{"id":112076,"date":"2026-04-21T12:17:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T03:17:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/papersky.jp\/?p=112076"},"modified":"2026-04-27T13:04:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T04:04:49","slug":"jomon-time-walk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/papersky.jp\/en\/jomon-time-walk\/","title":{"rendered":"Jomon Time Walk"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Seeking Jomon in the North<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


At the end of the Ice Age, rising sea levels caused the Japanese archipelago to separate from the continent around 15,000 years ago. From then on, it began its journey as a long, narrow chain of islands. Though surrounded by sea, its interior was already lined with mountain ranges. Rainfall from the heavens nourished the land, forests flourished, and countless rivers ran from the mountains through valleys and out to sea. There were no countries yet, no governing structures to speak of. Humans lived modestly, as part of the natural world, no different from plants and animals. That way of life must lie deep in our primal landscape, yet over the ages, we\u2019ve neglected that dialogue with nature and begun to drift away from it. When did we fall out of the circle of coexistence we once shared with the sea, the mountains, the rivers, the trees and stones, the plants and animals?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I first turned my attention to the J\u014dmon culture\u2014the foundation of this land\u2014five years ago. It started with a growing restlessness over such questions, as well as a certain fleeting moment that sparked something in me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Kita-Kogane Shell Mound (Date City, Hokkaido) \/ Early to Middle Jomon Period (approx. 5000\u20132500 BC)
The reconstructed dwellings stand exactly where they once stood, with the original water source still flowing nearby.
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One winter, while walking a mountain path in Akita with a friend, he casually said, \u201cYou know, the J\u014dmon people used to live around here.\u201d Then, he bent down, picked up a piece of pottery from the damp ground right beside us, brushed off the sand with his palm, and revealed a J\u014dmon-era pattern. Smiling, he said, \u201cLate J\u014dmon pottery.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I blurted out, \u201cWait, we\u2019re that close to the J\u014dmon era?\u201d
He simply replied, \u201cIt\u2019s all connected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, whenever I travel across Japan, I find time to revisit J\u014dmon sites, again and again. I began to realize that J\u014dmon settlements and shell mounds weren\u2019t limited to well-known regions like T\u014dhoku, the Yatsugatake foothills, or the Shinano River basin. They\u2019re scattered throughout the Tokyo metropolitan area too\u2014Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba. That changed the way I saw the whole landscape of the Japanese islands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Deer antler harpoon head
Irie-Takasago Shell Mound (T\u014dyako Town, Abuta District, Hokkaid\u014d) J\u014dmon period, Late to Final (approx. 2000\u2013800 BC) Collection of T\u014dyako Town Board of Education
The sharpened tip of a tool used to hunt marine animals such as seals and dolphins. Its surface is adorned with intricate patterns.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\"\"
Stone tool
Nimaibashi (2) Site (Mutsu City, Aomori Prefecture) J\u014dmon period, Final (approx. 1000\u2013300 BC)
Collection of Mutsu City Board of Education
Among the excavated artifacts was a stone tool that appears to be unfinished. Its vivid color draws the eye.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"
Kita-Kogane Shell Mound (Date City, Hokkaido)
J\u014dmon period, Early to Middle (approx. 5000\u20132500 BC)
Near the site, a row of carefully arranged deer skulls was found in a nearby shell mound. Some scholars suggest that these mounds were not mere dumping grounds, but sacred spaces for sending off spirits.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

This fall, I set out on a new journey to trace the J\u014dmon culture of the north. My destinations were Aomori Prefecture and the southern part of Hokkaid\u014d\u2014regions that once shared a unified cultural zone across the Tsugaru Strait and are home to many J\u014dmon archaeological sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Nemuro on the eastern edge of Hokkaid\u014d, I made my way to the Funka (Uchiura)Bay area in the south, crossed by ferry from Hakodate to the Shimokita Peninsula, and traveled down to Mutsu City, then Aomori City. On this trip, I touched the tools and ritual objects of the J\u014dmon people\u2014who lived by hunting, gathering, and fishing\u2014and in doing so, I gained a tangible sense of their way of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a conversation with Abe-san, director of the Hakodate J\u014dmon Culture Center<\/a>, we explored how the J\u014dmon people may have perceived time. He told me, \u201cIt seems like the J\u014dmon people didn\u2019t divide time into past, present, and future the way modern people do.\u201d In other words, perhaps they viewed time as a continuum, or a unified whole rather than distinct segments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This way of thinking is echoed in the proximity of their living spaces and graves, in the earthen masks and decorated clay items thought to be ritual implements. Even the patterns on their pottery tell a story: similar motifs found at the Sannai-Maruyama site<\/a> are also unearthed across the sea in southern Hokkaid\u014d, and remarkably, some of these forms were passed down for thousands of years with little change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the modern world, where everything changes at breakneck speed, it\u2019s becoming harder to preserve even centuries-old festivals and traditions. But in the J\u014dmon era, such continuity was made possible through the living wisdom of the people, embodied in various forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Higashi-Michi-no-Kami  (3) Site (T\u014dhoku Town, Kamikita District, Aomori) J\u014dmon period, Late Early Phase (approx. 3000 BC)
During excavation, a large number of pottery vessels were discovered above the remains of a dwelling.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Higashi-Michi-no-Kami(3) Site (T\u014dhoku Town, Kamikita District, Aomori) J\u014dmon period, Early Middle Phase (approx. 3000 BC)
At the center of a pit dwelling remains a clearly defined hearth, once used for fire, hinting at what life was like at the time.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Jar-shaped Pottery
Nimaibashi (2) Site (Mutsu City, Aomori) J\u014dmon period, Late (approx. 1000\u2013300 BC)
Collection of Mutsu City Board of Education
Many J\u014dmon-period artifacts are decorated in vermilion or red. Even after several millennia, the deep red of the bengala pigment remains strikingly vivid.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Clay Mask
Nimaibashi (2) Site (Mutsu City, Aomori) J\u014dmon period, Late (approx. 1000\u2013300 BC)
Collection of Mutsu City Board of Education
This clay mask, thought to have been used in ritual ceremonies, bears a gentle expression. The markings around the cheeks and mouth may represent tattoos.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Beneath our very feet lies the J\u014dmon world, buried in layers that go nearly 12,000 years deep. To behold their enduring gaze, we need only begin by carefully observing the tools and objects they left behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If those who will one day shape the future come into contact with what has been passed down through the ages, and forge new paths from it, then perhaps the return of a time when humans once again converse with nature might not be so far off after all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n


\uff1cPAPERSKY no.46\uff082014\uff09\uff1e<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Vessel with Spout \u2013 Yagi B Site (Hakodate City, Hokkaido) J\u014dmon period, Late Late Phase (approx. 1500 BC) Collection of Hakodate City Board of Education
The spout of this vessel appears to symbolize masculinity. It was reportedly unearthed alongside another vessel thought to represent femininity, both from the same dwelling site.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n




Jomon Fieldwork | Nao Tsuda \u00d7 Lucas B.B. Interview<\/strong>
A conversation between \u2018Jomon Fieldwork\u2019 Photographer and writer Nao Tsuda and Papersky\u2019s Editor-in-chief Lucas B.B. The two discuss the ways Jomon culture continues to play an important role in modern day Japan. The video was filmed at Papersky\u2019s office in Shibuya in conjunction with Tsuda\u2019s exhibition \u201cEyes of the Lake and Mother Mountain Plate\u201d held at the Yatsugatake Museum in Nagano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n