Hi hello! Jess here.
When I was little, I saw a certain film about dinosaurs, and the one scene that stuck with me and excited me wasn’t the one with the eggs hatching or the cup of water trembling or even the part with the lawyer in the outhouse (poor guy). It was the scene in which a group of paleontologists were in the midst of excavation work, chiseling and brushing the earth away from ancient bones. I told my teacher I wanted to be an archaeologist (I didn’t know the difference at the time). I’ve never been good in history class—memorizing dates and names was never my thing—but I have always been fascinated by the ancient past, whether it be the Jurassic period or the dawn of human civilization. So to say that our most recent visit got me really excited would be a vast understatement!
Even the museum’s mascots are staying safe!
The Kokugakuin University Museum houses an impressive lineup of some of the oldest and most informative artifacts belonging to the Japanese archipelago. These pieces tell a fascinating story about the ancient people who once populated the islands, their culture, and their beliefs.
If I seem more talkative than usual in our latest videos, it’s because I am interested in that story, and what I’ve learned about it through examples of how pottery and bronzeware evolved over time in form and function, whether it be practical, spiritual, or simply aesthetic. I’m not an expert by any means, and I’m sure any student of anthropology has plenty to add to my explanations, but I hope my enthusiasm is enough to hook you guys in, because I really believe this museum has so much to share in telling the story of how the Japan we know and love came to be, so many thousands of years ago.
Learn about the history of learning about history!
