Izumi: Ikegami Sone Ruins of the Yayoi Period and the Kuboso Memorial Museum of Arts

In the morning, visit the Ikegami Sone Ruins, the site of a moated settlement from the Yayoi period featuring a reconstructed large building, as well as the adjacent Osaka Prefectural Museum of Yayoi Culture. In the afternoon, transfer between JR trains and a local bus to visit the Kuboso Memorial Museum of Arts, Izumi, which houses two National Treasures. This is a one-day walking tour using trains and buses to experience village life from 2,000 years ago along with masterpieces of Eastern and Western art.

History and Regional Appeal

Spanning Ikegami-cho in Izumi City and Sone-cho in Izumiotsu City, the Ikegami Sone Ruins is the site of a moated settlement (kango shuraku) from the Yayoi period, boasting a scale and content that rank among the finest in Japan. During the middle Yayoi period, when it was at its most organized, an oval ditch measuring 7 meters in width surrounded the village, and it is thought that about 500 people lived within it. Pottery transported from Kii, Settsu, and Kawachi has also been found, indicating that this settlement was the center of the region.

An excavation in 1995 uncovered the traces of a large building in the central area of the settlement. One of the surviving pillars was determined through dendrochronology (tree-ring dating) to have been cut in 52 BCE. This pushed the date back by roughly 100 years from previous estimates, leaving a major mark on Yayoi period research.

Much later, in 1886, Kubo Sotaro I founded "Kuboso," which became one of the leading cotton businesses in the Senshu area, operating for approximately 100 years. Following the company's closure in 1977, art collections, museum buildings, the property, and an operating fund were donated to Izumi City out of a desire to contribute to local cultural development and show gratitude to the community. In 1982, the Kuboso Memorial Museum of Arts, Izumi opened on the site of the former Kubo family residence.

Key Highlights

• ​Ikegami Sone Ruins​​: The area has been developed as Ikegami Sone Historical Park, featuring a reconstruction of the large building named "Izumi no Takadono," designed based on drawings of buildings depicted on unearthed pottery. To the south lies the "Yayoi no Oi-do" (Great Yayoi Well), carved out from a large camphor tree trunk with a diameter of 2.3 meters, which is said to be the largest hollowed-log well in Japan. At the Ikegami Sone Yayoi Learning Center, visitors can also experience making pottery and magatama (comma-shaped beads).
• ​Osaka Prefectural Museum of Yayoi Culture​​: Opened in 1991 as what it calls Japan's only museum dedicated specifically to the Yayoi period, it also functions as a visitor center for the ruins. In Exhibition Room 2, "Ikegami Sone World," visitors can grasp what the settlement was like through an actual pillar from the large building and a replica of the hollowed-log well. Outdoors, visitors can try excavating and reconstructing a pit dwelling.
• ​Kuboso Memorial Museum of Arts, Izumi​​: Houses approximately 13,000 works, primarily focusing on ancient East Asian art from Japan and China. The collection includes two National Treasures: the Southern Song dynasty "Celadon Vase with Phoenix Handles, known as Bansei" and the Heian period "Kasen Uta-awase" (poetry contest scroll), as well as modern Western artworks such as Monet's "Water Lilies." In the garden stand two tea rooms built after models of Omotesenke school tea rooms: Soan and Chosentei.

Suggested Route & Time Required

The estimated time required is about 5 hours. In the morning, walk about 7 minutes west from Shinodayama Station on the JR Hanwa Line to Ikegami Sone Historical Park. Walking along the brown paved street on the south side of the station provides a shortcut. After seeing Izumi no Takadono and the Great Yayoi Well, walk to the Osaka Prefectural Museum of Yayoi Culture south of the park, where you can verify the scale of the building you saw outside by viewing the excavated actual wooden pillar.

In the afternoon, return to Shinodayama Station and take the JR Hanwa Line to Izumi-Fuchu Station. From bus stop No. 2 of Nankai Bus in front of the station, board a bus bound for Harukigawa or Wakagashi, and get off at "Bijutsukan-mae" after about 30 minutes. Admissions are accepted at the New Wing (Shin-kan). Works in the collection are rotated periodically, and the museum is closed during exhibition changeovers, so it is advisable to check the museum's exhibition schedule before departing.

About a 10-minute walk from the museum is the Izumi City Izuminokuni Historical Museum, which introduces cultural assets such as the Ikegami Sone Ruins, allowing you to reflect on the ruins you walked through in the morning. For your return trip, you can also take a bus for about 10 minutes to reach Izumi-Chuo Station on the Nankai Semboku Line.

Summary of the Experience

Look up at the large reconstructed building and well of a 2,000-year-old village, and touch upon the reality of Yayoi life through an authentic pillar. In the afternoon, encounter a celadon vase and the Kasen Uta-awase, both National Treasures, and Monet's "Water Lilies" at an art museum gifted to the region by a Senshu cotton merchant family. This is a day to appreciate the layering of ancient and modern richness in the land of Izumi.