2 Hakodate City, Hokkaido
Kakinoshima Site
Designated as a Historic Site on February 7, 2011
Stage Ib (ca. 5,000 BCE) (Historic Site: ca. 7,000BCE – 1,000BCE)
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 32 to 50 meters along the Kakinoshima River. It is on the Pacific Ocean, which is blessed with aquatic resources. Deciduous broadleaved forests spread in the hinterland.
In the settlement, a residential area is set apart from a burial area, indicating a distinction between everyday space and special space. Fishing is thought to have been actively practiced, as numerous stone sinkers for fishing nets have been unearthed here. Clay tablets imprinted with children’s footprints that were used as burial goods have been unearthed from some graves, giving us a glimpse into a spiritual culture that is unique to this area.
This component part is an archaeological site of a settlement that dates from the second half of the emergent stage of sedentism. It is an important archaeological site that attests to a livelihood in a coastal area, the emergence of durable pit dwellings, and the separation of everyday space (residential areas) from special space (burial areas), indicating what the settlement was like and how the spiritual culture developed.
The U-shaped mounds of excavated earth here measure more than 190 meters in length and were built c. 2,000 BCE. They are among the largest such mounds in Japan. They were probably used as a place for burial practices and other rituals and ceremonies. These important monuments give us a visual glimpse into changes in the social and spiritual life of people at that time.
Site tours
- Location
- Usujiri-cho, Hakodate, Hokkaido
- 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 5 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
- Site guides
-
A management staff member stationed there provides a guided tour three times 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 by reservation. (If you don’t 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, Kakinoshima Site
[pamphlet in English and Japanese, November 2021]
