Yoshinogari Autumn Festival: Japan's Largest Archaeological Park Where Yayoi Period Festivals Are Revived

Autumn at Yoshinogari Historical Park: A National Park Where Yayoi Culture Comes Back to Life

"Yoshinogari Historical Park," spanning Kanzaki City and Yoshinogari Town in Saga Prefecture, is a national historical park developed from one of Japan's largest Yayoi period archaeological sites. Settlements surrounded by moats, watchtowers, and pit dwellings have been restored, letting you experience life in the Yayoi period of about 2,000 years ago. In autumn, festivals and events themed on the Yayoi period are held, creating an atmosphere as if ancient rituals had come back to life. It is a leading sightseeing and learning destination in Saga where you can enjoy history and nature at once.

One of Japan's Largest Yayoi Sites

The Yoshinogari site is known as the remains of a large moated settlement of the Yayoi period, and its discovery had a major impact on the study of ancient Japanese history. The defensive structure, surrounding the settlement with moats and equipped with watchtowers, testifies that conflicts between villages and the formation of states were already advancing at the time. Because it also overlaps with the era of Yamatai, recorded in the "Records of Wei," it attracted attention as an important site for considering the formation of the ancient state. On the vast grounds, buildings and settlements of the period have been faithfully restored based on the results of excavation, and the world of the Yayoi period spreads out before you.

What brought the Yoshinogari site to wide attention was an excavation of buried cultural properties accompanying the development of an industrial park. It has been highly valued for its academic significance as a site where one can trace the process by which a small village developed over some 700 years of the Yayoi period into a large moated settlement of more than 40 hectares that became the center of a state, and in 1991 it was designated a Special National Historic Site. The charm unique to Yoshinogari is that the changes of the Yayoi period can be read through a single site.

Autumn Events and Hands-On Corners

Festivals and events reviving Yayoi period rituals are held on the park grounds every autumn. Hands-on corners including curved bead (magatama) making are substantial, enjoyable from children to adults.

Candidate Site for the Yamatai Kingdom

The Yoshinogari site is attracting attention as one of the candidate sites for the 3rd century Yamatai Kingdom, with research on connections with Queen Himiko also conducted. Numerous artifacts excavated through archaeological surveys can be viewed at exhibition halls within the park.

The Restored Settlement and Hands-On Programs

The highlight of Yoshinogari Historical Park is, above all, the restored Yayoi period settlement. Large buildings in the "Kita Naikaku" (northern inner enclosure), said to have been the center of the state, burial mounds where kings and leaders are thought to have been interred, watchtowers and pit dwellings stand in rows, and you can walk among them while imagining the life and rituals of the people of the time. Within the park, hands-on programs such as magatama (curved bead) making, fire starting, stone knife making, and clay flute making are held daily at the "Yayoi Kurashi-kan," letting children and adults alike learn about ancient culture enjoyably. Magatama making, in which you carve soft agalmatolite, takes about 40 minutes to 2 hours and costs 250-300 yen; fire starting using ancient methods takes about 15 minutes per person and costs 100 yen; and stone knife making costs 350 yen — all easy to try. At the "Kodai no Mori Taiken-kan" you can also enjoy braided cord making using colorfully dyed hemp cord (250 yen) and woodcraft using nuts and twigs gathered in the park (100 yen). On weekends and holidays, full-scale programs are added in which low-melting-point alloy is used to make replicas of bronze mirrors, bronze swords with hilts, bronze bells, and the "Shingi Wao" seal, letting you confirm Yayoi techniques with your own hands.

The highlights of the restored area are also worth noting. In the "Minami Naikaku" (southern inner enclosure), where the ruling class lived, 20 structures have been restored including 4 watchtowers and 11 pit dwellings, and in the "Kita Naikaku," the place of governance and ritual, 9 structures including a huge ritual hall stand in a row. In the "Minami no Mura," where ordinary people lived, 27 structures including raised-floor buildings and pit dwellings have been recreated, and at the "Kita Funkyubo," where successive kings are said to have been buried, you can view 14 genuine jar coffins and replicas of excavated artifacts up close. On the west side of the Minami Naikaku, the "Kura to Ichi" (warehouses and market) has also been restored, consisting of warehouse groups that stored goods related to taxation and the market, the "Shiro" that managed the market, and the "Shido" where rituals were performed, letting your imagination extend even to the economic system of a Yayoi state. In autumn, events such as the "Yoshinogari Furusato Homura Matsuri" hosted by Yoshinogari Town and the "Aki Matsuri" hosted by the park are held on the park grounds, letting you savor an ancient atmosphere as if you had become a Yayoi person.

Best Season and Access

Autumn is recommended for its pleasant climate and the many events often held then, but the spacious park can be enjoyed throughout the four seasons. Cherry blossoms and rapeseed flowers in spring and seasonal flowers throughout the year are also highlights. For access, it is about a 15-minute walk from "Yoshinogari Koen Station" or "Kanzaki Station" on the JR Nagasaki Main Line. Coming by car is also convenient. Because the park is vast, it is recommended to visit with time to spare. Wear comfortable shoes and tour the restored settlement at a leisurely pace. Spend a day full of romance for antiquity at Yoshinogari, where you can experience the Yayoi culture of about 2,000 years ago.

Practical Information

There is no official event actually named the "Yoshinogari Site Autumn Festival"; what is held on the park grounds in autumn are the following two events.

Yoshinogari Furusato Homura Matsuri (hosted by Yoshinogari Town)

• Venue: The "Festival Square" inside Yoshinogari Historical Park
• Content: By day, stage events and a local products fair; by night, a torch procession (anyone can take part), a fire dance, and a giant send-off fire lit by Himiko
• Previous edition (28th) record: Saturday, October 25, 2025, 10:00-20:00, and Sunday, October 26, 10:00-19:50
• Admission and parking fees: Both free. The temporary car park, east entrance car park, and Wani Hakase Kensho Park are used. In the previous edition, a shuttle bus ran between Wani Hakase Kensho Park and the temporary car park from 17:00 on the first day

Aki Matsuri (hosted by Yoshinogari Historical Park)

• Character shows, stages by local artists, a festival stall corner, a gourmet corner, and workshops requiring advance reservation (such as painting Ozaki dolls)

Basic Park Information

• Address: 1843 Tade, Yoshinogari-cho, Kanzaki-gun, Saga Prefecture 842-0035 (0952-55-9333)
• Opening hours: April 1 - May 31, 9:00-17:00 / June 1 - August 31, 9:00-18:00 / September 1 - March 31, 9:00-17:00 (i.e., closing at 17:00 in autumn)
• Closed: December 31, and the third Monday of January and the following day
• Admission: Adults (15 and over) 460 yen / seniors (65 and over) 200 yen / junior high school students and younger free. Groups of 20 or more: adults 280 yen, seniors 200 yen. Annual passes: adults 4,600 yen, seniors 2,000 yen
• Parking: East entrance, 540 standard cars, 80 large vehicles, 30 motorcycles / west entrance, 310 standard cars, 20 large vehicles, 10 motorcycles / west entrance (new), 100 standard cars, 10 motorcycles / north entrance, 230 standard cars, 11 large vehicles, 10 motorcycles. Standard cars and motorcycles are free until March 31, 2027 (large vehicles 1,050 yen)
• Nearest station: About a 15-minute walk from "Yoshinogari Koen" Station on the JR Nagasaki Main Line to the east entrance / about a 15-minute walk from JR "Kanzaki" Station to the west entrance. From JR Hakata Station, 36 minutes to Yoshinogari Koen Station by the limited express Midori. By bus, route 40 from the Saga Station and Kurume directions (from 600 yen, about a 5-minute walk from the bus stop)

*The 2026 dates for the Homura Matsuri and Aki Matsuri have not been officially announced. Please check the official websites of Yoshinogari Town and Yoshinogari Historical Park before visiting.*

📚 Sources

• Yoshinogari Historical Park official website
• Yoshinogari Town official website
• Saga Prefecture official tourism website "Asobo Saga\"