Shimokō Site

The Shimokō ruins (下国府遺跡, Shimokō iseki) is an archaeological site with the ruins of what appears to be a Heian period government administrative complex located in the Takeda neighborhood of the city of Sado, Niigata prefecture in the northern Hokuriku region of Japan.The site has been protected as a National Historic Site from 1976.[1]

Shimokō ruins
下国府遺跡
Location in Japan
Location in Japan
Sado Kokufu ruins
Location in Japan
Location in Japan
Shimokō Site (Japan)
LocationSado, Niigata, Japan
RegionHokuriku region
Coordinates37°58′35″N 138°21′53″E
History
PeriodsHeian period
Site notes
Public accessYes (no public facilities)

Overview

In the late Nara period, after the establishment of a centralized government under the Ritsuryō system, local rule over the provinces was standardized under a kokufu (provincial capital), and each province was divided into smaller administrative districts, known as (郡, gun, kōri), composed of 2–20 townships in 715 AD.[2] The kokufu complex contained the official residence and offices of the kokushi, the official sent from the central government as provincial governor, along with buildings housing offices concerned with general administration, farming, finance, police and military. In the periphery there was a provincial school (kokugaku), the garrison and storehouses for taxes.[3][4]

The Shimokō ruins are located on Sado island, at the tip of a tongue-shaped plateau protruding from the Kosado Mountains into the Kuninaka Plain. An archaeological excavation in 1975 confirmed that the site was a compound protected by two concentric moats, containing the foundations for at least two buildings with foundation pillars set directly into the ground. The outer moat has a width of 1.4 meters and is 36 meters long in the north and south, and 32 meters long in the east and west. The inner moat is a narrow groove with a with of only 0.2 to 0.7 meters. The site contained a large number of shards of Sue ware pottery and roof tiles, along with everyday items such as cups, which have been dated to the 9th century.[5]

Although the details of the ruins is unknown, the location of the site corresponds to a site labelled kokufu in a 17th-century document, and it is also located near the ruins of the Sado Kokubun-ji.[5]

The site is located about 30 minutes by car from Ryōtsu Port.[5]

See also

References
  1. "下国府遺跡". Cultural Heritage Online (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  2. Shively, Donald H.; McCullough, William H. (1999). Cambridge History of Japan vol. II (p.31f.). Cambridge University Press.
  3. Martin Schwind (1981). Das Japanische Inselreich (in German). Vol. Band 2: Kulturlandschaft, Wirtschaftsgroßmacht auf engem Raum. Berlin: de Gruyter. pp. 69–70. ISBN 3-11-008319-1.
  4. Atsuru Yagi (March 1986), "国府の成立と構造　－文献史料からみた－" [Formation and Structure of Kokufu (Provincial Capitals)], 国立歴史民俗博物館研究報告 [Bulletin of the National Museum of Japanese History] (PDF) (in Japanese), p. 343, ISSN 0286-7400, archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-29
  5. Isomura, Yukio; Sakai, Hideya (2012). (国指定史跡事典) National Historic Site Encyclopedia. 学生社. ISBN 4311750404.(in Japanese)
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