Are there sites in Japan like Stonehenge?
There has been speculation about the astronomical significance of several sites in Japan. Perhaps most notable are the Akita stone circles in Akita Prefecture and the stone fixtures of Sakafune Ishi and Masuda Iwafune in the Asuka area. Amateurs and some professionals have at times been almost obsessed with trying to find alignment properties at these sites. Archaeological evidence indicates that the Akita stone circles probably had ritual significance; speculation has centered around the idea that they may have been used in a gnomon like fashion to determine solstices or as crude “sundials”. So far, no corroborative evidence has emerged to support these speculations, and no one has really been able to show methods of such use by Jomon builders of the sites.
