Goshono Jomon Site

Well knownIn most guidebooks for this region — but rarely with the practical detail.

Researched and written by Hinato

GoshonoJomonWorld Heritageearth-roofed dwellingsIchinohe

Iwate · Ichinohe

40.1960°N, 141.3152°E

Every prefecture has a site locals point to first; in Iwate, Goshono Jomon Site is usually it.

Goshono was a large village of the middle Jomon period, occupied from roughly 5,000 to 4,200 years ago, and in July 2021 it became part of the UNESCO World Heritage listing for the Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan. What makes it unusual is the roofing: excavation here produced the evidence that Jomon pit dwellings were roofed with earth rather than thatch, and the reconstructions on site were built accordingly.

The result is a hillside of low grassed mounds with doorways in them, arranged around a central burial area, which looks nothing like the reconstructed Jomon villages built before this dig. The museum beside it holds the excavated material. Admission is ¥300 for adults, free for high school age and under, and it closes on Mondays and on the day after a public holiday.

Plan your visit

Hours

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM | Last entry 4:30 PM

Closed: Closed Mondays, or the following day when the Monday is a public holiday | Closed the weekday after a public holiday | Closed 29 December – 3 January

Time to allow

90 minutes – 2 hours

Admission

¥300 adults | ¥200 university students | Free for high school age and under

Best time to visit

Late April–November | Snow cover in winter

Finding your way there

Directions

Iwadate Goshono 2, Ichinohe, Ninohe District. By car from Ichinohe Station on the IGR Iwate Ginga Railway. Closed Mondays, or the following day when the Monday is a public holiday, on the weekday after a public holiday, and 29 December – 3 January. Admission ¥300 for adults, ¥200 for university students and free for high school age and under; group rates of ¥250 and ¥150 for 20 or more. Phone. The reconstructed earth-roofed pit dwellings stand in the adjoining park.

Beyond the guidebook

**The roofs are earth, not thatch.** This site produced the evidence for that, and the reconstructions are built to match. Every earlier reconstruction of a Jomon village in Japan got it wrong. **Free for high school age and under.** ¥300 otherwise, for a World Heritage site with a purpose-built museum. **Closed Mondays and the day after a holiday.** The second rule catches people out — a Tuesday after a Monday holiday is also closed. **Walk the village layout.** Dwellings arranged around a central burial ground. The plan is legible from the ground here in a way it rarely is at excavated sites. **It is one of seventeen sites.** The World Heritage listing covers seventeen components across Hokkaido and northern Tohoku, and Goshono is the southernmost cluster in Iwate.

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