A feat for the first time in 30 years! 377 Jomon period prayer tools, "sekibo" (stone rods), excavated in Miyagawa Town, Hida City, Gifu Prefecture, have been designated as National Important Cultural Properties. They are recognized for their high academic value as materials that elucidate the production process.

Hida City, Gifu Prefecture (Mayor: Junya Tsutsutake) has announced that 377 items, including stone rods and Jomon pottery excavated from the Shima and Shioya Kinsei Shrine 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 (Fine and Applied Arts). This will be the 11th nationally designated cultural property for Hida City, and the second National Important Cultural Property (Fine and Applied Arts) after the "Excavated Artifacts from the Nakano Sankoshi Site, Gifu Prefecture" (designated in 1996).

Value as a "Sacred Site of Stone Rods"

The Shima and Shioya Kinsei Shrine sites, located in Miyagawa Town, Hida City, are rare ruins that preserve vivid traces of the production of "sekibo" (stone rods), a representative ritual artifact of the Jomon period. Using locally sourced welded tuff (commonly known as Shioya stone), the entire process of stone rod production from approximately 4,500 years ago (Middle Jomon) to 3,500 years ago (Late and Final Jomon) was unearthed in a single collection, including unfinished products and tools (hammerstones and grinding stones).

In its recommendation, the council highly evaluated the collection as "standard reference material" not only because the source of the raw material has been identified, but also because it systematically demonstrates the transitional process of stone rod forms from large to small.

Main Points of this Designation

・ Designated Quantity

377 items

【Main Designation】284 items: 171 stone rods, 113 tools (83 hammerstones, 30 grinding stones)

【Attachments】93 items: 24 flakes, 11 raw stones, 53 Jomon pottery and clay objects, 5 other stone tools

・ Complete Visualization of the Stone Rod Production Process

The collection includes materials from each production stage—"flaking," "pecking," and "polishing"—revealing the advanced processing techniques of the time and the existence of a special process involving fire.

・ Evidence of Wide-Ranging Cultural Exchange

Jomon pottery with characteristics from the Hokuriku, Shinshu, Kanto, and Western Japan regions were found alongside the artifacts. This proves that Hida has long been a crossroads of cultural exchange connecting various parts of Japan.

Significance of Becoming an Important Cultural Property

The Hida City Board of Education has been conducting a three-year investigation since 2023.

The clarification of the production process for stone rods, a representative ritual tool of the Jomon period...