[Hida City, Gifu Prefecture] A major achievement for the first time in 30 years! 377 Jomon period prayer tools, including "Sekibo" (stone batons) excavated in Miyagawa-cho, Hida City, to become National Important Cultural Properties! Recognized for high academic value as materials clarifying the manufacturing process.

Hida City, Gifu Prefecture (Mayor: Junya Tsuzuki) announces that 377 artifacts, including stone batons and Jomon pottery excavated from the Shima and Shioya Kansei Jinja sites within the city, have been recommended by the Council for Cultural Affairs to the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology for designation as National Important Cultural Properties (Arts and Crafts). This designation marks the 11th nationally designated cultural property for Hida City and the second in the Arts and Crafts category, following the "Artifacts from the Nakanoyamago Site" in 1996.

### Value as the "Holy Land of Sekibo" The Shima and Shioya Kansei Jinja sites, located in Miyagawa-cho, Hida City, are rare archaeological sites that preserve clear traces of the manufacturing process for "Sekibo" (stone batons), which were representative ritual objects of the Jomon period. Utilizing welded tuff (commonly known as Shioya stone) collected nearby, a collection of items showing the stone baton manufacturing process from approximately 4,500 years ago (Middle Jomon) to 3,500 years ago (Late/Final Jomon) was excavated, including unfinished products and tools such as hammerstones and whetstones.

In this recommendation, the collection was highly evaluated for its extreme value as "standard material" that systematically demonstrates the evolution of stone baton forms from large to small, in addition to the fact that the source of the raw material has been identified.

### Main Points of the Designation 1. **Designated Quantity**: 377 items - [Main Designation] 284 items: 171 stone batons, 113 tools (83 hammerstones, 30 whetstones) - [Supplementary] 93 items: 24 flakes, 11 raw stones, 53 pieces of Jomon pottery/clay products, 5 other stone tools 2. **Complete Visualization of the Stone Baton Manufacturing Process**: The collection includes materials from every stage of production—"flaking," "pecking," and "polishing"—revealing the advanced processing techniques of the time and the existence of special processes involving the use of fire. 3. **Evidence of Wide-area Cultural Exchange**: Jomon pottery with characteristics from Hokuriku, Shinshu, Kanto, and Western Japan was excavated together. This proves that Hida has long served as a crossroads for cultural exchange connecting various parts of Japan.

### Significance of Becoming an Important Cultural Property The Hida City Board of Education has been conducting research over a three-year period starting from fiscal year 2023. The fact that the manufacturing process of stone batons—a representative Jomon ritual tool—can be fully visualized is of immense historical significance.