PREFECTURAL STONES OF JAPAN The Geological Society of Japan has selected a rock, a mineral and a fossil that represent each of 47 Prefectures of Japan, and presented the selection list to the public on 10 May 2016, the Geology Day in Japan. Either geologically, industrially or historically important stones that occur in respective Prefectures are selected. The English version of the list is given below where Prefectures are arranged from North to South. This is an outreach action of the Society in commemoration of its 125th Anniversary that is expected in 2018. Other anniversary-related actions of the Society include cooperation for publication of "The Geology of Japan" (published by the Geological Society of London in April, 2016), support for the 10th International Earth Science Olympiad (20–27 August 2016 at Mie, Japan), and publication of a number of timely, comprehensive reviews on various fields of geological sciences in the Society's journals; "The Journal of the Geological Society of Japan" and "Island Arc". We hope international audience can get quick insights into geological richness of the archipelago and useful materials to make geological communication with its dwellers by the list of Prefectural Stones of Japan. The Geological Society of Japan Presidents: Akira Ishiwatari (2012–2013) Yasufumi Iryu (2014–2015) 県の石 Yoshio Watanabe (2016–present) Prefecture (Capital) Rock (Place) Mineral (Place) Fossil (Place) Peridotite [very fresh alpine-type mantle "Placer Platinum" [In fact, iridosmine; Cretaceous ammonites [Well preserved, lherzolite with garnet pseudomorphs washed out from highly refractory mantle ammonites, up to >1 m in diameter, are 1. Hokkaido (Sapporo) (spinel-pyroxene symplectites); peridotite and serpentinite of Horokanai abundantly found from the Cretaceous registered as UNESCO geopark in 2015] Ophiolite] (Central Hokkaido; Sorachi, forearc deposits] (Central Hokkaido, (Horoman, Samani) etc.) Sorachi, etc.) "Nishiki Ishi" [iron-rich, red chalcedony; Rhodocrosite [mangan spar; pink "Aomori Mukashi Kujira 2. Aomori (Aomori) Miocene hydrothermal product] (Occurs manganese carbonate; Miocene Uo" [Miobarbourisia aomori; Miocene widely) hydrothermal product] (Oda Mine) whalefish] (Arakawa River, Aomori) "Naumann Yama Momo" [Comptonia Siliceous mudstone [Miocene Onnagawa Kuroko deposits [Miocene massive naumanni; fossil plant (sweetfern) of 3. Akita (Akita) Formation, source rock of Akita oil field] sulfide ore formed around sea-floor Miocene Daijima Flora] (Occurs widely in (Oga Peninsula) vents] (Hokuroku area) this prefecture) Serpentinite [Mantle section of Iron-rich skarn ore [provided enough iron Silurian corals [The first discovery of 4. Iwate (Morioka) Ordovician Ophiolite] (Mt. Hayachine, for Japan's modernization] (Kamaishi Silurian deposits in Japan was based on Kitakami Mts.) Mine) these fossils] (Hikoroichi, Ofunato) Dacitic tuff [Basement rock of the "Soroban-dama Ishi" [Abacus-piece "Yamagata Kaigyu" [Dusisiren dewana; 5. Yamagata (Yamagata) Buddhist temple famous for Basho's chalcedony] (Oguni) Miocene sea cow] (Oe Town) haiku] (Yamadera, Yamagata) Placer Gold [The oldest gold mine of "Utatsu Gyoryu" [Utatsusaurus hataii; the Permian slate [inkstone] (Toyoma Fm.; Japan in the 8th Century; contributed to earliest-known ichthyopterygian which 6. Miyagi (Sendai) Ogatsu, Ishinomaki and Tome) decorate Great Buddha in Nara] lived in the early Triassic] (Utatsu, (Nonodake, Wakuya) Minami-Sanriku) Cretaceous Gneiss [Originated in Pegmatite minerals [quartz, feldspar, "Futaba Suzuki Ryu" [Futabasaurus 7. Fukushima (Fukushima) Jurassic accretionary complex] mica, tourmaline, etc.] (Ishikawa) suzukii; Cretaceous plesiosaurs] (Iwaki) (Abukuma Mts.) Elbaite [Lithium tourmaline in lithium Stegolophodon [Miocene elephant] 8. Ibaraki (Mito) Cretaceous Granite (Mt. Tsukuba) pegmatite] (Mt. Myoken, Hitachi-Ota) (Hitachi-Omiya) "Konoha Ishi" [Leaf Stone; Pleistocene "Oya Ishi" [Miocene green tuff, widely 9. Tochigi (Utsunomiya) Chalcopyrite (Ashio Copper Mine) plant fossils in lake deposits] (Shiobara, used for fence blocks] (Oya, Utsunomiya) Nasu) "Oni Oshidashi Yogan" [Andesite block Realgar [Arsenic sulfide; Late Miocene "Yabe Otsuno Jika" [Sinomegaceros 10.Gunma (Maebashi) lava of Asama Volcano erupted in 1783] hydrothermal ore, an item of Shimonita yabei; Plio-Pleistocene giant deer] (Tsumagoi Village) Geopark] (Nishinomaki Mine, Shimonita) (Kamikuroiwa, Tomioka) Schist [Cretaceous high pressure Stilpnomelane [Calcium-bearing mica- Paleoparadoxia [Miocene sea mammal 11.Saitama (Saitama) Sanbagawa metamorphic rocks] like mineral occurring in Sanbagawa (family Desmostylidae)] (Hannya, Ogano; (Nagatoro) schist] (Nagatoro) Onohara, Chichibu) "Boshu Ishi" [Tuffaceous sandstone and Chibaite [silica clathrate including Molluscan shells in the Upper 12. Chiba (Chiba) granule conglomerate used as building methane and ethane] (Boso Peninsula; Pleistocene Kioroshi Shell Bed (Kioroshi, stones] (Nokogiriyama, Futtsu) Miocene accretionary complex) Inzai) !1 Prefecture (Capital) Rock (Place) Mineral (Place) Fossil (Place) "Munin Gan" [Boninite; Eocene highly Clinoenstatite [highly magnesian "Tokyo Hotate" [Mizuhopecten 13. Tokyo Metropolis magnesian andesite] (Chichijima Island, pyroxene in boninite] (Chichijima Island, tokyoensis; Plio-Pleistocene scallop] (Oji, (Tokyo) Ogasawara (Bonin Islands)) Ogasawara (Bonin Islands)) Kita-ku and elsewhere) Miocene scleractinian corals (Tanzawa Tonalite [Pliocene potash-poor granite 14. Kanagawa Yugawaralite [calcic zeolite that was first Mts.; formed on a volcanic island of the (plagiogranite, quartz diorite)] (Tanzawa (Yokohama) discovered from Yugawara] (Yugawara) Izu-Bonin-Mariana arc that collided with Mts.) Japan) Jadeitite [product of Cambro–Ordovician Native Gold [Miocene vein-type gold- Carboniferous-Permian marine fossils 15. Niigata (Niigata) subduction metamorphism] (Omi and silver ores] (Sado Gold Mine, Sado [from the "Omi Limestone"] (Omi, Kotaki, Itoigawa) Island) Itoigawa) Obsidian [Pleistocene welded rhyolitic Garnet [spessartine garnet that occurs in "Naumann Zo" [Paleoloxodon naumanni; 16. Nagano (Nagano) tuff; used as arrow heads by lithic age cavities of the Wadatoge rhyolite] Pleistocene elephant] (Lake Nojiriko) people] (Wadatoge Pass) (Wadatoge Pass) Rock Crystal [Quartz] twinned in Basalt Lava of Fuji Volcano [erupted in Late Miocene molluscan shells in the 17. Yamanashi (Kofu) accordance with Japan law [also known 864-866 A.D.] (Aokigahara Forest) Fujigawa Formation (Obarajima, Minobu) as Japanese twin] (Otome Mine) Onix Marble [Travertine, Miocene sea- Staurolite [in Permian medium-pressure Miocene molluscan shells in the Yatsuo 18. Toyama (Toyama) floor hydrothermal carbonate rock] type Unazuki metamorphic rocks] Group (Yatsuo, Toyama) (Shimotate, Unazuki) (Uchiyama, Unazuki) Diatomite [Diatom mudstone; Miocene Aragonite [Occurs in cavities of Miocene Early Pleistocene molluscan shells in the 19. Ishikawa (Kanazawa) shallow sea and lake deposits] (Noto basalt lava] (Koiji beach, Noto Town) Omma Formation (Okuwa, Kanazawa) Peninsula) "Shakudani Ishi" [Miocene lapilli tuff Native arsenic [Spherical aggregate of Fukuiraptor kitadaniensis [Dinosaur 20. Fukui (Fukui) excavated for long time as industrial rock euhedral crystals like a comfit sugar] excavated from the Cretaceous Tetori material] (Akatani Mine, Fukui) Group] (Kitadani, Katsuyama) "Akaiwa" [Red rocks forming the Hoei Early Pleistocene molluscan shells in the crater, the site of 1707 eruption of Fuji Native tellurium [occurs with tellurite and 21. Shizuoka (Shizuoka) Kakegawa Group (Dainichi Formation) Volcano. The rocks comprise volcanic kawazulite] (Kawazu Mine, Shimoda) (Kakegawa and Fukuroi) lapilli and ash] (Hoei Kako, Gotemba) Middle Miocene deep-sea fossils in the Pitchstone [Miocene rhyolitic rocks Kaoline [source clay for the Seto Morosaki Group [Crinoids, devilfish, sea 22. Aichi (Nagoya) forming Shitara Cauldron] (Mt. Horaiji, potteries] (Seto) urchins, fish, bivalves, gastropods, etc.] Shinshiro) (Chita Peninsula) Chert [Bedded radiolarian chert of Hedenbergite [Fe-Ca Pyroxene in skarn Permian marine fossils in the "Akasaka Triassic-Jurassic age in the Jurassic deposites] (Kamioka Copper-Zinc Mine, Limestone" [Fusulinids, bivalves, 23. Gifu (Gifu) accretionary complex of Mino Belt] Hida (Mine is closed, but is used as gastropods, crinoids, etc.] (Akasaka (Unuma, Kagamihara; Sakashuku, Kamo) Kamiokande to detect nutrino)) Kinshozan, Ogaki) Kumano rhyolitic volcanic rocks [Miocene Cinnabar [Quicksilver (mercury) deposits "Mie Zo" [Stegodon miensis; Pliocene 24. Mie (Tsu) caldera volcano in the forearc area] formed in the Ryoke and Sanbagawa elephant] (Tsu, Kameyama, Iga, Suzuka, (Southeastern Kii Peninsula) belts in Miocene] (Nyu Mine) Kuwana, etc.) Footprints preserved in the Kobiwako Koto Rhyolite [Late Cretaceous large- Topaz [Pegmatite mineral in Cretaceous Group [Plio-Pleistocene deer, elephant, 25. Shiga (Otsu) scale caldera volcanism] (Higashi-Omi granite] (Tagamiyama, Otsu) crocodile, bird, rhinoceros, etc.] (Yasu, and Omi-Hachiman) Konan) "Sakura Ishi" [Cherry flower stone; "Narutaki Toishi" [Whetstone made of cordierite pseudomorph in metapelite of Miocene molluscan shells in the Tsuzuki 26. Kyoto (Kyoto) Early Triassic siliceous claystone of Tamba belt intruded by Cretaceous Group (Ujitawara) Tamba belt] (Ukyo-ku, Kyoto) granite] (Kameyama) Alkali Basalt [Pleistocene lava with "Tamba Ryu" [Tambatitanis amicitiae; Chalcopyrite [Akenobe and Ikuno mines magnificent colunmar joints in