Mitsuo Kagawa

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Mitsuo Kagawa was a famous archaeologist.

In 1962, Kagawa led an excavation in Hijiridaki cave in Ōita Prefecture, the only grotto in Japan where the team claims ancient human bones and stone tools from the Paleolithic era were found together. In the January 25, February 1 and March 15, 2001 issues of Shukan Bunshun it was reported in a series of articles that the stone tools collected at the Hijiridaki Cave site in Oita Prefecture of the Showa era were faked and that Mitsuo Kagawa, emeritus professor of Beppu University, was suspected of being involved in that hoax. Suffering mental trauma Mitsuo Kagawa, 78, committed suicide and was found by his wife Toshiko, 77.

Police treated the case as a suicide since three notes were found at the scene. Hiroshi Kagawa, the eldest son of the scholar, said the family is trying to restore the father's honor. The family has been granted a negotiated settlement with the magazine after seeking monetary compensation from the magazine's publisher and chief editor in Court. They said they wanted the publisher to explain the allegations in the articles. An apology was written and published by Shukan Bunshun, dated; September 2, 2004. The apology is published on the inside cover of the magazine, without any advertising or pictures on the page. Shukan Bunshun editor Seigo Kimata said he finds the Court ruling difficult to accept and will appeal.

Hijiridaki is a limestone cave about 50 m long and 200 m above sea level, in Honjo village, Ōita Prefecture. It is thought to be a Medieval burial place. Archaeologists and anthropologists learned of this cave and became interested in some skeletons with travertine adhesions that were found there. Kagawa and Tamotsu Ogata directed excavations at the cave in 1961 (preliminary) and 1962 (full scale), the latter being one of the special research projects in cave sites, conducted by the Japanese Archaeological Association in the early 1960s. Finds included human skull fragments, a human talus, microblades, a microcore, a trapeze, and so on. All of the artifacts were obsidian and were regarded as belonging to the final phase of the Late Palaeolithic. The human remains and artifacts were obtained from the same layer, and thus were considered to be contemporary. Palaeolithic human skeletons were unusual in the Japanese islands.