30 min. by car
From Aomori Airport
- Approx. 15 min. by car
Aomori-chuo IC (Aomori Expressway):
- Approx. 20 min. by car
From the Furukawa No. 3 bus stop (5 min. from Aomori Station on foot):
- Approx. 25 min. by Aomori Municipal Bus bound for Oyanabe to the Nozawa bus stop, and then 3 min. on foot
Komakku
Komakku is the mascot of the Komakino Stone Circle. It was inspired by a bear-shaped clay object unearthed at the site.
Facility introduction
- Name
- Komakino Site Conservation Center
- Facility
introduction -
This facility adjacent to the Komakino Stone Circle provides explanations of the stone circle and is equipped with a rest space, a toilet and parking that can accommodate large buses. It is open from 9:00 to 17:00 (until 16:00 from October 1 to November 15, but closed from November 16 to April 30).
- Address
- Komakino 41, Nozawa, Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture, 030-0152
- Tel.
- 017-757-8665 / +81-17-757-8665
- Fax.
- 017-757-8670 / +81-17-757-8670
- Website
CONTACT
Cultural Properties Division, Aomori City Board of Education
Shinmachi 1-chome 3-7, Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture, 030-0801
TEL： 017-718-1392 / +81-17-718-1392 ／ FAX：017-718-1394 / +81-17-718-1394
Pamphlets, etc.
-
Komakino Stone Circle
[leaflet in Japanese, May 2015]
-
Welcome to the Komakino Stone Circle!
[leaflet in Japanese, April 2018]
-
Aomori City Komakino Site Preservation Museum Floor Guide
[leaflet in Japanese, April 2018] (PDF)
-
Komakku's Introduction of the Komakino Stone Circle (YouTube)
[March 2018]
-
World Heritage Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan, Komakino Stone Circle
[pamphlet in English and Japanese, November 2021]
