Kurihara Ruins

The ruins were excavated when constructing the athletics and exercise area of Rikkyo University (立教大学, Rikkyō daigaku) in 1955. The name Kurihara was that of a small administrative unit of a village that existed in the area. In a survey conducted between 1955 and 1956, stone tools made of obsidian were excavated from the red soil (Kantō Plain loam), and were found to be from the Paleolithic age. Jōmon pottery was recovered, and the site exhibits trace evidence of pit dwellings from the Yayoi through the Heian periods (300 BC–1185 AD). The replica structure depicts a pit-dwelling from around the beginning of the 8th century, the early Nara period (CE 710 to 794). The reconstruction was designed by Gaijiro Fujishima, then a professor at the University of Tokyo, in 1957.

The remnants of the dwelling were dug down to a depth of 50 cm, and four pillar holes and a clay pot were identified to the north. When restoring the house, Japanese zelkova was used for the main pillar, and Japanese cedar was used for the beams and girders. The pit-house is surrounded by a metal fence and it is normally not possible to go inside.

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  Covered in snow in March 2020
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  Panorama of the site
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  Rear (north side) of the site
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  East side of the site

• Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s webpage about the ruins

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kurihara Ruins.

• Nerima Ward’s webpage about the ruins
• Shakuji Jimdo.com
• Webpage on biglobe.ne.jp.com