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Culture and Education

The Crisis of Buried Cultural Properties Evoked by the News of the Yamatai Kingdom

Tetsuo Kikuchi
Professor, Faculty of Letters, Arts and Sciences of Waseda University

The Historical Significance of the Discovery of Large Scale Remnants of Buildings in the Makimuku Ruins, Nara Prefecture

On November 11th, the discovery of large scale remnants of buildings from the early third century in the Makimura Ruins, Nara, appeared as a front-page headline, competing with other top news: the arrest of a suspect of abandoning the corpse of a British woman and the death of Hisaya Morishige, renowned actor in Japan. In addition to the front page coverage of the discovery was a detailed description inside, implying that the remnants could be of a central facility of the Yamatai Kingdom as mentioned in the Gishi Wajin Den section of the Wei Chronicle. Articles on archaeology are seldom regarded as front-page news at major newspapers, except when they are on Egypt. I'm sure the popularity of Himiko among ancient history fans contributed to the coverage.

This discovery brought by the excavation has great significance not only for the controversy of the actual location of the Yamatai Kingdom, whether in Yamato or Kyushu, but also for all of us who live in Japan now, not to mention for the whole world of Japanese History. In this sense, it is quite reasonable that major newspapers scrambled to report the news.

The other day His Majesty the Emperor mentioned that he was concerned about history being forgotten. Although he specifically meant the horror of war in modern times, his words also apply to history as a whole, since history is continuous, and not segmented. Of course it is interesting to imagine whether the Yamatai Kingdom was located in this site at the foot of Mount Miwa or not, or whether the remains were those of a temple or a palace, but these ruins may give a clue to clarify when, where and how power, status, armed forces, religion, cities and nations started to appear in Japan. That is the most important part of this discovery.The other day His Majesty the Emperor mentioned that he was concerned about history being forgotten. Although he specifically meant the horror of war in modern times, his words also apply to history as a whole, since history is continuous, and not segmented. Of course it is interesting to imagine whether the Yamatai Kingdom was located in this site at the foot of Mount Miwa or not, or whether the remains were those of a temple or a palace, but these ruins may give a clue to clarify when, where and how power, status, armed forces, religion, cities and nations started to appear in Japan. That is the most important part of this discovery.

Crisis of Buried Cultural Properties and Museums – Safety Net Also Vital for Culture!

Archaeology values actual historical facts as a first priority, rather than what is often referred to as the implied truth and meaning of history. Ruins and relics, also known as buried cultural properties, are almost the only hard evidence that reveals such historical facts.

Do you know how such buried cultural properties—or unearthed articles that reveal our nation’s true history—are treated now? Despite the efforts of the Agency for Cultural Affairs and parties concerned with buried cultural properties all over Japan, the buildings and facilities to store them are in extreme disrepair throughout Japan. Among them there is no single national archaeological museum to store, exhibit and make use of these precious artifacts on a national level.Do you know how such buried cultural properties—or unearthed articles that reveal our nation’s true history—are treated now? Despite the efforts of the Agency for Cultural Affairs and parties concerned with buried cultural properties all over Japan, the buildings and facilities to store them are in extreme disrepair throughout Japan. Among them there is no single national archaeological museum to store, exhibit and make use of these precious artifacts on a national level.

Further, I hear that the Decentralization Committee has recommended that the government transfer its authority to set up archaeological museums to each regional government. Not all regional governments have strong cultural awareness and financial resources. There is a fear that many regional museums will be gutted under the veil of decentralization and in the current economic climate. Of course local characteristics and priorities should be respected, but can a museum without proper facilities, curators, and exhibition materials serve its purpose?

The governmental policy orientation that “all that can be done in the regional communities should be done by the regional government” is the right orientation in the same way that “all that can be done in the private sector should be done by the private sector”. The government, however, must resolutely fulfill its obligations and perform all activities which can only be done by the government. At least the new government should not leave everything to the regional governments.

We need to establish a “Cultural Safety Net” for public interests such as the cultural properties and landscape which are valued by all and which are beyond private interests and profit motives. If the current management of cultural properties continues, there is a fear that unearthed articles may be illegally thrown away as there are no appropriate places to store them in regional communities. Leaving aside whether it is good or bad, the decrease of public projects and the resultant decrease that is expected in excavations by administrative agencies provide the perfect opportunity to put fundamental measures in place.

Decentralization of Cultural Administration and Responsibilities of Central Government

My first job as Chairman of the Japanese Archaeological Association last year was to submit a proposal to the government to seek an injunction order against public construction to protect the landscape of Tomonoura, Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture and a written resolution to Governor Hashimoto, seeking continuation of museums in Osaka, including the Chikatsu Asuka Museum. The regional court later ordered an injunction against public construction at Tomonoura, resulting in protection of the scenic assets there, as you may already know. Recently the archeological world has often been asked to make social statements as such.

As far as culture is concerned, those who enjoy culture must make sustained efforts to protect it. For example, in the UK, non-profit organizations and volunteers strive to protect culture by raising donations, while the cultural climate in Japan is unfortunately still immature. The government should actively endeavor to help such a cultural climate to develop through, for example, preferential tax treatment. Although it is good to identify and cut wasteful budget spending by sorting out projects, the budgets for culture, landscape, art, and basic science should not be cut simply on the basis of performance or cost effectiveness trade-offs.

Archeological properties such as Hiraizumi, Kamakura, Jomon the Archeological Site, and the Mozu and Furuichi ancient tombs are being submitted for registration as World Heritage Sites. Although it is increasingly difficult to be recognized by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), registration is a long cherished desire of local people around each site. Since the government is responsible for World Heritage registration applications, it also has fundamental obligations to organize the buried cultural properties of each region, preserve them as national assets, utilize them, make them public to the world and hand them down to the next generations as common assets shared by all human beings. I would like to reiterate that decentralization of power from the central government to regional governments will not reduce the responsibility of the government.

Tetsuo Kikuchi: Professor, Faculty of Letters, Arts and Sciences of Waseda University

Professor Tetsuo Kikuchi earned an undergraduate degree from the School of Letters, Arts and Sciences at Waseda University and a graduate degree in Archaeology from the Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology at Tokyo University. He is currently a Professor on the Faculty of Letters, Arts and Sciences at Waseda University, is Head of the Institute of Comparative Archaeology, and Chairman of the Japanese Archaeological Association. He specializes in Northern Archaeology and Comparative Archaeology.

Major publications
World Archaeology Dictionary [Sekai Kokogaku Jiten], Heibon-Sha, 1979 (joint-edited and co-authored) Study of Northern Archaeology [Hoppo Kokogaku no Kenkyu], Rokko Shuppan, 1985 Handbooks for Archaeological Research (3 volumes) [Kokogaku Chosa Kenkyu Handbooks], Yuzankaku, 1985 (joint-edited and co-authored) Archaeology as a Historical Science [Rekishi Kagaku to shiteno Kokogaku], Yuzankaku, 1991 (co-translated) Class Room of Archaeology [Kokogaku no Kyoshitsu], Heibon-Sha, 2007 Series “World Archaeology” [Shirizu-Sekai no Kokogaku], Dosei-Sha, 1997 – present (joint-planning and supervision) Series “Japanese Ruins” [Shirizu-Nihon no Iseki], Dosei-Sha, 2005 – present (Join-planning and supervision)