He Lived Way Back, A Long Time Ago

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After yesterday's disappointment (the more I think about it, the more I'm sure we were in the wrong place to see the Shinjuku I used to know), today was a wonderful unexpected treat. I just couldn't be bothered with another trip into Tokyo (33 minutes on a fast train, 41 on a slow one, and then however long it takes to get to your target) so I suggested somewhere in the countryside today.

Before we came, I looked up to see what there was to do and see in Chiba, and at first Trip Adviser gave fully seven attractions. One of these was called the Kasori Midden, and when I saw it, I thought, "LOL, someone's mistranslated something somewhere!" (I know, I actually thought, 'LOL'. I'm sorry.) But I read further, and thought that maybe it would be worth a visit. It was. And yes, it is a midden.

We started by going just a couple of stops from K Station in order to transfer to the monorail. We've taken this a couple of times before, but just for a stop or two to get back to our local train line. This time we were travelling for maybe 10 stops. And although it's called the "Urban Monorail System" (or something similar), I was surprised to find that despite going what I thought was quite a distance, we never got into the countryside. (Mind you, a monorail in the countryside would have surprised me too. I'm easily surprised.) We were flying through suburbs, and very pleasant residential areas they seemed, too, but the urban sprawl is just monstrous. The monorail system is excellent, though, and just what we need in Ho Chi Minh City. Very low-impact, small footprint, quiet, clean, efficient, easily expanded, repaired and renewed... what a pity we're getting a subway.

The directions by Google Maps were easy to follow and correct. We got off at Sakuragi and walked 1.1km in yet more drizzling rain. It's not been cold, but I was glad of my longish sleeves today. We found Kasori Park, which is home to the middens and the museum, and having read that there were some covered cut-away displays, and that there was no information in English, we saw the buildings and just headed for them. These middens are shellmounds, discarded rubbish from the Jomon era, 10,000 - 2500 years ago, comprising largely shells, along with a few fish and animal bones, and some shards of pottery. After walking through three of these cutaways, we finally went into the museum proper, where a couple of friendly staff members greeted us, and gave us an informative pamphlet in (excellent) English. We sat down to study this, so we would have some background information for viewing the museum displays. There are hundreds of shellmounds throughout Japan, but most are in Chiba, and this is the biggest known. Afterwards, we went around the back of the building where one of the staff members had told us that a pottery group was working today. The Jomon name means "rope pattern" and comes from the fact that these people made pottery unlike any elsewhere. They made pots, but then rolled rope over the clay to make decorative patterns. This pottery club, whose members we observed, use photos of originals to make exact replicas that they donate to museums or schools, using the process to discover more about the Jomon era artifacts and people. It was fascinating. For example, some of the items they make, they are still not sure exactly what they were used for. There are several pots with holes pierced around the rim at the top, but were these for tightening animal skin over the top to make a drum, or for attaching a lid to brew alcohol?

Just behind the pottery shed, there was another large building. The first staff member, Mr Kiguchi, was obligingly answering all our questions, and waved me towards this building when I asked about it. It was an Edo-era house (Edo = 1600 -1868) built around 1740 for a prosperous family, that had been brought to this site about 50 years ago (from near where we are staying in Kemigawahama, coincidentally) in order to preserve it. It was very plain, but had three big rooms: kitchen (empty space, really: no restoration or display effort had been made there yet), a dining/living area (ie, a room with a sunken fireplace,) and a guest room. The two latter rooms were very large tatami rooms, and very restful. The house would have had a thatched roof, but it is too expensive to restore, and so is covered by a corrugated iron roof, sadly.

Stephen was using this time to get some video footage of the potters, but when he had finished there was still more to see. The park also had some recreations of Jomon houses, using poles stuck into the original holes that had been excavated. The archaeologists therefore knew the exact size of the dwellings, but not the shape of the roof, so they had built them in two different styles. There were four or five huts there all told. Mr Kikuchi was still with us, and filling us in on lots of details about this and similar sites in Japan. As we walked back to the museum he pointed out some of the nuts and acorns that the Jomon people had in their diet - the researchers have been planting the right trees in the park for the last few decades so that visitors can see exactly what was eaten and then found in the middens.

So after a couple of hours, we had seen all there was to see, and had all our questions answered. It was fascinating, and we were so lucky to have had such a lovely, obliging and deeply knowledgeable guide. Mr Kiguchi's speciality was the study of a people similar to the Jomon, the Lapita (I think) of New Caledonia, and through that he had worked at the Museum of Fiji for a time, so I think he was also interested in us because we were NZers.

It was after 2pm when we left to walk back to the monorail station. We hadn't seen anywhere to eat on our walk towards the park, and we decided to have lunch at the first place we saw, whether that be near the station, in the station, or at the next station, who knew. As we neared Sakuragi Station, a couple of places came into view. One was a Denny's, and in front of that was a building that had the same design as a stand-alone Pizza Hut, but had Japanese-style finishing touches on the roof and windows etc. It had to be some kind of Japanese fast-food joint. We crossed the road, and soon we could see through the windows that it was one of those sushi restaurants with the circulating ribbon carrying dishes for you to choose as they go by. I've only been to one before, and it was fun. Maybe because it was so late (2.20,and lunch here finished at 3pm) or maybe it was a different system, but this one had pictures of the dishes going by, and we had to call out to the cook what we liked the look of, so he could make them to order. I suspect he was not of the ilk of sushi chef who trains for 20 years before being allowed to touch a fish, because the rice was packed quite loosely and disintegrated too easily, but Stephen said his tuna was so fresh and tender that it fell apart at the threat of his teeth. Anyway it was fun, and not very cheap in the end, because we kept seeing things we wanted to try. We had quite a high pile of plates for them to count up for the bill, and not many of them were of the colour that denoted the cheapest dishes.

But what a good day it had been!

We got home around 4ish, had a cuppa and then a nap. We hoped to wake up around 6 or 6.30 at the latest, but it was 6.45 for me and 6.50 when I woke Stephen. We had already decided to go down to K-M Station for dinner at a restaurant near there. We went to the opposite exit of K-M Station from last week, where several different buildings each offered 10-20 restaurants to choose from. We opted for one with a Spanish name and an Italian flag outside, that served smoked meats and meat cooked on hot rocks. It was pretty good, although my pork ribs were a bit under-cooked; but Stephen's lamb chops were tender and delicious. They also served smoked popcorn - is this a thing, and I've just never heard of it? Or is it genuinely exotic? The first mouthful was a bit weird, but after that it was great. Also, it was peppered, not salted. Whaa???!!? I never used to like smoked flavours, but they're starting to grow on me.

Home again, a bit of telly (Netflix on the laptop on the kitchen table - we are coping without a proper TV after all) and there we are, all up to date. Good night!

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Photos

Kasori Midden
Shellmound, cut-away, preserved and covered for display

Kasori Park
Who needs a cutaway when you can see the seashells in the sloping ground?!

Potter, Kasori Museum
Making a replica of 5000 year old pottery

Edo House, Kasori
Dining and living area, Edo-era house. (A fire would be made in the hole in the floor under the kettle.)

Toilet Sign, Kasori Park
These are the shapes of pottery figures of the Jomon Era. This is a lovely little joke, barely noticeable. :)

Yamato Restaurant
Kaiten-sushi restaurant, for lunch