One Object, an Important Cultural Property since 2011
Boar-Shaped Clay Object Excavated from the Tokoshinai No. 2 Site, Aomori Prefecture (猪形土製品／青森県十腰内２遺跡出土) is a Jomon-period archaeological object held at the Hirosaki City Museum in Aomori Prefecture, listed as an Important Cultural Property on 27 June 2011. The listing is as an Important Cultural Property, not a National Treasure, and the owner is Hirosaki City.
The quantity is one piece. Properties covered here have been counted in buildings, blades, mirrors, figurines and sheets; this measure word appears for the first time.
Hirosaki City records that the object came from an emergency excavation in 1960 at a late Jomon site within the city.
One Object, Two Separate Records
Cultural Heritage Online carries two entries for the same clay object.
One gives the name with a slash before the find-spot and a full-width numeral.
The other separates the two parts with a full-width space and uses a half-width numeral.
Each lists the other among its related works, so both refer to the same object.
At the former Shuseikan machinery factory, two records existed under different systems, one for a structure and one for a historic site.
Here two records exist under the same designation. With the clay figurine from Ebisuda, a slash marked the find-spot. Both a slash and a space are used for material of this kind.
The Readings Differ by a Single Voicing Mark
The two records give slightly different readings.
One reads the word for boar-shaped with a voiced consonant.
The other reads it unvoiced.
A single voicing mark separates them. Hirosaki City uses the voiced form.
At the former Gakushuin hall, the Agency left the word for former out of the reading while the city put it in. That concerns a whole word.
Here it is one mark. The numeral in the site name differs too: one record supplies a reading for it and the other does not.
The Dimensions Come Three Ways
The size is written differently in each record.
The record with the slash gives no dimensions at all.
The record with the space gives an overall length of 18.0 centimetres, a height of 9.7 centimetres and a thickness of 4.8 centimetres.
Hirosaki City gives a body length of 18.0 centimetres, a height of 9.7 centimetres and a thickness of 4.8 centimetres, and adds a foreleg length of 2.0 centimetres. Overall length in one, body length in the other, and one measurement more.
At the former Shuseikan machinery factory, the units themselves differed, square metres against traditional bays. At the Wakato Bridge, one unit was given to different precisions.
Here it is the number of measurements and what they are called. The address differs too, one record naming a ward and another a slightly different form of it, which wants checking by hand.
Seeing It
The museum holds the object and the city owns it.
The commentaries differ in length as well. The record with the slash gives one sentence: that the object is a boar-shaped clay piece of the late Jomon period from that site.
The record with the space runs longer, noting that boar-shaped clay objects are found from Hokkaido to the Kanto region across the late and final Jomon, and that this one stands out among them for its size, its realism and its quality as a work.
Hirosaki City writes that while other such objects tend to be small and stylised, this one is markedly large and renders the form of a boar with realism.
With the clay figurine from Ebisuda, exaggeration and abstraction were combined. Here, among works that are stylised, realism is what carries the value. It is a museum holding, not kept on permanent display. Check before travelling.
Q&A
- When was the object listed?
- On 27 June 2011, as an Important Cultural Property rather than a National Treasure. The quantity is one piece and the owner Hirosaki City.
- Which reading of the name is correct?
- The records differ by a single voicing mark. One record and Hirosaki City use the voiced form; the other record uses the unvoiced.
- How large is it?
- Cultural Heritage Online gives an overall length of 18.0 centimetres; Hirosaki City gives a body length of 18.0 centimetres and adds a foreleg length of 2.0 centimetres.
- How was it found?
- Hirosaki City records that it came from an emergency excavation in 1960 at a late Jomon site within the city.
- What is valued in it?
- Its size and realism. Among boar-shaped objects that tend to be small and stylised, this one is markedly large and renders the animal's form closely.
Basic Information
| Name | Boar-Shaped Clay Object Excavated from the Tokoshinai No. 2 Site (猪形土製品／青森県十腰内２遺跡出土); the same object appears in 2 separate records |
|---|---|
| Location | Hirosaki City Museum, Aomori Prefecture; the records differ slightly on the ward name |
| Designation | Important Cultural Property (fine arts, archaeological material); not a National Treasure |
| Year Designated | 2011 (27 June), Important Cultural Property |
| Quantity | 1 piece |
| Dimensions | Cultural Heritage Online gives an overall length of 18.0 centimetres, a height of 9.7 centimetres and a thickness of 4.8 centimetres. Hirosaki City gives a body length of 18.0 centimetres with the same height and thickness, adding a foreleg length of 2.0 centimetres. The period is the late Jomon |
| Owner | Hirosaki City |
| Public Access | A museum holding, not on permanent display |
References
- Hirosaki City: the boar-shaped clay object
- https://www.city.hirosaki.aomori.jp/gaiyou/bunkazai/kuni/kuni32.html
- Cultural Heritage Online: the record with a slash
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/252782
- Cultural Heritage Online: the record with a space
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/426126
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/
Last verified: 2026.09.28