Two recent events suggest that the Northern Japanese may have had some sort of trade relations with Koreans as early as the stone age, and that they have pronounced several kanji characters similarly. Archaeologists have discovered a couple of stone tools with a tanged point resembling a hunting knife used some 20,000 to 25,000 years ago, one in the Kaminoa ruins in Shinjo, Yamagata Prefecture, and the other at the Jingeuneul site near Gwangju, South Korea.
Similarly, researchers in Tokyo, working with their Korean counterparts, discovered kanji characters, believed to have been unique to Japan, written on an old wooden plate were also found in wooden strips in South Korea. Many other similar tools have been found mostly in Kyushu, the main Japanese island nearest the Korean Peninsula. Read more.
A team of archaeologists and researchers have discovered an ancient Chinese arrowhead in western Japan’s Okayama Prefecture, the first of its kind, they say, to be unearthed in the country. Made of bronze, the ancient weapon has been dated as far back as 475 BC to 221 BC, a time in ancient Chinese history known as the warring states period.
The scientists formally describe the artifact as a “double-winged bronze arrowhead,” and say it was dug up in the Minamigata ruins located in Okayama City. The arrowhead measures half an inch (1.3 centimeters) wide and 1.4 inches long (3.5 cm) long. Interestingly it was found alongside the remains of several artifacts from Japan’s Iron Age, including fragments of pottery and stone tools dating to 300 BC to 100 BC, or the Yayoi period. Read more.
OSAKA, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) — A team of Japanese archaeologists has found a bronze comma-shaped bead, which is believed to be the oldest of its kind in the country’s history, in the western Japanese city of Tottori, local press reported on Thursday.
The metal curved bead, dating back to the early sixth century, was excavated from one of the tombs built in the early sixth 6 century at the Matsubara No. 10 Mound in the city according to the daily Mainichi Shimbun.
The city said the team has uncovered an area of about 1,100 square meters in the site since May 2012, adding that its members discovered the greenish colored artifact, which weighs 1.6 grams and is 1.71 centimeters long and 0.6 centimeters wide, together with about 20 glass beads during the excavation work for the tomb. Read more.
ABOARD THE SEA DRAGON, 1,000 miles east of Japan — After narrowly avoiding a typhoon, battling seasickness and being pelted by rain for days on end, crew members aboard the Sea Dragon were galvanized by the sight of a stranded boat.
The 150-pound piece of a skiff, torn in half and adorned with Japanese characters, was most likely a remnant of the tsunami that struck eastern Japan last year.
This scientific expedition was unusual in many ways, including the fact that it didn’t contain any scientists. Members of the volunteer crew hailed from six countries and lived on a yacht for a month in hopes of finding an array of debris they could photograph and blog about.
They are part of a citizens’ brigade that has been fanning out along the West Coast and in the Pacific, collecting and categorizing thousands of items that were swept out to sea after an 8.9-magnitude earthquake sent a tsunami crashing into coastal Japanese communities in March 2011. Read more.
Glass jewellery believed to have been made by Roman craftsmen has been found in an ancient tomb in Japan, researchers said Friday, in a sign the empire’s influence may have reached the edge of Asia.
Tests have revealed three glass beads discovered in the Fifth Century “Utsukushi” burial mound in Nagaoka, near Kyoto, were probably made some time between the first and the fourth century, the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties said.
The government-backed institute has recently finished analysing components of the glass beads, measuring five millimetres (0.2 inches) in diametre, with tiny fragments of gilt attached.
It found that the light yellow beads were made with natron, a chemical used to melt glass by craftsmen in the empire, which succeeded the Roman Republic in 27 BC and was ultimately ended by the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. Read more.
OSAKA, June 13 (Bernama) — Japanese archaeologists have found tablets containing census registration records dating back to the seventh century within remains located in Dazaifu city in Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan.
The tablets are believed to be the oldest census registration records in Japan’s history, Xinhua news agency reported.
The city’s Cultural Assets Section said the team, which examined the tablets with infrared rays, found at least 16 names of families along with their titles and relationships written on both sides of one of the tablets measuring 31 centimeters long and eight centimeters wide.
The description on the tablet also includes some words related to changes of address and historical names of places that were used between the year 685 and 701, leading archaeologists to believe that tablets were used as a form of census registration during that period. Read more.
MATSUE — Fragments of fifth-century clay figures shaped in human form have been found at a burial mound here — the oldest such figures ever discovered in Japan, according to local officials.
The terra-cotta “haniwa” figures are presumed to have been made for ritual use and buried with the dead in ancient Japan. The six figures were unearthed from the Ishiya burial mound in the Shimane Prefecture capital of Matsue, local board of education officials said on March 8.
Two of the six figures depict sumo wrestlers, two are in the form of warriors, and one depicts the chair portion of a seated human. Archeologists believe the remaining one may depict an aristocrat. Read more.
OSAKA, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) — A team of Japanese archaeologists has found a piece of pottery painted with the face of ogre which dates back to the 12th century in Nara Prefecture in western Japan.
The earthenware was excavated from a well built in the early 12th century at Shindo Remains in Kashihara City, Nara Prefecture, where once Japan’s capital was located, Japan’s Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK) public broadcaster reported Friday.
The excavation team said that the pottery is round shape with about 10 centimeters indiameter, noting that a face of ogre was drawn on its surface in ink.
In particular, the team stressed, bold lines are clearly shown for his eyes, eyebrows and tusks from his mouth, making the face quite humorous and impressive. Read more.