Jomon journey of nawa to yajiri

#Fukushiki-ro #Fukushima #HoshojiriSite #japanesehistory #Jomon #JomonVessel #NawaToYajiri 2022.03.16

Journey of Fukushiki-ro
～Exploring the Hoshojiri Site, Fukushima Prefecture
Part 1

Go to Shirakawa to see “Hoshojiri Ruins Exhibition 3: The Age of the Fukushiki-ro

＊’Fukushiki-ro’ is a large-size fireplace constructed from an arrangement of large riverbed stones.

When I went outside, the sun was already setting. With the winter solstice just around the corner in December, the horizon seemed to be in a hurry to drive the sun westward to make room for the night. The path leading to the back of the building was completely dominated by darkness, so I did not even realize that the pit dwelling was standing there until curator K’s flashlight shined on it. Surely the pit dwelling, covered with a thatched roof, must absorb light in its straw-like fibers.

When we descended into the cave-like dwelling, the light revealed a masonry furnace with stones laid out in a triangular shape. On the front side of the furnace, the earthen floor was shallowly dug and hollowed out, and was connected to the apex of the triangle where three earthenware vessels were buried. It is a “Fukushiki-ro” These furnaces, consisting of a masonry furnace and buried earthenware, were excavated at the end of the Middle Jomon Period in the southern Tohoku region, and more than 500 have been found in Fukushima Prefecture, which can be considered the core of the region.

I had been curious about the Fukushiki-ro because I had seen a replica in progress in the workshop of an acquaintance who is a restorer. That strangely original shape. It was completely different from the stone surround furnaces used in the Jomon period (rustic furnaces made of round or square stones), much less a fireplace, which I did not understand.
Moreover, compared to earthenware and clay figurines, Fukushiki-ros are quite humble and not much information is available about them. That is why I was so excited when I learned that the “Hosho-jiri Site Exhibition 3: The Age of the Fukushiki-ro” was being held last fall at the Fukushima Cultural Property Centre, Shirakawa Branch (commonly known as “Mahoron(まほろん)”), I was like a hunter after something rare: “Oh, that Fukushiki-ro”.

Fukushiki-ro from the Hoshojiri site restored outside of Mahoron

The special exhibition was the last in a series of three exhibits on the changes at the Hoshojiri site northwest of Lake Inawashiro. It is not often that a single archaeological site is featured three times. The Hoshojiri site, which was discovered during the construction of the BAN-ETSU expressway, is said to be a valuable archaeological site as it traces the transition of the village over a period of 1,000 years in the middle Jomon period.

855 pieces of earthenware, mainly of the Oki type, which were excavated in clean condition from clay pits (storage pits), have been designated as National Important Cultural Properties of Japan. The exhibition hall was filled with pottery from the latter half of the Middle Jomon Period, or the period of the Fukushiki-ro. Although there were only photo panels of the furnaces, we learned that the range of the furnaces was centered in the southern Tohoku region, extending from Aomori Prefecture in the north to Saitama Prefecture in the south and Niigata Prefecture in the west. The earthenware vessels were worth seeing, and I was so absorbed in asking Mr. K questions that it was past closing time, so I hurried to see the outdoor furnace after dark.

The special exhibition “Hosho-jiri Site Exhibition 3: The Age of the Fukushiki-ro – Epoch-making Jomon Settlement -”

Pottery from the Oki 7b-8b period before the appearance of the Fukushiki-ro

System kitchen in the Jomon period

The pit house, a reconstruction of a large dwelling at the Hoshojiri site, had a high ceiling, thick pillars and beams, and was of fine construction. According to Mr. K, it could have been a chief’s house or a meeting place. The smell of smoky air was mixed with the smell of soil. Mr. K says that he builds a fire in this Fukushiki-ro every Saturday, “otherwise, mold will grow and insects and even snakes will live in it,” he said. I have heard that snakes lay eggs in pit dwellings at another archaeological site, and it seems that pit dwellings are a comfortable place for snakes. That is why it is necessary to scare them away with smoke.

Some people believe that the furnace inside the pit dwelling was mainly for preserving the seed fire, and that the main furnace for cooking meals was located outside. It is true that a thatched house would likely burn down if a large fire was built. This may be the reason why a hearth shelf was hung above the Fukushiki-ro to prevent the fire from spreading. I don’t know if such a facility actually existed, but at least with a furnace this large, it would seem that it should have. “The stones have heat storage properties, so it must have been quite warm when the fire was built on top of it.” Hirokawa said. Heating is essential in the cold Tohoku winters. A fire in the furnace can also light the house. Just imagining a fire burning here gave me a warm feeling.

The front side of the Fukushiki-ro was a few centimeters lower than the surrounding floor, and stones were placed on both sides as a kind of soil barrier. “This area is especially hardened.” said Mr. K. The soil has a glossy sheen to it. I once walked barefoot on the floor of a house being excavated in Tsunan Town, Niigata Prefecture, and it felt as if I was stepping on something that was soft and comfortable against my skin. I imagine that the fact that the soil is in such a compacted state means that work around the fire must have been done here.

When I asked Mr. K what the earthenware buried in the masonry was used for, he replied that there were traces of heat exposure on the earthenware, leading him to the theory that it was used to store firewood or ashes. The ashes can be used to remove the scum from wild vegetables and nuts. The technique of removing scum by using the alkalinity of ash to neutralize bitterness and astringency is one that has been handed down from the Jomon period to the present day. The Fukushiki-ro, connected to the earthenware, seemed to be a convenient way to stock the ashes from the main furnace.

It could be used like an oven by placing a burner inside the earthenware vessel and passing the skewered meat over the top of the vessel. Then, the Fukushiki-ro, which is a stove, oven, and storage all in one, is now a system kitchen. I thought this was quite an invention.

Earthenware buried in a Fukushiki-ro

Jomon people passionate about stones

However, Mr. K’s reaction to the system kitchen theory was dispassionate.
“We do not know if the Fukushiki-ro is a matter of convenience. If they were convenient, they should have lasted and evolved in different forms, but after 300 years or so, they fell into disuse and reverted to the stone hearth furnaces of the past.”
The system kitchen theory was certainly a leap too far. Look at the decorative earthenware of this period. Not a few of the earthenware of the eastern part of the Middle Jomon period emphasizes how gorgeous or beautiful they are. The people of this period prioritized the decoration of earthenware over the fulfillment of functions such as boiling and pouring. It is strange that such people would suddenly become convenience-oriented.

In addition, the furnaces in pre-Fukushiki-ro dwellings were either ground floor furnaces called Jisho-ro, in which the fire burned directly on the ground, or simple stone hearth furnaces. No matter how beautiful and gorgeous earthenware has become, the basic form of a furnace has not changed significantly over thousands of years. What necessity could have compelled people who had stubbornly continued to use simple furnaces to start making furnaces that looked like stone objects?

There are other things I don’t know. The appearance of the Fukushiki-ro marks a major transformation in the flowing design of local Middle Oki pottery. The overly decorative protrusions were lost, and the appearance was changed to a bold, flat appearance with thick U-shaped and spiral patterns painted over a ground pattern of rolled ropes. I had just seen this transition in the planning exhibition room.

Oki 9 earthenware from the period of the Fukushiki-ro

Mr. K’s supervisor, the vice curator of Mahoron, believes that this phenomenon “may have shifted people’s interest from earthenware to stone. Mr. K explained on behalf of the vice curator that “the reason why people who were so particular about earthenware stopped making only plain earthenware in the period of Fukusiki-ro is because they were passionate about stone. What does “passionate about stones” mean?　I would have liked to hear more, but time was running out.

Late at night, it began to snow. For those of us from Tokyo, this was the first snow we had seen this winter. However, what was more intense than the snow was the wind. The hotel room in Koriyama, where we stayed, rang out a high-pitched cacophony through the loose windows as the northerly wind blowing down from the mountains hit the room. Eventually, the wind would die down and a hush would descend, but soon the wind would begin to roar again. It was as if the wind itself had a will.

Pegmatite Shrine and Harase-Uwahara Ruins

The next day, the wind was as strong as ever. Under a blue sky with powdery snow flurries, we visited the guidance facility of the Oyasuba ancient tombs at Oyasuba historic Park, the largest of its kind in Tohoku, to see the excellent artifacts from the city’s Jomon ruins. Then, at the History and Folklore Museum in Miharu Town, adjacent to Koriyama City, we encountered a curious-looking clay figurine. It was missing from the chest down, but had good muscle tone around his shoulders and a face as composed as Hanawa-kun’s in Chibi Maruko-chan. It is this kind of interesting thing that makes a trip to the Jomon region so interesting.

The guidance facility at the Oyasuba ancient tombs is based on a wheel stone from the burial mound.

A guidance facility for ancient burial mounds, but also excellent pieces of Koriyama’s Jomon pottery

A somber-faced clay figure from the Miharu Town Museum of History and Folklore. The body is missing from the shoulders down.

We then set our course for Mt. Adatara, where we would be staying for the day. Forecasting a blizzard, we planned to get into the lodge early, before dark. However, as we drove along a peaceful prefectural road, the words “pegmatite veins” popped into view. As a geology fan, Hirokawa could not miss it.
Turning back, we found a huge, milky-white pegmatite shrine with an unusual deity. Pegmatite is a type of granite that contains quartz and feldspar, and is mainly used to make optical lenses and ceramics, and in this area where its veins are exposed, mining was apparently conducted around the beginning of the Showa period (1926-1989). At the entrance to the approach, a huge cedar tree, split in two, grows neatly like a gate. As one might imagine from the age of the tree, it must have been planted here before the mining of pegmatites. It was a moment for us to feel the feelings of the people of the past who made the shining white veins of pegmatite rock a sanctuary.

Pegmatite vein, a national natural monument at Kashima Grand Shrine in Koriyama City

Although we were supposed to be in a hurry, there was one more place we wanted to stop by. In Nihonmatsu City, which lies at the foot of Mount Adatara, there is the Harase-Uwahara Ruins. This was another Jomon site where a Fukushiki-ro was found. Two reconstructed dwellings stood in a wooded plaza on a river terrace facing the Harase River, bathed in the weak sunlight of winter dusk. The roof was crumbling and rotting, as if no one had taken care of it, and there was not the slightest hint of the richness that I had felt in Mahoron’s restored dwelling. I peeked inside to see if there should be a duplex furnace, but it was in such disrepair that I could not see it, so we quickly retreated to the car.

Decaying reconstructed dwelling at the Harase-Uwahara site, Nihonmatsu City

After passing Dakeonsen, the road became snow-covered. The fresh snow piled up on the road surface was blown up by the strong wind and looked like powder. I intuit that this is where the wind I heard at the hotel last night was coming from. I had put on studless tires, so the car was stable, but the whirlwind was blowing snow plumes all over the coniferous mountainsides, and I felt like I had come to a place I shouldn’t have. A cold wave blowing from Siberia in the far north crashed into the mountains and swept right and left, as if it had lost its way. We finally arrived at our destination, a hot spring resort, in the midst of a blizzard, and finally felt at home. All right, tonight, I will warm myself to the core in the rich, iron-rich hot spring water.

Evening view over the ground snow seen from “Tsuchiyu” Roadside Station

To be continued to Part 2…

Text : Tomoko Kusakari, Photo : Yoshiaki Hirokawa

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nawa to yajiri
(it means “Rope and Arrowhead”)

A unit for exploring the Jomon by Tomoko Kusakari (writing) and Yoshiaki Hirokawa (photography).
In addition to working as members of the NPO Jomonism, they also travel around Japan visiting Jomon ruins, archaeological sites and local museums, exploring the prehistoric values that can be deciphered from the forms and environments of the Jomon.
http://nawatoyajiri.com

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