Japan Heritage story
Starry Jomon highlands: obsidian mines of central Japan
星降る中部高地の縄文世界
High in the mountains of Nagano and Yamanashi, Jomon people dug obsidian, a volcanic glass, for thousands of years. Its glittering flakes still lie on the ground at places named after stars, and the villages below left some of Japan's most striking pottery.
Key facts
- Theme
- Forests and timber, Festivals and rituals, Mines and minerals
- Era
- Palaeolithic, Jōmon
- Region
- Chubu
- Official name in Japanese
- 星降る中部高地の縄文世界
- Official subtitle in Japanese
- 数千年を遡る黒曜石鉱山と縄文人に出会う旅
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 長野県（茅野市, 富士見町, 原村, 諏訪市, 岡谷市, 下諏訪町, 長和町, 川上村）・ 山梨県（甲府市, 北杜市, 韮崎市, 南アルプス市, 笛吹市, 甲州市）
The story
Obsidian is natural glass made by volcanoes. It breaks with a razor edge, and the obsidian of Shinshu (Nagano) was among the best, so it was carried all over Japan to make arrowheads and knives. The official story calls it Japan's oldest brand. Around Mt Yatsugatake are the only Jomon obsidian mines in Japan, dug for thousands of years. At Hoshikuso Pass on the Kirigamine plateau you can still see crater-like pits ringed by banks of dug-out earth more than 5 m thick, and a wooden fence built 3,500 years ago to stop landslides was found underground.
The mines lie above 1,500 m, at places with star names such as Hoshikuso and Hoshigato. People looked at the glittering flakes on the ground and believed they were stars that had fallen to earth. About 5,000 years ago the foothills below held more villages than anywhere else in Japan, and their potters decorated pots with human faces, animals and flowing water.
What to see
- Hoshikuso Pass obsidian mine: the Jomon mining pits on the Kirigamine plateau.Google Maps 星糞峠 長和町 (opens in a new tab)
- Togariishi site: a Jomon village in Nagano with rebuilt pit dwellings.Google Maps 尖石遺跡 (opens in a new tab)
- Umenoki site: a Jomon village in Yamanashi with wide views of the surrounding mountains.Google Maps 梅之木遺跡 (opens in a new tab)
- Pottery and dogu figurines: pots with faces of mothers and children, and Venus figurines, shown in local museums.
Plan your trip with the Nagano prefecture guide or the Yamanashi prefecture guide, and see more history and heritage. For Jomon pottery of snow country, see this story.
Good to know
- Look down at the mine sites: small pieces of shiny black obsidian still lie on the ground.
- The mines sit above 1,500 m, so check the weather and road access before you go.
- Come in spring for mountain vegetables or in autumn for leaves, the seasons the Jomon people lived by.
Questions travellers ask
What is obsidian?
A natural volcanic glass. It breaks with very sharp edges, so Jomon people used it for arrowheads and knives.
Why are the mines named after stars?
People believed the glittering obsidian flakes on the ground were fallen stars, so places got names like Hoshikuso (star dust) and Hoshigato.
Where it comes from
More heritage stories from the same area
- 140 years of Japan Wine: Koshu and Ushiku
- Chikuma, city of the moon: the moon in every rice terrace
- Katsuragi Shugen: where mountain asceticism began
- Kawachinagano: a town where the Middle Ages live on
- Mitake Shosenkyo: the crystal gorge behind Yamanashi's craft
- Nyonin Koya: the temples where women prayed instead of Mount Koya
- Oyama Mairi: the Edo people's pilgrimage and day out
- The Kiso Road: life in the mountains on the Nakasendo
- Ueda's Shioda-daira: the ley line of sun and earth
- Vineyard landscapes of eastern Yamanashi
Local foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.