Aomori Claims Guinness World Record to Promote Bid for World Heritage Registration of Prehistoric Ruins - by Creating Giant Message with Handprint Cutouts

AOMORI, Japan, Oct. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Japan's northern prefecture of Aomori claimed a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records on September 14 as part of its promotional campaign to have archaeological ruins in the region registered as World Heritage sites in 2021.

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The cluster of ruins located in Aomori and surrounding areas are some of the sites that belong to the prehistoric Jomon period, which almost corresponds to the Neolithic Age, and are scattered around Japan as testimony to a primitive hunter-gatherer culture.

The Aomori Prefectural Government collected "paper hands," or cutouts of handprints, from visitors to the Sannai Maruyama and Komakino ruins in the prefecture from August. The cutouts were reduced in size and assembled on a huge sheet of paper to form Japanese letters that roughly meant "Go for it! World Heritage Registration of Jomon in 2021!" The message measured 3.6 meters by 6.7 meters.

In total, 2,476 handprint cutouts were collected, exceeding the initial target of 2021, and the huge message was formally recognized as the "Largest Paper Hand Sentence" by the Guinness book, according to Aomori officials. They likened the art of combining handprint cutouts to the Jomon period tradition of molding earthenware patterned with handprints of children.

The certification of the record was announced at a commemorative event at the Sannai Maruyama site on September 14 amid thunderous applause and cheers from the participants including Aomori Governor Shingo Mimura. The final four handprint cutouts were attached to the message by a popular local all-girl pop group, Ringo Musume (Apple Girls).

Aomori has earned a spot in the Guinness book for three straight years. In 2017, it was recognized to have organized the world's largest archaeological classroom, formally called the "Largest Archaeology Lesson." It created a boar-shaped object made of folding paper in 2018, which was recognized as the "Largest Display of Origami Pigs/Boars." The prefectural government will continue to promote the cluster of Jomon ruins with its sights set on their registration as World Heritage sites in 2021.

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