The is a group of

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

s containing ancient industrial facilities located in the cities of Kusatsu and Ōtsu in the

Kansai region The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropol ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. These site were collectively designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1985.

Overview

The Seta sites are located in the Seta Hills, which extend from the southeastern part of

Lake Biwa is the largest freshwater lake in Japan. It is located entirely within Shiga Prefecture (west-central Honshu), northeast of the former capital city of Kyoto. Lake Biwa is an ancient lake, over 4 million years old. It is estimated to be the 13 ...

inland to Kusatsu and the surrounding areas. The site in the Noji neighborhood of Kusatsu was first designated as a National Historic Site in 1985. It is the largest and best preserved of many

iron smelting Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron, copper, silver, tin, lead and zinc ...

ruins which were built in the Seta Hills due to local

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

deposits and abundant forest resources that provided

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

for iron making in the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capita ...

. In 2006, the with 14 pottery

Anagama kiln The ''anagama'' kiln (Japanese Kanji: 穴窯/ Hiragana: あながま) is an ancient type of pottery kiln brought to Japan from China via Korea in the 5th century. It is a version of the climbing dragon kiln of south China, whose further deve ...

s for making

Sue ware was a blue-gray form of stoneware pottery fired at high temperature, which was produced in Japan and southern Korea during the Kofun, Nara, and Heian periods of Japanese history. It was initially used for funerary and ritual objects, and orig ...

pottery, with workshops for handling clay and disposal of ashes, as well as the with the ruins of four refining furnaces were added to the National Historic Site designation. Products made at these various industries sites were transported down the Seta River to Lake Biwa for distribution, and were used in the subsequent construction of Fujiwara-kyo and Heian-kyo. These sites were most active during the brief period that the capital was located at the

Ōmi Ōtsu Palace The was an imperial palace built by Emperor Tenchi in Asuka period Japan in what is now the city of Ōtsu, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. It served as the capital of Japan for a five-year period from 667 to 672 AD. Also known as the , , it was most fr ...

(667-672 AD). These sites are located a ten-minute walk from the "Bunka Zone Mae" bus stop on the Teisan Konan Kotsu Bus from Seta Station on the

JR Central is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and occasionally as JR Tokai (). The term ''Tōkai'' refers to the southern portion of Central Japan, ...

Biwako Line The is the nickname used by the operator of the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) to refer to the portion of the Tōkaidō Main Line (between Maibara Station and Kyoto Station) and the Hokuriku Main Line (between Maibara Station and Nagaham ...

References

External links

Otsu City Museum of History

Shiga Prefecture Department of History
{{in lang, ja Kusatsu, Shiga Ōtsu Archaeological sites in Japan History of Shiga Prefecture Historic Sites of Japan

Overview

See also

References

External links