Outlines of Kii-fudoki-no-oka Museum

• The Name "Kii-fudoki-no-oka"
  • A name plate in English at the entrance "Wakayama Prefectural Kii-fudoki-no-oka Museum of Archaeology and Folklore" is clear and easy to understand what it is.
  • "Kii" is a traditional place name for the present Wakayama area since the Nara Period.
  • "Fudoki 風土記", which literally means "wind, soil, record," was a name for official books describing regional climate, culture, and others. The Fudoki Books was compiled in the Nara Period.
  • The last part of the name "no-oka" means "hill of" in Japanese.
  • As the result, the total name Kii-fudoki-no-oka roughly means "Hill of Fudoki (a book of regional history and culture) in Kii (present Wakayama). "
• The Foundation of Kii-fudoki-no-oka Museum
  • Kii-fudoki-no-oka was founded in order to preserve and take advantage of Iwase-senzuka Kofun Cluster in 1971.
  • In 1960s, during the early high economic growth period after World War II, even important historical sites were being destroyed due to road building or house development.
  • The national government employed new measures to conserve them. Opening museums of history named "Fudoki-no-oka" was one of them.
  • Kii-fudoki-no-oka is one of 16 Fudoki-no-oka museums in Japan.
  • Konosuke Matsushita, a famous businessperson from Wakayama, gave a substantial donation to the prefectural government as a part of the cost of the construction. A board at the main entrance says, "Matsushita Memorial Museum."

• The Main Building
  • The property is adjacent to Iwase-senzuka Kofun Tumuli Cluster.
  • The first floor has a space for activities, a relocated burial stone chamber and various displays.
  • The second floor has exhibition rooms for haniwa clay figures including National Important Cultural Assets, archaeological relics and folk articles both of which are from Wakayama Prefecture.
  • A part of a very big trunk of a camphor tree which grew around 1,500 yeas ago in the Kofun period when burial mounds at Iwase-senzuka were built is displayed in front the of the main building.
  • An experimental rice paddy, a newly built pit dwelling with a inside cooking stove, relocated archaeological sites and others are by the main building.
  • The main building itself is designated as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property by the national government.
  • Currently, a museum annex and repositories, which are expected to be open in fall of 2028, are under construction.

You check the opening hours and so on at the official website Kii-fudoki-no-oka Museum.