Senpukuji Cave, Archaeological cave in Setogoshi, Japan

Senpukuji Cave is an archaeological site in Sasebo containing four small rock shelters that face south on a hillside, positioned about 89 meters above the Ainoura River valley. The cave system shows distinct layers in its soil, with each layer holding artifacts from different prehistoric periods.

A junior high school student found the cave in 1969, and from the following year Chiba University teams led by Masao Aso excavated for ten years. They identified twelve soil layers, from Late Paleolithic knife-shaped stone tools up to Heisei-era roof tiles, and the site was designated a National Historic Site on 7 March 1986.

The name Senpukuji comes from the nearby temple, not from any hidden-temple meaning. The bean-pattern pottery found here is named for small oval clay pellets pressed at even intervals around the rim; the vessels are thin, deep bowls with a slightly inward-curving rim and a nearly flat base. Excavated finds are kept at the Shimase Art Center of the Sasebo City Museum, where the displays are restorations.

The four caves open south on a sandstone cliff about 89 m above sea level on the left bank of the Ainoura River, with a spring in the valley below. Reach the site in about 10 minutes on foot from Senpukuji Station on the Matsuura Railway Nishi-Kyushu Line. Excavated finds are kept at the Shimase Art Center of the Sasebo City Museum, where the displays are restorations.

The bean-pattern pottery from the cave's tenth layer was made by firing clay at about 500°C and pressing small oval clay pellets at even intervals around the rim. Some scholars argue it is a form of ridge-pattern pottery, but at Senpukuji it lay below the layer where such pottery appears at the Fukui Cave in Yoshii, Sasebo.