OVERVIEW

Tokamachi City is a historical art town.
The flame-style pottery made about 5,000 years ago, the textile industry that has continued for more than 1,000 years, the Tokamachi Snow Festival, the oldest snow statue festival in Japan, and the Echigo-Tsumari Art Festival, are all about Tokamachi. It is a solid proof that is rooted in.

Ma Yansong／MAD Architects “Tunnel of Light” Photo by Tsutomu YAMADA

In winter, for about four months, the world is surrounded by pure white and soft curves, creating a beautiful and majestic world.
Such harshness and beauty of nature may have become a resource created by the art of this region.

“Tokamachi Jomon Tours” will be held in an attempt to decipher the regional characteristics from art, with the main stage being “Sasayama”, an archaeological site of the Jomon period where flame style pottery was excavated.
We offer activities, a guide to the Tokamachi City Museum, and a tour to have a full-course dinner at the Sasayama Site outdoor restaurant.

PROGRAM

The life of the Jomon people was exactly with nature. They depended on the resources obtained from hunting, gathering, and fishing from fields and sea rivers, and also obtained materials for all living tools from nature. They did not produce much food that would change the nature of nature, such as farming, livestock farming, and aquaculture.
This activity offers a gathering experience and a simulated hunting experience. Through this experience, you will be able to appreciate the blessings of the mountains and deepen your understanding of Jomon culture.

Wearing clothing for livelihood, you will experience collecting edible plants in the beech forest.
The Jomon people obtained a wide variety of food from the deciduous broad-leaved forest, which can be said to be a cradle where the lives of various creatures circulate. Even though each resource was small, many varieties were harvested to ensure the amount needed to satisfy their hunger. This blessing of the forest is one of the reasons why Jomon people did little food production such as farming and livestock farming for as long as 13,000 years.
Some of the plants obtained from this collection experience can be eaten at the Jomon restaurant at night (excluding poisonous mushrooms).

You will have a simulated hunting experience while wearing livelihood clothes.
You will experience a simulated hunting experience using a bow and arrow that reproduces the Jomon period and an animal-shaped target.
Animals usually do not die immediately when shot and continue to escape for some time, which is laborious and carries the risk of being counterattacked. Listen carefully to the guide’s lecture to find out where to aim at the target, and try firing (please rest assured that the target will not counterattack).

Flame style Pottery (National Tresure)

The Tokamachi City Museum was relocated and opened in June 2020.
You can see one of the permanent exhibition rooms, “Jomon period and the land of the flame style pottery”, with a special commentary by the curator.

The national treasure, flame style pottery, and the main Jomon culture of Tokamachi City are always on display.
It is reserved only for those who participate in the tour. You can listen to behind-the-scenes stories and episodes related to flame style pottery that are not expressed in the exhibition, and you can ask various questions.

We offer a special menu that is deliciously cooked to suit the tastes of modern people by cross-arranging a wide variety of natural ingredients from the Jomon period and modern local ingredients. You can enjoy how the Jomon food, which is often thought to be simple, is transformed into a confusing dinner.

JOMON RESTAURANT on ASOBO JAPAN

The restaurant venue is the Sasayama site where a national treasure, flame style pottery was excavated.
You can dine at the restaurant just above the ruins where a large amount of earthenware still sleeps. Interior furniture from the Jomon period will be installed in the pit dwelling just for this day to recreate the living space. Here, we will demonstrate cooking using pottery that is an elaborate reproduction of the national treasure, flame style pottery. Of course, you can eat it as a dish.

The supreme dinner of “Jomon × Contemporary” that you can enjoy with all five senses at the origin of art. Please look forward to it.

Left: Ms. Chisako Hori, Right: Dr. Shinya Shoda

Chisako HORI

The menu is structured with the concept of “food makes the body” and attracts attention as a new restaurant. After teaching at a cooking school in Kyoto, she became the manager of the product sales division of the Kyoto restaurant “Kikunoi”. In 2008, the restaurant “Lille” was opened with the concept of anti-aging. Registered dietitian, anti-aging food specialist, dietary advisor / Director of Kozuholy Co., Ltd./Managing Director of Kikunoi Co., Ltd.

Shinya SHODA

Archaeologist. Actively incorporating biochemical methods into archeology, researching the history of the diversity and development of human food and cooking in the past, in the field of archaeological sites throughout the Eurasian continent. My hobby is cooking. Director, International Archaeological Research Institute, Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, National Institutes for Cultural Heritage. Honorary Visiting Researcher, Department of Archeology, University of York, England.