Stream of Consciousness style thoughts
I’m going into this knowing I’ve struggled with pace in the past, so I’ve skipping the couple intro pages.
It seems this chapter will be from the actual formation of the islands themselves up to Stone Age stuff (I think that’s our equivalent).
After/following mammoths, humans came to Japan from the continent. I am slightly struggling to understand if they mean “sometime after the mammoths” or “they were directly chasing the mammoths.”
氷河時代 is referring to the ice age, with the * explaining this was a time when a third of the land mass on earth was frozen.
おおう=to cover/hide/etc → おおわれる=passive, to be covered → the world was harshly cold and (was in the state of being) covered by ice.
There were animals that couldn’t keep up with the change in temperature so they went extinct. But even in those times, humans lived strongly (in that they had the determination and resourcefullness to survive.)
ユーラシア looks like Eurasia, which is the continent these pre-Japanese people are coming from.
Added マンモス and ヘラジカ to my 図鑑 because why not, pausing here to take a lunch break.
狩猟採集生活 I’m happy I could figure out without looking up because it just makes sense.
Maybe most of the lookups on this next page didn’t need to be lookups and I should try to be a kid who is learning what these things are via the text.
Okay, so I’ve established that first page is they were literally chasing the Mammoths.
Gain wisdom, and think with your own head, and you’ll find your path (in life, technically not finding it, it just exists but same idea)
The shows how the continent looked when the sea level was lower, and the brighter colour is how it is today. So, they could just walk there.
Comparing the pictures on wikipedia, the オオツノジカ pictured in this book has two sets of horns, so it’s more likely to be the ヤベオオツノジカ than the ギガンテウスオオツノジカ which just has one set.
Mammoths and other giant animals crossed over into what is now Japan, and the people who would become known as “Japanese” followed their prey.
Then, as the climate got warmer, (the ice melted and) the sea level rised, causing the formation of the Japanese islands.
縄文時代 is about 2500 years ago (so, about 17500 years after the people first crossed over to Japan).
Stone ruins were found in the listed locations. The ones in _ place are famous, and these days we think they were used for 祭祀 which is a religious/spiritual belief thing.
土偶 are dolls that were used for prayer and spells/charms. The pictures show various types with their names and locations they were found.
About the bad thing what will happen to you, the top of this entire figure (will) fall. Except the old person smashed the arm instead of the head so I’m a bit confused.
This seems to have been a ritual to make the baby be born safely. And a symbol is drawn on the baby’s head so that diasters passes by (without visiting the child).
Next is this bracelet and necklace. Jade was a very important jewel between the two time periods. It is thought that people started processing the jewel in 糸魚川地方, which is west of 新潟県 (a more useful comparison for someone who knows their geography).
They made lots of shapes, like rugby ball, crescent moon, pipe ball, and round ball. That first one is clearly a modern comparison, and I think pipe ball is meaning it is hollow and long and round.
くるみ are walnuts iirc, they are different from chestnuts because they can be eaten even without pulling out (the insides? I dunno how either is eaten).
Last year the nuts weren’t coming of the trees which was unpleasant for every one, so this walnut thing is super helpful. Somehow.
With this (the walnuts) the mother can keep producing breast milk for the baby, and it’s important to not neglect the baby until they are seven because otherwise the gods are going to take it away. All the people are being very helpful so the mother doesn’t need to leave the baby alone.
They are building a bigger house to have room for children. The houses they had are called 穴住居 and were made by digging a hole in the ground, and building the house around that.
- Dig a round or square hole about 50-100cm deep.
- Build the skeleton of the house using pine or くぬぎ (or similar) trees.
- Put the straw etc (アシ=reed and カヤ=grass) on top of the skeleton.
- Inside, once you added the ___ (=fireplace, stairs, etc), it’s complete!
Hooray, now they have a bigger house in preparation for when child gets bigger.
Little time skip, don’t try the poisonous mushroom. If the people have already figured out the mushroom is poisonous, you don’t really need to test it again.
Anyway, that’s the last colour page 
but there’s only a handful left so I’ll keep going.
Back at ハジメ’s house, they’re making cooking pots.
Does earthenware imply clay? Anyway, they’re making this pots from (maybe) clay, and pushing ropes along the outside to make pretty patterns.
- Carefully curl round the (definitely) clay, building on top of the last loop, to build up the pot.
- flatten/smooth out the outside surface and use a rope to make it pretty.
- Leave it to dry in the sun for about half a month to a full month and then bake it.
- Complete!
By the time we reach the 縄文時代 the mammoths and giant deer are extinct, so the prey is now normal-sized deer and boars.
They have new types of stone tools made by grinding stones. The one’s shown are better versions of the axe, spearhead, and the knife, which is split into two a knife for butchering and a knife for shaving wood.
They also made tools out of bones. Like, a hook for fishing and a spearhead, and the hammer is made out of horn.
List of Lookups:
列島・縄文・追う・おおう・ついていける・絶滅・たくましく・ヘラジカ・黒曜石・するどい・断面・石器・はがす・けずる・石斧・尖頭器・削器・槍・はぐ・知恵・まじない・ふりかかる・とちの実・アシ・カヤ・炉・ハシゴ・煮炊き・土器・粘土・乾燥・磨製
I really enjoyed reading this, especially after I stopped looking up every other word and pretended I was a child who needs to learn what they mean from the text. It felt like I was figuring out a puzzle. Lots of fun.
Blurb says it covers up to COVID, the Tokyo Olympics, and the assassination of Prime Minister Abe.