Asahi Shell Mound

The Asahi Shell Midden (朝日貝塚, Asahi kaizuka) is an archaeological site consisting of a shell midden and the remains of an adjacent Jōmon period settlement located in the Asahioka neighborhood the city of Himi, Toyama Prefecture in the Hokuriku region of Japan.

The middens associated with such settlements contain bone, botanical material, mollusc shells, sherds, lithics, and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with the now-vanished inhabitants, and these features, provide a useful source into the diets and habits of Jōmon society.

It is located in the southwestern part of Himi, on the Asahiyama hill which extends from the west to the east through the center of the city area.

An excavation survey was conducted by Tokyo Imperial University several times since the discovery of the midden in July 1918 during the re-construction of Seido-ji, a Buddhist temple which had formerly covered most of the remains.

Jōmon pottery with a basket-weave pattern and a large jade cylindrical bead with a length of 16 centimeters also drew scholarly attention.