Precious Ruins at Yoshinogari

The ruins at Yoshinogari, Saga Prefecture in Kyushu, Japan are one of the most popular tourist destinations in Japan. More than 15 million people (an annual average of 1.7 million) have visited since their excavation in 1989. The popularity is natural, as the site has recovered ruins that existed some 2,000 years ago.

Yoshinogari is the largest site of village ruins in Japan and has left a great legacy in the history of the world’s archeology. The site also shows how Korea’s culture affected Japan’s Yayoi period. Many archeologists and culture experts often visit the site.

The National Museum of Korea is holding a Yoshinogari exhibition until December 2, 2007, which has attracted more than 1,000 people every day. Some people, after seeing artifacts from the exhibition, leave for the site in Japan to find more about the historical place.

When this reporter visited Yoshinogari with a team from the Land Museum at Seongnam, members of the team gave an exclamation of joy. Ninety-eight recovered underground shacks and warehouses, v-shaped trenches, wooden fences, traditional rice paddies, and other artifacts filled the exhibition hall, which reminded us of Songguk-ri, Buyeo, South Chungcheong Province, which is one of the representative sites of the Bronze Age in Korea.

The site in Yoshinogari is about 117 hectares large, and experts say that from the ruins, one can almost “hear what the Yayoi people are saying.” In one corner, archeologists are still excavating. An education committee of Saga Prefecture is planning to build a dome-shaped structure for the tombs. At the site, tourists can gain experiences of living in underground shacks, planting rice seeds, and fabricating textiles.

Relics that prove cultural exchanges between Korea and Japan were found in abundance at the site, too. These show Korean agricultural practices during its Bronze and Iron ages affected those of Japan, and had a tremendous impact on the development of Japan’s ancient culture. They also show how Japan’s primitive communities evolved to form villages and a nation.

Some of these relics are on display at the National Museum of Korea. Korean relics from the same period are also being showcased so that visitors can compare the two. Some six hundred relics are displayed. Korean relics are on green shelves, while those of Japan are on red shelves for the convenience of visitors.

Visiting the exhibition will give visitors a comprehensive idea of what Korea’s Bronze Age was like, as well as of the exchanges that occurred between Korea and Japan. Striped potteries, bronze swords, mirrors and molds of Korea and Japan are strikingly similar in terms of their shapes and patterns, which help people understand the vibrant exchanges that took place between the two countries two millennia ago.

At 10 a.m. on October 10, an international academic symposium titled, “Yoshinogari and Ancient Cultural Exchanges Between Korea and Japan,” and other events will be held. The exhibition will move its venue from January 1 to February 11 of next year at Saga Prefecture Gallery in Japan.

kplee@donga.com