Kashiwabara (Hokkaido)
Kashiwabara Site · Hokkaido Yayoi–Epi-Jomon
Jomon Late 1000 BCE → Epi-Jomon 300 BCE–500 CE → Satsumon 500–1100 CE → Honshu Yayoi influence·Epi-Jomon (Hokkaido) with Yayoi rice intrusion·🇯🇵 Hokkaido Prefecture, Ebetsu City, near Nopporo–Kashiwabara lowland between Ishikari plain and Chitose–Ebetsu Jomon belt (Oshima Peninsula north), Japan
About
About Kashiwabara (Hokkaido)
Hokkaido Yayoi–Epi-Jomon farming frontier (c.300 BCE–300 CE) at Kashiwabara near Ebetsu on Ishikari lowland — waterlogged layer with earliest Hokkaido rice husks (ephemeral paddy trial 100 BCE) plus Epi-Jomon pit houses (4×4 m) with Satsumon vs Hajiki ware, proving rice failed to colonize Hokkaido: Kashiwabara is the northern limit of paddy where Jomon salmon–nut collectorship persisted. The site is textbook for why Honshu Yayoi rice stopped at Tsugaru strait — wet-cold and daylight constraints — with 8 pit houses with sunken hearths and deer bone mass.
Why it mattersNorthernmost Yayoi rice trial — Japan's latitudinal rice frontier failure explains Tsugaru culture gap.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why Epi-Jomon refused rice after 300-year trial despite Honshu success across strait?
Theories
- 01Cold–daylength model for rice frontier; Hokkaido persistence as forager refuge until Satsumon millet
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.300 BCE Epi-Jomon base; paddy trial c.100 BCE–100 CE
- Period
- Jomon Late 1000 BCE → Epi-Jomon 300 BCE–500 CE → Satsumon 500–1100 CE → Honshu Yayoi influence
- Culture
- Epi-Jomon (Hokkaido) with Yayoi rice intrusion
- Builders
- Ishikari Epi-Jomon salmon collectors attempting Yayoi rice
- Purpose
- Northernmost Yayoi rice experiment establishing failed paddy frontier before Okhotsk
- Abandoned
- c.300 CE paddy abandonment; Epi-Jomon salmon–nut reversion until Satsumon millet
- Rediscovered
- 1970s Ebetsu floodgate works expose waterlogged paddy; 1985 Kashiwabara dig
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.300 BCE–100 CE
Epi-Jomon pit houses with salmon mass capture and trial rice phytoliths
c.100 BCE–100 CE
Wooden spade and paddy bund failure horizon
1985
Kashiwabara identifies Hokkaido as Yayoi rice limit case
On the ground
Structures & features
43.0900° N · 141.5400° E · 20 m · 2 mapped features
Epi-Jomon Pit House Cluster and Salmon Midden (8 houses)
settlement8 pit houses 4×4 m with sunken hearths and salmon–deer bone midden on Ishikari lowland
43.0905° N · 141.5405° ETrial Paddy Bunds with Rice Phytolith Layer (100 BCE)
agriculturalPeat paddy bunds 20×10 m with Yayoi tool scatter and rice husk failed horizon
43.0895° N · 141.5395° E