🇯🇵 Japan · Rock art
Fugoppe Cave Petroglyphs
Jomon (Final to Zoku-Jomon) · Zoku-Jomon maritime hunter-gatherers of western Hokkaido
Hokkaido shore tuff cave with 800 winged-human and boat incisions 300 BCE–500 CE, Jomon rock art.
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78 places in the atlas, 20 of them inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage.
🇯🇵 Japan · Rock art
Jomon (Final to Zoku-Jomon) · Zoku-Jomon maritime hunter-gatherers of western Hokkaido
Hokkaido shore tuff cave with 800 winged-human and boat incisions 300 BCE–500 CE, Jomon rock art.
🇯🇵 Japan · Archaeological wonder
Incipient→Early→Middle Jomon 10000–1000 BCE (Jomon hunter-fisher-gatherer with peat preservation) · Jomon (Wakasa Bay Incipient–Early Jomon, Neolithic without agriculture)
Early–Middle Jomon shell midden and wetland village (c.12000–3000 BP, 10000–1000 BCE) at Torihama lowland wetland near Lake Mikata, Wakasa, Fukui — 2 ha peat midden excavated 1962–85 by Wakasa Mikata…
🇯🇵 Japan · Tumulus
Middle–Late Kofun 400–600 CE (Kyushu regional) · Kyushu Chikuho Kofun (northern Kyushu style)
Ushivika Kofun — unrecorded southwestern keyhole? round kofun (c.5th–6th c CE, middle–late Kofun) on Chikuho plain between Iizuka and Keisen, Fukuoka, reported 2018 Chikuho mound survey.
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village
Yayoi Late 1st c BCE–1st c CE (late Yayoi classic) · Yayoi Tokai Etsu — Toro paddy tradition (Suruga plain)
Toro Yayoi Paddy Settlement — classic Yayoi late wet-rice village (1st c BCE–1st c CE, late Yayoi) on Abe River floodplain 4 km south Shizuoka, discovered 1943 (Land Reform) excavated 1947–48 by Y.
🇯🇵 Japan · Tumulus
Early–Middle Kofun c.450 CE (Asuka preceding) · Kofun (Kinai–Kanto diffusion)
Kanto scallop hotategai-kofun 67 m (c.450 CE) — double moat and box cist on Mibu Plateau (per Ushivika).
🇯🇵 Japan · Tumulus
Late Kofun 560–710 CE (Asuka) · Late Kofun (Yamato–Silla contact)
Unlooted 48 m Kofun at Ikaruga — gilt horse trappings and lacquer coffins (late 6th c, 1985 discovery).
🇯🇵 Japan · Tumulus
Asuka Late 645–710 CE → Nara 710–784 · Yamato–Asuka (Chinese Kaiyuan–Korean star lore)
Asuka round tomb (700 CE) at Kitora south Asuka — 13.8 m with 28-zodiac astronomical ceiling and four gods National Treasure murals.
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village
Jomon Late c.3000 BCE → Yayoi Early–Middle 500 BCE–100 CE → Edo overburden · Jomon → Yayoi (Tokyo Hongō branch)
Tokyo's Yayoi name-bearer extended — Yayoi 2-chome Oishi precinct on Hongō (1884 Yagi, Yayoi type).
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village
Yayoi 300 BCE–300 CE (Middle Yayoi zenith) · Yayoi Saga — Northern Kyushu rice chiefdom (Himiko candidate)
Yoshinogari Saga Moated Settlement — Japan's largest Yayoi moated village and Himiko Yamatai candidate (300 BCE–300 CE, 40 ha inner enclosure) on Yoshinogari hills at Chikugo River north Kyushu,…
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient city
Yayoi 300 BCE–300 CE (Ikikoku under Wei Zhi Wa federation) · Yayoi Iki–Tsushima maritime (Wa – Wei Himiko federation)
Wei Zhi Ikikoku maritime capital (300 BCE–300 CE) at Harunotsuji Iki — 100 ha with 2 km moat, 47 Han mirrors and plaza warehouse.
🇯🇵 Japan · Tumulus
Asuka Late 645–710 CE · Yamato–Asuka with Tang Kaiyuan import
Asuka Tang-style painted round tomb (700 CE) at Takamatsuzuka — 23 m with Asuka bijin court ladies in Tang dress National Treasure.
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village
Yayoi Early 300 BCE → Middle 100 BCE → Late 100–300 CE → Kofun · Yayoi (Tōkai–Suruga paddy culture)
Textbook Yayoi paddy (300 BCE–300 CE) at Toro Shizuoka — 370 waterlogged paddy plots with wooden spades and weir on Abe fan.
🇯🇵 Japan · Tumulus
Kofun Late 6th c CE Asuka transition · Late Kofun Yamato royal — Ikaruga Horyuji corridor
Fujinoki Kofun Ikaruga — late 6th c CE keyhole kofun (zenpo-koen 50×48 m, two-chamber) 300 m west Horyuji temple at Ikaruga, Nara basin NW, excavated 1985–88 by Kashihara Archaeological Institute…
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village
Yayoi 400 BCE–400 CE (Middle Yayoi peak 100 BCE–200 CE) · Yayoi (Kinki Nara Basin)
Nara Basin double-moated Yayoi city (400 BCE–400 CE) — 110k m2 with 30 granaries and bronze foundry at Tawaramoto.
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village
Jomon Early 5000 BP → Late Jomon 3000 BP · Jomon San'in coastal — Tawayama Hamayu tradition
Tawayama Shell Midden — Jomon mid-to-late shell midden (5000–3000 BP) on Tawayama hill at Lake Koyama 5 km NW Tottori, San'in Sea of Japan coast, excavated 1980s–90s by Tottori University.
🇯🇵 Japan · Tumulus
Kofun Late 7th–early 8th c CE (Asuka) · Asuka late Kofun court — shijin astronomical Daoist
Kitora Tumulus Nara — 7th–8th c CE late Kofun painted tomb (zenpo-koen remnant 13.8×9.8 m) on Abuyama hill at Asuka, Nara basin, National Treasure since 1983.
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village
Jomon Early 7000 → Late Jomon 3000 BP · Jomon Hokuriku Noto — Mawaki dolphin hunters
Mawaki Noto Shell Mound — Jomon early to late massive shell midden with dolphin remains (c.7000–3000 BP) on Noto Peninsula bay at Mawaki, Hokuriku, excavated 1980s–90s.
🇯🇵 Japan · Tumulus
Early Kofun 250–300 CE (transition Yayoi→Kofun) · Yayoi–Early Kofun — Makimuku/Yamato nucleus (Kinai)
Makimuku Keyhole Kofun — Makimuku Kofun cluster's keyhole trio at Miyama foothills 3 km south Sakurai, earliest keyhole zenpo-koen (late 3rd c CE) defining Yamato Kofun genesis before Hashihaka…
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village
Late Jomon 3rd c BCE → Yayoi 300 BCE–300 CE → Kofun · Yayoi rice-farming (Tokai Yayoi)
Toro — Yayoi rice-paddy village (1st c CE Yayoi, also 3rd c BCE late Jomon) 2 km south Shizuoka station, Abe River lowland, excavated 1943–47 (Japan's first post-war dig) by Matsumoto.
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient city
Yayoi Late 100–250 CE → Kofun Early 250–350 CE (Yamatai → Yamato) · Yayoi → Kofun transition (Yamato initial urbanism)
Yamato proto-city (180–300 CE) at Sakurai foot Mt. Miwa — 3 km village with palace pillars and Himiko Yamatai candidate (Wei Zhi 240 CE).
🇯🇵 Japan · Tumulus
Kofun Late 500–600 CE (Yamato Kinmei) · Yamato Late Kofun with Silla–Sassanian imports
Largest unlooted Late Kofun mound (560–590 CE) at Fujinoki west Horyu-ji — 48 m gilt-crown and Sassanian glass in stone corridor.
🇯🇵 Japan · Tumulus
Middle–Late Kofun 350–600 CE (Yamato mature) · Yamato Mozu–Furuichi Kofun tradition
Mozu Kofun Cluster — dense kofun cemetery (49 kofun inscribed, 160,000+ total in Japan, 4th–6th c CE) across Mozu and Furuichi plains 10 km south Osaka, excavated 1970s–2019 Shiraishi et al.
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village
Jomon Final 1000 BCE → Yayoi Incipient 930–600 BCE → Yayoi Early 600 BCE–100 CE · Jomon–Yayoi rice transition (Saga plain)
Japan's earliest rice contender (930–600 BCE) at Nabatake Karatsu — paddy bunds 2×1.5 m with incipient rice and ard-marks vs Itatsuke debate.
🇯🇵 Japan · Tumulus
Kofun Middle–Late 400–600 CE (Kibi culture) · Kofun Kibi (Seto Inland-Kibi chiefdom)
Kibi keyhole tumulus (400–600 CE) at Teraji near Soja — 65 m yokoana corridor with Sue ware and Gaya bronze horse gear.
