What can we learn from Jomon Culture | Naoyuki Ohshima | TEDxSapporo
This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Naoyuki Oshima has spent his entire life researching the studies of Jomon period and culture, the prehistoric Japan. At this talk he takes us beyond borders of the traditional archaeology and shares what still exists today so that we should learn from them.
To understand the “mind” of Jomon people, Naoyuki Oshima goes beyond borders of the traditional archaeology by studying cultural anthropology, religion, folklore and brain science.
He deciphers Jomon period culture, the prehistoric Japan from a new viewpoint and expands his research focusing on the origin of human and high spirits . Moreover, he makes efforts to establish Civil Jomon Association in various locations of Hokkaido to spread and enlighten people on his research.
Naoyuki Ohshima is a chairman of Hokkaido Archaeological Association, a past director of Japanese Archaeological Association, and a councilor of Anthropological Society of Nippon.
Born in Shibecha-cho, Kushiro Subprefecture, Hokkaido in 1950. After graduating from the History Department in Literature Faculty of Toyo University and working at Chitose City Hall, he studied anthropology and anatomy as an assistant at Sapporo Medical University. From 1995, in Date City, he engaged in maintaining a historical site and Kitakogane Shell-mound as well as researching archaeological ruins. In addition, he set up a nation’s first official research institute, and he has been positively involved in comprehensive cultural administration including arts such as music and painting.
His recent works are “対論・文明の原理を問う(Touron Bunmei no genri wo tou)” (co-author , Reitaku University Press, 2011), and “月と蛇と縄文人(Tsuki to hebi to jomonzin)” (Jurou-sha, 2014 ).
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Cultural Communications through Archaeology and Heritage in Hokkaido
Mayumi Okada
HOKKAIDO UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR AINU AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES
After “the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples” in 2007, social movement towards cultural reconstruction and rights recovery of Ainu, Indigenous people in Japan, has accelerated. In academia, archaeologists try to keep away from archaeological interpretation of Ainu culture based on colonial perspectives. In addition, some in Hokkaido have utilized Ainu cultural heritage, which has characteristics of cultural landscapes and intangible heritage, as cultural resource of regional community to create opportunities of communication between Ainu and ethnic Japanese. Most recently, for instance, the Japanese government has launched into establishing “The Symbolic Space for Ethnic Harmony” as a national center for revitalizing Ainu culture in Shiraoi town, Hokkaido. The space will be designed to promote nationwide understanding of the history and culture of Ainu, pass on traditional Ainu culture, and expand the horizons of Ainu culture towards the creation of new culture.
This paper introduces two cases of communication among Ainu and ethnic Japanese over archaeology and heritage related to Ainu culture. The first case from Biratori town where a dense population of Ainu people shows a platform for communication comprehensively utilizing regional cultural resources including cultural landscape and archaeological site deeply related to Ainu
culture. The second case is based on the author’s experience through public archaeological works. The dialogue among Ainu youth and us, about interpretation of Ainu ritual ceremony reveals challenges that archaeology conducted in Hokkaido will have to face.