Hotta-no-saku

Hotta-no-saku ruins
Hotta-no-saku ruins
払田柵跡
Daisen, and Misato, Akita Prefecture, Japan
	Reconstructed South Gate of Hotta-no-saku
	Hotta-no-saku ruins Hotta-no-saku ruins
Coordinates	39°28′07″N 140°32′50″E / 39.46861°N 140.54722°E
Type	josaku-style Japanese castle
Site information
Open to; the public	yes
Condition	ruins
Site history
In use	Heian period
Demolished	c.801 AD
	National Historic Site of Japan

The Hotta-no-saku ruins (払田柵跡, Hotta-no-saku iseki) is an archaeological site containing the ruins of a large-scale Heian period josaku-style fortified settlement located in what is now part of the cities of Daisen and Misato in the Tōhoku region of Japan. The site was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1931.^[1] The site is maintained as an archaeological park with some reconstructed buildings.

Overview

In 1902, farmers discovered the remnants of a large wooden palisade in rice paddies near the border of Misato in Akita Prefecture. Over 200 almost intact fence posts with a diameter of 30 centimetres (12 in), and a height above ground of 3.6 metres (12 ft) were discovered, most of which was subsequently burned for fuel or processed into geta wooden clogs. However, some fragments survived and were later dated by dendrochronology to the year 801 AD. An archaeological survey discovered that this palisade had dimensions of approximately 1,370 metres (4,490 ft) from east-west by 780 metres (2,560 ft) north-south, as was thus larger than Taga Castle, and was actually the largest josaku-style castle in northern Japan. Inscriptions of wooden artifacts found at the site mention Isawa Castle and Shiwa Castle which were created in the early ninth century AD; however, there is no mention of this huge fortification in any historical or literary records.

In the center of the enclosure was the ruins of an inner fortification, containing the pillar foundations for what appears to be an official administrative complex. The site appears to have been abandoned by the middle of the 10th century.

The site has been preserved as an archaeological park with some reconstructed buildings, and is located approximately 20 minutes by bus from the JR East Ōu Main Line Ōmagari Station.