7 Hakodate City, Hokkaido
Ofune Site
Designated as a Historic Site on August 13, 2001
Stage IIb (ca. 2,500 BCE – 2,000 BCE) (Historic Site: ca. 3,500 BCE – 2,000 BCE)
This site is located in Minamikayabe, Hakodate City, on the eastern side of the Oshima Peninsula in southwestern Hokkaido, on a coastal terrace at an elevation of 30 to 50 meters along the Ofune River. It is on the Pacific Ocean, which is blessed with aquatic resources. Deciduous broadleaved forests extend in the hinterland.
The settlement has a residential area with the remains of more than 100 pit dwellings and large artificial earthen mounds. To their southwest, more than 100 pits, including graves and storage pits, have been discovered.
Many pit dwellings at this site were found to be distinctively deeper than those found elsewhere—some of them even deeper than two meters. The earthen mounds have yielded huge quantities of pots, stone tools and scorched earth, suggesting that rituals and ceremonies were continually performed here over a long period of time.
The bones of marine mammals (whales, fur seals, etc.), the bones of fishes (tuna, salmon, etc.), and shells (from oysters, etc.) have been unearthed, as have nuts (chestnuts, walnuts, etc.), wild grapes, and lacquer trees, indicating that people practiced fishing and used forest resources very actively.
This component part, dating from the second half of the development stage of sedentism, is an archaeological site of a hub settlement accompanied by large ritual earthen mounds. It is an important archaeological site that attests to the livelihood and spiritual lifestyle of people in a coastal area.
Site tours
- Location
- Ofune-cho, Hakodate, Hokkaido
- Access
-
From Hakodate Station (JR Hakodate Main Line):
- Approx. 70 min. by car
- Approx. 100 min. by Hakodate Bus bound for Shikabe, Furube or Todohokke to the Ofune Shogakko-mae bus stop, and then 10 min. on foot
Note: If you take a bus bound for Furube or Todohokke, transfer at the Minamikayabe Shisho-mae bus stop.
From Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station (JR Hokkaido Shinkansen Line):
- Approx. 45 min. by car (via Onuma)
From Hakodate Airport
- Approx. 50 min. by car
From Onuma Koen IC (Hokkaido Expressway):
- Approx. 45 min. by car
From the Hakodate Jomon Culture Center/Kakinoshima Site:
- Approx. 10 min. by car
- Site guides
-
A management staff member stationed there provides a guided tour twice a day, at fixed times (free, in Japanese).
- Group visitors and others needing a guided tour at other times must apply in advance (to the Hakodate Jomon Culture Center).
- Remarks
-
Hours
April to October: 9:00 – 17:00
November to March: 9:00 – 16:00
Note: Closed from December 29 to January 3
Visitor facilities
- Name
- Hakodate Jomon Culture Center
- Address
- Usujiri-cho 551-1, Hakodate, Hokkaido, 041-1603
- Tel.
- 0138-25-2030 / +81-138-25-2030
- Fax.
- 0138-25-2033 / +81-138-25-2033
- Website
- Hours
-
April to October: 9:00 – 17:00
November to March: 9:00 – 16:30 - Closed
-
Mondays (or Tuesday if Monday is a national holiday)
Last Friday of each month
Year-end and New Year's holidays (December 29 – January 3) - Admission
-
General visitors
- Adults: 300 yen; Students: 150 yen
Group of 20+
- Adults: 240 yen; Students: 120 yen
- Facility guides
-
Free guided tours in Japanese are available, but reservations are required. (If you do not have a reservation, please inquire.)
- Facility
information -
- Access
-
From Hakodate Station (JR Hakodate Main Line):
- Approx. 60 min. by car
- Approx. 90 min. by Hakodate Bus bound for Shikabe, Furube or Todohokke to the Kakinoshima Iseki-shita bus stop, and then 7 min. on foot
Note: If you take a bus bound for Furube or Todohokke, transfer at the Minamikayabe Shisho-mae bus stop.
From Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station (JR Hokkaido Shinkansen Line):
- Approx. 60 min. by car (via Onuma)
From Hakodate Airport
- Approx. 40 min. by car
From Onuma Koen IC (Hokkaido Expressway):
- Approx. 60 min. by car
From the Ofune Site:
- Approx. 10 min. by car
Director Dogu (clay figurine director)
Director Dogu is the mascot of the Hakodate Jomon Culture Center.
Facility introduction
- Name
- Hakodate City Museum
- Facility
introduction -
Originally opened in 1879 as the Hakodate Provisional Museum, this facility houses numerous valuable materials related to the humanities and natural history. Most notably, its archaeological collections from the Jomon period include many items that have been designated as cultural properties by the Hokkaido Government and the City of Hakodate.
- Address
- Aoyagi-cho 17-1, Hakodate, Hokkaido, 040-0044
- Tel.
- 0138-23-5480 / +81-138-23-5480
- Fax.
- 0138-23-0831 / +81-138-23-0831
- Website
CONTACT
Cultural Properties Division, Lifelong Learning Department, Hakodate City Board of Education
Shinonome-cho 4-13, Hakodate, Hokkaido, 040-8666
TEL： 0138-21-3563 / +81-138-21-3563 ／ FAX：0138-27-7217 / +81-138-27-7217
Pamphlets, etc.
-
Jomon
[pamphlet in Japanese, 2005]
-
Hakodate Jomon Culture Center
[leaflet in Japanese, 2011]
-
World Heritage Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan, Ofune Site
[pamphlet in English and Japanese, November 2021]
