An Excursion to Yoshii Area in Sasebo, the City of “Cave Ruins”; An Itinerary Originating Fukui Cave Where the Oldest Relics Had Been Found

Though the city of Sasebo is full of well-known attractions such as Huis Ten Bosch, Kujukushima Pearl Sea Resort, Saikai Bridge and Tenkaiho, in this issue, let’s focus on “cave ruins” (洞窟遺跡), a museum and a nature park where you get to learn the history of the human race and the earth. As a matter of fact, Sasebo City has more “cave ruins” than any other city. In particular, there’s “Fukui Cave” (福井洞窟) in Yoshii area, the northern part of the city. Take a look at the itinerary originating from the cave to get to know more about the history of the area while enjoying the great nature.

“Fukui Cave” made of 15 strata accumulated for 9,000 years, where relics from over 30,000 years ago have been excavated

In the precincts of ‘Fukui Inari-jinja Shrine’ (稲荷神社) located on a small hill at an altitude of 80m, there is the national important cultural property “Fukui Cave” (福井洞窟), which opens its facade as if it completely covers the main shrine. It is said that it’d been created by the erosion of the Fukui River. Though it is a small cave with a frontage of 16.4m, a height of 4.7m, and a depth of 5.5m, the history of the stratum of the cave is very truly magnificent. It is made up of 15 layers of strata accumulated from 19,000 to 10,000 years ago, and the relics such as stone tools and earthenware excavated from each layer silently tell the development process from the Paleolithic culture to the Jōmon period (縄文時代, the time in Japanese prehistory, generally dated between B.C.140 and B.C.3). The oldest relic in Japan, the pottery found from the bottom layer over 30,000 years ago was a precious discovery in history as it was the evidence that the ancient people at that time had made not only hunting tools but also earthenware. Why don’t you visit the cave and feel the long and great history of Japan?

Address	1013 Yoshii-cho Fukui, Sasebo City, Nagasaki Prefecture
Access	A 3-minute walk from Shimofukui (下福井) Bus stop which is a one-hour ride on A1 bus from Sasebo Eki-Mae (佐世保駅前) Bus stop
URL	https://www.fukuicave.jp/wg/en/area-fukuicave.html

“Fukui Cave Museum” to let you learn more about Fukui Cave through the identical 6m height diorama of the cave, and the experience the life of ancient people

Once you’ve visited Fukui Cave and experienced the ambiance of the ancient time, head to the “Fukui Cave Museum” (福井洞窟ミュージアム) located 4 km away and consists of four areas: a diorama, an exhibition room, the ancient life experience room, and information. While the exhibition room is lined with relics excavated in the cave, there is also a spot where you can take photos with a mammoth as if you were an ancient person in the information area. Don’t miss the surface of the stratum with a height of about 6m stripped from the excavation site installed in the diorama. Reproduced Fukui Inari-jinja makes it easier for you to see what the deep underground in the cave is like. In the ancient life experience room, you can make Jōmon pottery and try on costumes from the Paleolithic age and the Jōmon period. Kids can have fun and learn at the same time.

Opening Hours	9:00AM – 5:00PM (admission until 4:30PM) / Closed on Mondays and the period between 29 December to 3 January *Open in case of Monday on a national holiday and closed on the immediate following weekday
Address	473 Yoshii-cho Tateishi, Sasebo City, Nagasaki Prefecture
Access	A 5-minute walk from Yoshii (吉井) Bus stop which is a 50-minute ride on T6 bus from Sasebo Eki-Mae (佐世保駅前) Bus stop
URL	https://travel.sasebo99.com/en/todo/todo_2997

“PotholePark” with interesting 600 large and small round holes by erosion of river flow and pebbles

Along the second longest river in Nagasaki Prefecture, Sasa River, “Pothole Park” (ポットホール公園) is a river park stretching at 500m where potholes, holes in rocks at the bottom or bank of a river, are scattered. It is said that the flow of the river swirling in the cracks and depressions of the bedrock of the riverbed makes a small hole, and pebbles stuck in it make holes eventually. At the park, you can observe more than 600 potholes of many sizes. As the water level is pretty low because the riverbed is scraped naturally, many of them are exposed to the water. Appreciate the beautiful scenery created by the lush and the rocky landscape while observing the holes in shapes such as a sculpturesque circle, a cylinder like a cave, and a sculpture on its way to being finished.

Opening Hours	24/7
Address	158-1 Yoshii-cho Maedake, Sasebo City, Nagasaki Prefecture
Access	In front of Yoshii Kasen Koen-mae (吉井河川公園前) Bus stop which is a one-hour ride on A1 or T6 bus ride from Sasebo Eki-Mae (佐世保駅前) Bus stop
URL	https://www.discover-nagasaki.com/en/sightseeing/655