The Jōmon People’s Blazing Spirit

Incense Burner (The Nakamichi site)

From the Nakamichi site, where Chikumagawa river basin remains are most concentrated, an earthenware incense burner was excavated. We can speculate that this was used for events such as festivals, as the inside is stained with soot, one can surmise fires were lit within, similar to modern day lamps. This incense burner took the guise of a mother, with the flames of hope in her womb, cradling her children in both arms. The rear of the incense burner instead depicts a distribution of snakes and other such wildlife – almost as if to show the powerful vitality of nature coming together with the maternal protection of a mother to her child. These mouldings, however, convey not only the history of the discovery of obsidian, but also the spirit of the Jōmon people that lives on in people’s hearts.