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An event to present the project to the media and influencers.
Artists inspired by the Jomon culture were invited to present their work.
An exceptional menu, born from the meeting of scientific expertise and culinary creation was served.
Science meets culinary art : On the day of the event, Mr. Makoto Irie, Executive chef of Arbor at AoyamaTreehouse, has created and presented a menu based on some of the ingredients that constituted the diet of the Jomon people. These ingredients were sourced in Hokkaido and used to make dishes suited to contemporary taste while incorporating the cooking and preservation methods once utilised by the Jomon.
During the dinner, Mr. Chiharu Abe, an advisor to the Donan History and Culture Promotion Foundation that runs the Jomon Culture Center in Hakodate, held a talk and Q&A session on Jomon food, lifestyle and culture.
The fashion designer Mr. Kunihiko Morinaga, owner of the brand ANREALAGE presented two dresses inspired by Jomon pottery and he also shared the story behind their creation.
During a live painting session, the painter Tsukasa Suzuki realised a Jomon-themed art piece inspired by the music improvised by the musicians GOMA and MAKISAMA.
The event has been photographed by Shumpei Ohsugi.
We co-created the following four short films with the Hakodate Jomon Culture Center. The films capture the remarkable and universal value of the Jomon history and culture. Enjoy watching!
Of all the Jomon sites in Japan, the 17 Jomon sites in the “Jomon Sites of Hokkaido and the Northern Tohoku Region” were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on July 27, 2021 as a valuable asset to mankind.
The museum displays the actual Hollow Clay Figure, Hokkaido’s first national treasure. The Hakodate Jomon Culture Center is also home to a large number of precious artefacts, including clay tablets with children’s footprints, lacquered pottery, and earthenware covering the entire Jomon period. It’s mission is to pass on the life and spirit of the Jomon culture and educate present and future generations.
This is a settlement on high ground with the Pacific Ocean stretching out in front of it. More than 100 pit buildings have been excavated here, as well as numerous stone plates used for grinding. There are also remains of large shell mounds, where people used to hold ceremonies to offer sacrifices to tools that were no longer in use, and this is a site where you can feel the Jomon way of thinking about things.
This is an area where people lived for as long as 6000 years. The grave area is separated from the habitation area, and clay tablets with a child’s foot print has been excavated buried in the grave. A huge embankment, up to 190 metres long, was also built. The finds from this site in the Minamikayabe area include bright red lacquered earthenware and unusually shaped pottery, which are works of art. It is a site where you can feel the high level of culture of the Jomon period.
How has the Jomon culture inspired the creative activities of artists?
We followed some of the artists who are active in the fields of food, art, music and fashion. A message about how understanding the past can help give perspectives, inspirations, and possibly even solutions, for the present and the future.