'Japan's Oldest Character'... Turns Out to Be a Ballpoint Pen Mark

Yayoi Period Inkstone Characters Excavated in 2020
Expected to be 200-300 Years Older than Previous Finds but Composed of Pen Ink, Not Inkstick
Increased Possibility of Transcription from Labels During Sorting Process

Artifacts excavated from the Tawayama site with black ink marks remaining
Photo by Senior Researcher Okami

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung]

The characters on a mid-Yayoi period (3rd century BCE to 3rd century CE, following the Jomon period) artifact, previously believed to be "Japan's oldest script," were found through analysis to be composed not of ink but of commercially available oil-based pen components.

On the 9th, Japanese foreign media including the Yomiuri Shimbun reported that the characters on an artifact excavated from the Tawaya site in Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture?announced at a 2020 academic conference as possibly Japan's oldest script?matched the composition of a commercial oil-based pen upon component analysis.

The artifact bearing the characters is a stone piece measuring 9 cm in length, 7.5 cm in width, and 1.5 cm in thickness, uncovered during excavations conducted from 1997 to 2000. Researchers had speculated it was an inkstone based on traces suggesting the grinding and crushing of ink.

Moreover, two faint black lines near the center of the back were interpreted by Takeo Kuzumi, curator of the Fukuoka City Cultural Properties Division, in 2020 as characters in the clerical script style from around the turn of the era, possibly including the character '子' (child), as announced at the academic conference.

If this claim were proven true, it would predate the previously known oldest Japanese script by 200 to 300 years, astonishing the archaeological community at the time and receiving widespread media coverage.

However, senior researcher Tomonori Okami of the Nara Prefectural Kashihara Institute analyzed the chemical composition of the characters and found them to be from a commercial oil-based pen rather than ink, suggesting that the writing likely transferred during cleaning or labeling processes.

Researcher Okami presented these component analysis results at the Japanese Cultural Properties Society meeting held in Chiba City on the 10th.

In response, curator Kuzumi, who had earlier claimed the possibility of the "oldest script," stated, "Since this is a scientific analysis result, I cannot refute it and will withdraw my previous view."

The Matsue City Cultural Properties Investigation Division, which holds the artifact, expressed regret, saying, "There was hope that this would be the oldest script, so it is unfortunate," but also noted, "If the cause was transfer, we must reflect on the management of the artifact."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.