One Cave Site, Designated by the State in 1978
Tobayama Cave (鳥羽山洞窟, Tobayama Dokutsu) lies in Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture, and was designated by the state on 27 January 1978. Its category is that of historic sites.
The managing body is Ueda City.
The Agency describes a cave at the foot of Mount Toba on the north bank of a river that flows through the former town of Maruko to join the Chikuma, opening in an outcrop of shaly conglomerate. It is about 25 metres wide and about 15 metres deep, and lies about 15 metres above the riverbed.
River Stones Laid in Three Steps, with the Dead on Each
The floor of the cave was remade into steps for burial.
The Agency records that attention fell on a stone pavement of the Kofun period spreading over the whole cave floor, and the objects that go with it.
The pavement, it continues, uses stones from the river bed, laid from the centre of the back of the cave out to the line of the rock overhang. Fan-shaped in plan, it is built in 3 steps down the slope, and on each level the dead were buried and grave goods placed.
The overhang line is the edge where the rock ceiling juts out. From the back of the cave to the overhang, the floor is covered in river stones and divided into three steps.
At Senpukuji Cave, pottery and stone tools lie in the order of the layers, showing the course of daily life.
Here the cave floor itself was laid out as steps for the dead. The cave served not as a place to live but as a place of burial.
Human Remains in Three Kinds of State
Within one cave, the manner of burial is not single.
The Agency records 3 types in the way the human bones were found.
One is bones laid on the pavement or within a stone enclosure; the second is the bones of several people gathered together; the third is groups of burnt bone broken small.
Of these, the first two, the record says, draw attention as showing the character of exposure burial. In exposure burial the body is not put in the ground but left open to the air.
At the grave of Fumi no Nemaro, cremated bone was placed in a glass jar: one person's bones held in a vessel.
Here bones laid on stone, bones gathered together, and burnt and broken bones lie in one cave.
Burial in a Cave in the Age of Mounded Tombs
In an age when tomb mounds were raised, a cave at the foot of a hill served as a grave.
The Agency records a great variety of objects: earthenware and stoneware, iron weapons, horse fittings and tools, beads of talc and small glass beads, stone objects shaped like the bridge of a zither, stone and bronze bracelets, and whetstones, placed in the early to middle Kofun period.
A zither bridge supports a string; the stone objects copy its shape.
Some objects are clearly grave goods, while others have no clear link to any particular burial, the record adds.
The Agency closes that the cave tells of a manner of burial unusual for its time, and is important for the notable remains and objects it holds from many periods.
In the age of mounded tombs, the dead were laid not under a mound but in a cave, with weapons, horse gear and beads. That unusualness is at the centre of the assessment.
Visiting
The cave lies in Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture, on the north bank of the river at the foot of Mount Toba. Ueda City is the managing body.
The Agency records that 3 campaigns of excavation confirmed remains and objects of the Jomon, Yayoi and Kofun periods, and on into the early modern period.
At Hibakoiwa Cave, the finds were concentrated in the lower cave. Here the Kofun-period pavement spreads over the whole cave floor.
The cave lies about 15 metres above the riverbed. It is an open-air site, so whether and how it may be visited follows the arrangements of the local authority. Check before travelling.
Maruko is the name of an area now within Ueda City.
Q&A
- When was the cave designated?
- On 27 January 1978, by the state, as a historic site.
- What is the stone pavement?
- River stones laid from the back of the cave to the overhang, built in three steps down the slope, with burials on each level.
- How were the dead laid?
- In three ways: bones laid on stone or in a stone enclosure, bones of several people gathered together, and burnt bone broken small. The first two suggest exposure burial.
- What objects were found?
- Earthenware and stoneware, iron weapons, horse fittings and tools, talc and glass beads, and stone and bronze bracelets, of the early to middle Kofun period.
- How large is the cave?
- About 25 metres wide and 15 metres deep, opening about 15 metres above the riverbed.
Basic Information
| Name | Tobayama Cave (鳥羽山洞窟, Tobayama Dokutsu) |
|---|---|
| Location | Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture (north bank of the river, at the foot of Mount Toba) |
| Designation | Historic site; designated as an archaeological site rather than as a building or a work of art |
| Year Designated | 1978 (27 January), designated |
| Quantity | 1 cave site |
| Dimensions | About 25 metres wide, about 15 metres deep, about 15 metres above the riverbed. Opening in an outcrop of shaly conglomerate, with a Kofun-period stone pavement in 3 steps within |
| Owner | Not stated in the record (Ueda City is the managing body) |
| Public Access | An open-air site; visiting follows the arrangements of the local authority |
References
- Cultural Heritage Online: the cave
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/210200
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/
- Ueda City
- https://www.city.ueda.nagano.jp/
- Nagano Prefecture: cultural properties
- https://www.pref.nagano.lg.jp/
Last verified: 2026.09.22