<< Our Photo Pages >> Otafunbe Chashi - Hillfort in Japan in Hokkaidō
Submitted by Aska on Thursday, 08 September 2011 Page Views: 3748
Medieval (High and Late)Site Name: Otafunbe Chashi Alternative Name: オタフンべチャシCountry: Japan Region: Hokkaidō Type: Hillfort
Nearest Town: Urahoro-chō (Hokkaidō pref.) Nearest Village: Atsunai 厚内
Latitude: 42.825390N Longitude: 143.842990E
Condition:
| 5 | Perfect |
| 4 | Almost Perfect |
| 3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
| 2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
| 1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
| 0 | No data. |
| -1 | Completely destroyed |
| 5 | Superb |
| 4 | Good |
| 3 | Ordinary |
| 2 | Not Good |
| 1 | Awful |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
| 4 | Short walk on a footpath |
| 3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
| 2 | A long walk |
| 1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
| 4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
| 3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
| 2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
| 1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
| 0 | no data |
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Excellent example of hill top type Chashi on the sea shore. Although covered with bamboo bush, the sea breeze prevented the plants from growing, so the round ditch on the top and the straight ditch on the side can be easily recognized.
The mound is not artificial but natural hill, an Ainu legend says that a tribe made this mound and gathered the crows to disguise it as a washed-ashore whale to lure the enemy in hunger. "Ota Funbe" means 'sand whale' in Ainu language.
Chashi ([tʃaʃi]) are earthen structures, i.e. area partitioned by deep ditch(es) like the hillforts, constructed by Ainu people modifying the natural topographic features, so their most popular classification is as follows : 1. hill top type, 2. cliff edge type, 3. cape tip type, 4. island type, 5. plain meadow type.
The Ainu word ‘casi’ originally means a fence or a fenced area, the ditch might have been reinforced with wooden fence and there might have been some wooden buildings inside. So some people insist that these earthen structures should be called ‘chashi-kot’, ‘kot’ means a ruin or a remain in Ainu language.
More than 500 casi are found in Hokkaidō and the total number of them might be 700 and more. The purpose and chronology of casi are unclear, the purpose might be shifted by time : sacred area, place for ritual celemonies, assembly plaza, warehouse of harvest and treasures, watchhouse for school of fish or enemies. The excavated artifacts prove that casi are not older than 14th century, and many casi were constructed between the 16th and 18th century when the conflicts between the tribes or battles with immigrated Japanese occured, they might have been constructed as military forts.
Although chashi aren't archaeologic sites in a real sense but no written records were produced by Ainu people the pure oral traditionalists, more archaeological excavations will provide new findings. Some scholars point out the similarity between ‘chashi’ and 'острог (ostrog)’ over the whole Russia, 'городище (gorodishche)’, 'юртовище (jurtovishche)’ on the Kamchatka Peninsula.
Hokkaido University Chashi Database (in Japanese)
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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
48.4km ENE 68° Mosirya Chashi* Hillfort
49.1km ENE 70° Charanke Chashi* Hillfort
71.6km N 353° Yuk'epira Chashi* Hillfort
85.6km ENE 73° Shika-otoshi-no Chashi* Hillfort
128.9km WSW 247° Mena Chashi* Hillfort
132.2km WSW 246° Sibecar Chashi* Hillfort
132.6km WSW 246° Hoinasir Chashi* Hillfort
133.9km NNE 13° Abashiri prison* Modern Stone Circle etc
137.0km NNE 14° KatsuragaOka Toride* Hillfort
137.7km NNE 14° Moyoro Kaizuka* Ancient Village or Settlement
138.4km NNE 29° OkushibetsuGawa* Stone Circle
139.6km NNE 31° Shuen* Henge
139.9km NE 47° Ichani Karikariusu* Ancient Village or Settlement
140.0km NE 47° Ichani Karikariusu Chashi* Hillfort
144.9km N 4° Tokoro Iseki* Ancient Village or Settlement
145.1km N 7° Tokor Chashi* Hillfort
145.4km N 6° SakaeUra Iseki* Ancient Village or Settlement
145.6km WNW 300° Nokanan henge* Henge
166.6km NW 308° Kamui-Kotan stone circle* Stone Circle
169.5km ENE 68° Wonnemoto Chashi* Hillfort
172.9km WNW 297° Hokkaidō Children's Land* Modern Stone Circle etc
173.5km W 273° Kiusu* Henge
174.3km WNW 303° Otoe* Stone Circle
175.6km NE 39° Tobinitai* Ancient Village or Settlement
192.0km W 281° Ebetsu Chashi* Hillfort
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Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.