[Hida City, Gifu Prefecture] November is Stone Club Strengthening Month! The theme for 2025 is “Make your dreams come true! A
sustainable stone club expo” – 9 stone club events to be presented.
Hida City, Gifu Prefecture Press Release: October 31, 2025 [Hida City, Gifu Prefecture] November is Stone Club Promotion Month! The theme for 2025 is “Make your dreams come true! A sustainable stone club expo” – we’ll be bringing you nine stone club events. November 11th is “Stone Club Day.” This month, we’ll be thinking about how small, sustainable museums can operate. The Hida Miyagawa Archaeological Museum, located in the north of Hida City, Gifu Prefecture (Mayor: Junya Miyatake), has seen a sharp decline in visitors and no landline phone, making it difficult to stay afloat. While many small museums across the country face similar challenges, the Hida Miyagawa Archaeological Museum has set itself the mission of “creating a new vision for museums of the future.” With the Stone Club, the museum is working on a unique and challenging initiative related to the Jomon period’s stone pilgrim objects, which are its centerpiece. November 11th is self-proclaimed “Stone Pilgrimage Day” because of the shape of the pilgrims, which resemble four stone pilgrims lined up. November, the month of Stone Pilgrimage Day, is designated “Stone Pilgrimage Promotion Month,” during which various events related to stone pilgrimages and the Hida Miyagawa Archaeological Museum are held every year. This year’s theme is “Make your dreams come true! A sustainable stone pilgrimage expo.” Image
URL: https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/120394/158/120394-158-a17027c5f3ce21c0dd6b088855bb09e8-1563×1563.png
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/120394/158/120394-158-80e5c52c48f45ae92f603ce19de6130c-1535×1920.jpg Phallic stone objects are thought to have been created by people of the Jomon period in hopes of prosperity. More than 1,000 of these stone rods have been found during excavations in Miyagawa-cho, Hida City, Gifu Prefecture. What is Ishibo Club This project was launched in Hida City, Gifu Prefecture, in March 2019. Using the Hida Miyagawa Archaeological Museum, a sacred place for stone phalluses, as a stage, we are taking on a challenging regional revitalization project: increasing the number of people connected to the area. Furthermore, we aim to demonstrate Hida City’s unique approach to small-scale museums. In addition to curators, our team is made up of members from a variety of fields, and we use our free-thinking to create fun and interesting projects.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/120394/158/120394-158-c931be814d355d3bfde80ddbc0d7bafc-1024×768.jpg Hida Miyagawa Archaeological Museum
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/120394/158/120394-158-2174bee032ed3a6792b06a8e4813eb3f-1280×720.jpg Stone Club Activity Policy 9 Events During Stone Club Strengthening Month (1) Setting off with fresh researchers! Hida Miyagawa
Archaeological Museum Time Trip Three fresh researchers will share their perspectives on folk tools and archaeological materials at the Hida Miyagawa Archaeological Museum! Many of the museum’s collections are unknown in terms of who, when, where, how, and whether they were made or used. Ask the instructors for their perspectives and observe the actual materials! Date and Time: Monday, November 3rd (National Holiday), 1:30 PM – 4:00 PM Location: Hida Miyagawa Archaeological Museum (104 Shioya, Miyagawa-cho, Hida City, Gifu Prefecture) (2) Discuss with Publishers! Workshop on How to Attract City Cultural Assets & New Project Announcement! Three members of the Stone Club have been involved in writing a book on the humanities. We will be inviting guests from Bungaku Tsushin, the publisher of the book, to discuss how to attract attention to the city’s cultural assets. The event will be held on Stone Club Day, as if that weren’t enough. There will also be an important announcement from the Stone Bou Club…!? For the book, please see Kikuchi Nobuhiko (editor), “Opening the humanities to society. Thinking and acting from the perspective of public humanities”. Date and Time: Tuesday, November 11th, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM Location: Online broadcast Online broadcast URL:
https://www.youtube.com/live/_MVzmcCGmLI (3) Public 3D scanning of spouted pottery using a stereo endoscope with lens manufacturer Nalux The Hida Miyagawa Archaeological Museum is working with the public to create 3D models of its exhibits and collections. Furthermore, these 3D models are available for viewing and saving on Sketchfab. We’re collaborating with lens manufacturer Nalux to attempt to create 3D models of complex-shaped pottery using a “stereo endoscope”! We will also use the latest technology to tackle other issues facing the Hida Miyagawa Archaeological Museum. Visitors will have the opportunity to try out the stereo endoscope for themselves. Date and Time: Wednesday, November 19th, 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM Location: Hida Miyagawa
Archaeological Museum (104 Shioya, Miyagawa-cho, Hida City, Gifu Prefecture) Application: By 5:00 PM on Tuesday, November 18th Capacity: 10 people Participation Fee: Free (4) Hida stone clubs will be exhibited at the Kofun Festival! The Stone Club will be setting up a booth at a major ancient tomb event being held in Osaka Prefecture! At the event, we’ll be holding a “Stone Club Concentration Game,” which combines the experience of touching a real stone club with the experience of viewing a 3D stone club. We’ll be heading to Osaka, the host city of Expo 2025, to promote the city’s cultural assets to people all over the country! Date and time: November 23rd (Sunday) 10:00-16:00 Location: Imajozuka Tumulus (in Gungeshinmachi, Takatsuki City, Osaka 569-1136) Participation fee: Free For details: Please check the Kofun Festival/Towns with Kofun PR Booth Page. (5) Mr. Miyoshi interacts with Iraq! “Archaeology and International
Contribution: Local Communities and Cultural Heritage” In April of this year, the Stone Club exhibited a booth at a Bahrain event hosted by the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties! There, we presented a wooden Stone Club stand to Prince Khalifa of Bahrain, who used the word “sustainable.” Furthermore, this event expanded to include connections with Iraq. It’s truly a “World Expo” event. Date and time: November 24th (Monday/holiday) 13:00-17:40 Location: Tokyo Research Institute for Cultural Properties (13-43 Ueno Koen, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0007) Application: . For details, please visit the Tokyo Cultural Heritage Research Event Page. (6) Unofficial International Conference: LeArchaeology x Stone Club – Thinking about the future of utilizing the world’s cultural heritage! We’re collaborating with LeArchaeology, which specializes in archaeology education and outreach activities for children! Through introducing each other’s activities, we’ll discuss the future of cultural heritage utilization. You can hear about how cultural assets from Egypt and Cambodia are being utilized! Date and Time: Tuesday, November 25th, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM Location: Online (7) Special Opening of the Archaeological Museum! A tour by One-Day Director Matsukawa and the One-Day Director Candidate The Hida-Miyagawa Archaeological Museum is only open 30 days a year. This isn’t because of a lack of budget, but because there’s no one to manage it. Matsukawa-san, a member of both the first and second batches of one-day directors, stepped up to the challenge and will train the one-day director candidates! The Archaeological Museum will be open as usual on this day. Please come and visit. Date and Time: Saturday, November 29th, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM Location: Hida Miyagawa Archaeological Museum (104 Shioya,
Miyagawa-cho, Hida City, Gifu Prefecture) Admission: Free (8) Participate in the Public History Open Seminar! The authors of the book “Opening the Humanities to Society: Thinking and Acting from a Public Humanities Perspective,” which the Sekibou Club helped write, will be speaking. We will delve into and share content that could not be fully included in the book, leading to future collaborative projects and networking. Date and Time: Sunday, December 7th, 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM Location: Tokyo Woman’s Christian University, Zoom will also be used Application: Apply by Friday, November 21st Please apply using the application form at
href=”https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSezqjRbIDWu478H78OhAQtktolcmRLMm4RCJPbZ8yIb-itWuA/viewform” style=”text-decoration:underline;color:#428ac9;word-break:break-all;” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow ugc noopener”>. Participation Fee: Free Details: . href=”https://public-history9.webnode.jp/l/new3/” style=”text-decoration:underline;color:#428ac9;word-break:break-all;” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow ugc noopener”> (9) Pocket Stone Club Exhibition and Stone Club Gacha! Authentic stone clubs, Jomon pottery, stone club-making tools, and more are on display at facilities around town, along with explanatory panels! We’ll also introduce the Hida Miyagawa Archaeological Museum, which houses and exhibits these materials, and the unique efforts of the Stone Club. You might even get your hands on some extremely rare stone club merchandise with the Stone Club Gacha! Date and Time: Until Sunday, May 31, 2026 Location: Hida Furukawa Sakura Products Center (2-20 Sannomachi, Furukawa-cho, Hida City, Gifu Prefecture, 509-4236) Admission Fee: Free For more details: Please visit Machinaka Museum “Pocket Stone Club Exhibition”.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/120394/158/120394-158-96c830ae090ab0dc4f009d9717ef0101-1414×2000.png This is what the Hida-Miyagawa Archaeological Museum is like! https://img.youtube.com/vi/3ZTDVwOl5Ns/sddefault.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZTDVwOl5Ns Inquiry Hida City Board of Education Cultural Promotion Division Phone: 0577-73-7496 Hida City, Gifu Prefecture Hida City is a small city with a population of approximately 2,1500. Surrounded by mountains such as the Northern Alps, it is blessed with abundant nature, with forests covering approximately 94% of its total area. In addition to its abundant natural resources, the city is also a treasure trove of diverse and unique local resources, including the Furukawa Festival and Okoshi Taiko drumming, a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, astrophysics research facilities including Super-Kamiokande, which contributed to the Nobel Prize in Physics, and the rural town scenery that served as the inspiration for the hit anime film “Your Name.” Hida City Official Website https://www.city.hida.gifu.jp/ Hida City Official Tourism Site https://www.hida-kankou.jp/ Hida City Official Cultural Property Website https://hida-bunka.jp/ PRTIMES Hida City page