The Holy Mt. Takachiho-no Mine

e The fork-shaped Weapon " Amano Sakahoko " - Heavenly Up-side down three- teethed weapon " staked upside down on the top of the Holy Mr. Takachiho-no Mine, Miyazaki prefecture.

Magatama The mini-Museum of " NaniwaTamatsukuri " of Ancient gems " magatama " at the Tamatsukuri-Inari Shrine in Osaka. This has the shape of an ancient house of Kiritsuma zukuri style of the Kofun period. These houses are discoverd in the form of earthen replicas called " Haniwa ". 三角縁神獣鏡 島根県大原郡加茂町 The bronze mirror unearhed at Kamo-cho, Ohara-gun, Shimane pref. This is not the same as the genuine Heavenly Mirror enshrined in the Inner Shrine " Naiku " in the Ise sanctuaries. The curve-shaped " Magatama " gem. One of the Three Heavenly Treasures ( Sanshu no Jingi ) Magatama is one of the three Heavenly Treasures " Sanshu no Jingi " o " Sanshu no Shingi " which the Goddess of the Sun bestowed on the Heavenly Descendant Ninigi-no Mikoto as the symbols of his legitinate ruling on Earth when he descended from Heaven to Earth. The genuine Heavenly Magatana " Yasakani-no Magatama " was handed down from generation to generation to the present emperor. It is treasured in the Imperial Palace. We are not informed enough about it, and we don't not know what it is like really. Magatama is a gem made from green jade, blue agate. cristal or other materias. We don't know why it is curve-shaped. Magatama were an ornament which the important persons wore and were also charms which the priests used for some religious rites. The magatama were charms and the symbols of power. They began to be manufactuered in III B.C.E. and stopped being manufactured VII C.E. On the South of the Osaka Castle, there is an area called Tamatsukuri, jewel makers or jewel making, where the Tamatsukuri Shrine founded in 12 years C.E is situated. In the ancient days, there lived people called members of the Jewel makers' guild. In the grounds of the temple, there is a mini -museum called Naniwa Tamatsukuri Gem Museum - Naniwa Tamatsukuri Shiryokan - which has a collection of Magatama gems. The house of this museum was built after the  fashion of the earthen " Haniwa " replicas of the ancient houses, which have a style of " Kiritsuma Zukuru - gabled houses ". " Haniwa " were replicas of houses, horses, birds and men in the first centuries C.E. ( the " Kofun " - huge mausoleum Period. They are found in the archeological sites. The Tamatsukuri-Inari Jinja is situated in Tamatsurkuri 2-chome, Chuo-ku, Osaka, close to the Osaka Castle. " Hoko " head of the bronze lance " Hoko " of the Yaoi period No exactly the same one found at the archeological site of Kojindani-Iseki Hikawa-cho, Shimane Pref. Bronze sword of the Yaoi period. No exactly the same found at the archeological site of Kojindani-Iseki Hikawa-cho, Shimane Pref. The "hoko "is a kind of a lance with a pointed tip on one end and with a cylindrical tube on the other end to be fitted onto a wooden pole as shown in the above photo. Bronze " Dotaku " It is said that the bell-shpaed Dotaku were used for some religious rites. Archaeological Site of Kamo-Iwakura, Kamo-cho, Shimane pref. The building for religious rituals or conference in the Yoshinogari Histrorical Park of the Yaoi period. in Saga pref. In 1984, at the construction site of a road to some agricutural land in Hikawa-cho town, Shimane prefecture, 358 bronze swords were discovered.The site was named " Kojindami Archeological Site. This discovery surprised many archiologists who had believed that the cultural sphere of bronze arms was in the north of Kyushu.The total quantity of bronze swords discovered in the whole Japan until that time had been only about 300. In the following year of 1985, close to the site above-mentioned, 6 " bonze Dotaku " and 16 lance " Hoko " points were discovered. These all discovered articles were designated as National Treasures and were put on exhibition in the Shimane Prefectural Museum. Kojindani became " Archiological Park of Kojindani " and the replicas of the discovered articles were placed at the spots where the original ones had been discovered. In 1996, 12 years after those historical discoveries, at 3.5 kilometers from the Archeological Park of Kojindani, at Iwakura, Kamo-cho town,Ohara-gun, Shimane Prefecture, 39 Dotaku were found. Until that time, the maximum quantity of Dotaku found at one site had been 24 discovered at the Oiwa-yama Archeological Site in Shiga Prefecture. These discoveries challenged the ideas that there were two different cultural spheres of bronze weapons and the bronze " Dotaku ". Around the years 1930's, one famous Japanese philosopher Watsuji Tesuo asserted that the north of Kyushu had been the cultural sphere of bronze weapons and the east of Honshu, the sphere of bronze Dotaku.This concept had been considered as a fact for many years. These archaeological discoveries contradicted the opinions of some historians who had believed that in the Izumo region, there had not been any powerful country. They believed that the descriptions in the ancient cronicles are merely legandary and mythological and not trustworthy. The concrete and convincing evidence of the existence of a powerful country in Izumo increased the mystery about the ancient Japanese history of the peaceful transfer of power of the powerful Izumo clan to less powerful clan of the Heavenly descendants written in Kojiki and Nihon Shoki . Why the Heavenly Descendants who had lived in an uncivilized southern part of Japan was able to advance eastward subjugating pepoles more powerful economically and militarily with higher metal civilization ? The people in the northern parts of Kyushu soon bagan using the iron weapons instead of bronze weapons. Why the people in Izumo agreed to be ruled by the people who came from the Southern part of Japan ? In 1980, at Yasunaga, Tosu city, Saga prefecture, the moldes to manufacture bronze Dotaku were discovered. This shows the inter-influence between two cultural spheres. Between 1986 and 1989, at the Archaeological site of Yoshino-gari, many ruins of the houses built in the middle of Yaoi period were unearthed.The molds to manufacture Dotaku were also diswcovered ath the site. A large area of 117 ha. became the Historical park of Yoshinogari. You can see there buildings of all times of the Yaoi period which lasted 6 centuries ( 3 B.C.E. - 3 C.E. ). There was a citadel sorrrounded by 2.5 kilometer long moat.