News and Media

Archaeologist Exposed as Fraud
Shinichi Fujimura, famed for finding ancient artefacts, admits planting them after being caught red-handed by a national newspaper. BBC News.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1008051.stm

Emperor's Remark Pours Fuel on Ethnic Hot Potato
From the Japan Times, during a news conference to mark his 68th birthday, the Emperor drew the public's attention to a historical document that shows one of his eighth-century ancestors was born to a descendant of immigrants from the Korean Peninsula. In doing so, he said he felt a close "kinship" with Korea. <small>(March 12, 2002)</small>
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20020312b6.htm

Ancient Artwork May be Earliest Zodiac Mural
From the Japan Times, researchers have found what they believe is a tiger-headed, human figure on the eastern wall of Nara Prefecture's Kitora tomb. <small>(January 22, 2002)</small>
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20020122a7.htm

Filming Reveals Gold Leaf Use at Kitora tomb
From the Japan Times, gold leaf was used in drawing Japan's oldest existing astronomical charts covering the ceiling of an ancient tomb in the village of Asuka, Nara Prefecture. <small>(December 8, 2001)</small>
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20011208b1.htm

Boy Unearths Rare Stoneware Fragment
The Japan Times, an 11-year-old boy unearthed a fragment of rare fifth century C.E. Sue Ware stoneware in Kamigori, Hyogo Prefecture. <small>(August 3, 2001)</small>
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20010803b1.htm

Scholars Devise Method to Confirm Date of Stone Tools
From the Japan Times, Nagatomo said he hopes the method will help verify the authenticity of controversial Paleolithic stone tools discovered in northeastern Japan. <small>(June 6, 2001)</small>
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20010606a6.htm

Nara Mound Confirmed as Oldest of its Kind
From the Japan Times, tests on a wooden board found in a trench surrounding Katsuyama Mound at Makimuku in the town of Sakurai show it was from a tree felled in the year 199 C.E., supporting the hypothesis that a legendary ancient kingdom governed by the female ruler Himiko was based in the Kinki region. <small>(June 1, 2001)</small>
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20010601b1.htm

Pottery Dreams Across 10,000 Years
From the Japan Times, a review of Tokyo National Museum's exhibit on the history of ancient ceramics and their discovery in Japan. <small>(February 4, 2001)</small>
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fa20010204a1.htm

Faked Digs Put Archaeologists on Defensive
From the Japan Times, shock waves ran through Japan in November after it was revealed that revered amateur archaeologist Shinichi Fujimura had planted findings of early Paleolithic relics at two of his dig sites. <small>(January 28, 2001)</small>
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20010128b2.htm

Disgraced Archaeologist Denies Other Findings Were Also Faked
From the Japan Times, Shinichi Fujimura, an archaeologist who admitted falsifying two findings of Paleolithic stone tools in northern Japan, has denied rumors that more dig finds he was involved in were also fakes. <small>(December 21, 2000)</small>
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20001221a7.htm

Further Doubts Dug up on Archaeologist's 'Finds'
From the Japan Times, sources said that Shinichi Fujimura, 50, former deputy chief of the Tohoku Paleolithic Institute, discovered archaeologically important stone implements during the excavation, but only when he was alone at the site. <small>(November 20, 2000)</small>
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20001120a2.htm

Urn Reveals Oldest Image of Whaling
From the Japan Times, researchers have discovered what they believe to be Japan's oldest depiction of whaling, on an urn dating from around 100 B.C.E., according to officials with the Nagasaki Board of Education. <small>(June 1, 2000)</small>
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20000601b2.htm