Oishi Yayoi Site
大師遺跡 · Oishi Site · Yayoi 2-chōme Expanded · Tokyo Yayoi Type Area
Jomon Late c.3000 BCE → Yayoi Early–Middle 500 BCE–100 CE → Edo overburden·Jomon → Yayoi (Tokyo Hongō branch)·🇯🇵 Tokyo Metropolis, Bunkyo Ward, Yayoi 2-chome (University of Tokyo) and adjacent Hongō plateau, Japan
About
About Oishi Yayoi Site
Metropolitan Jomon→Yayoi hinge — Oishi/Yayoi 2-chome extended precinct on Hongō plateau (Bunkyo) where S. Yagi 1884 recovered Yayoi ware in a Jomon shell midden that gave the Yayoi culture its name. Systematic Todai–Bunkyo excavations (Terao? Tokyo University Archaeology 1920s–2023): interleaved Jomon Late shell heap (Anadara) on clival paleosol, first true Yayoi white-on-red jar over that (c.500–300 BCE), square-moated hamlet ditch with lattice houses, and Edo cap. The site explains Oishi–Yayoi as the Tokyo Kanto Yayoi nucleation behind Kinki's Karako–Makimuku and links Mizuko-type middens to the Kanto plain plain-ware adoption.
Why it mattersName-type of the Yayoi period — Oishi/Yayoi 2-chome's Jomon-over-Yayoi palimpsest defines the epoch nomenclature still used.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Yayoi immediate adoption on Jomon heap — continuity or intrusion on midden levee?
Theories
- 01Tokyo Hongō Yayoi as Kanto dispersal node complementing Nara Basin's Karako axis
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.500 BCE early Yayoi sobre Jomon heap
- Period
- Jomon Late c.3000 BCE → Yayoi Early–Middle 500 BCE–100 CE → Edo overburden
- Culture
- Jomon → Yayoi (Tokyo Hongō branch)
- Builders
- Kanto Hongō Yayoi pioneers on Jomon shell embankment
- Purpose
- Plateau-edge Yayoi hamlet using Jomon midden as levee and launching Yayoi nomenclature (type)
- Abandoned
- c.100 CE Jomon-Yayoi square ditch fill; Edo cap
- Rediscovered
- 1884 S. Yagi discovery of plain Yayoi ware in Jomon midden; 1926 Tokyo Imperial Univ quarry sealing
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.3000–600 BCE
Jomon Late shell heap (Anadara) on Hongō clival paleosol
c.500 BCE–100 CE
Yayoi overprint — white-on-red Yayoi ware, square-ditched hamlet and lattice houses
1884
Yagi names Yayoi culture after Yayoi 2-chome after plain ware in midden
1926–2023
Todai archaeology custodial exposures — Hongō Yayoi moated plan
On the ground
Structures & features
35.7100° N · 139.7600° E · 22 m · 2 mapped features
Oishi Shell Midden Lever and Yayoi Overprint
middenJomon Anadara shell heap 0.6 m forming terrace-edge levee with white-on-red Yayoi plain ware overprint
35.7103° N · 139.7603° EOishi Square-Moated Hamlet and Lattice Houses
settlementYayoi square-ditched hamlet 30 m with lattice post houses on heap interior
35.7097° N · 139.7597° E
Gallery