Historical Museum of Hokkaido / Theme 1 / Island of Hokkaido

【１】The theme of this room is "Island of Hokkaido". Here--starting about 2,000,000 years ago and continuing to the sixth century--we look at the land and geography of Hokkaido and the cultures that developed there. The topography of Hokkaido Island, more or less as we know it today, was completed within the past 400,000 years, in the middle part of the Quaternary Period. This followed a time of almost 30 million years, during the Tertiary and Quaternary Periods, of massive changes in the earth's crust. It was in this Quaternary Period that human beings largely evolved. Repeated glacial expansions and contractions caused great fluctuations in the level of the world's oceans. When the water level was low, Hokkaido was connected by land to the Eurasian continent and to what is now the island of Honshu (the main island of Japan). Large animals--mammoths and Naumann's elephants--moved freely and plant life spread. It is quite likely that, in pursuit of the animals, people, too, walked onto Hokkaido at that time.

【２】The oldest remains discovered so far show that human beings lived on Hokkaido about 20,000 years ago, though still older evidence may yet be found. This was a Paleolithic, or Old Stone Age, culture, and its stone tools and implements were strongly influenced by the cultures of northeast Asia. The Hokkaido of 20,000 years ago was part of a peninsula extending southward from the Eurasian continent. Glaciers remained partially on the Hidaka Mountains. Tundra and subarctic conifer forests made up the lowlands. By approximately 10,000 years ago, climatic warming had begun, and, with a rise in the sea level, the Soya Straits came into existence: Hokkaido had become an island.

Village in Satsukari
(diorama)

A Clay Mask

Bone Spoons

Hokkaido-style Pottery Excavated in Honshu Island

【３】The Jomon culture dates from about 8,000 years ago, after the end of the last glacial period when the climate had again become milder. Jomon people used earthenware with cord-marked patterns, and, along with gathering, engaged in hunting and fishing using bows, arrows, and dugout canoes. By about 6,000 years ago, with further warming and a still higher sea level, there were expanded food sources, social stability, and increases in population. Around 4,000 years ago, however, the climate turned colder again. Living conditions became severe. Stoneware, earthenware and ornaments not typical for daily living tell of religious rituals and the practice of magic.

【４】About 2,300 years ago, wet rice cultivation and ironware were brought into northern Kyushu (southern island of Japan) from the Eurasian continent and spread rapidly throughout the Japanese islands. This was the Yayoi culture. But only the ironware--not the wet rice cultivation--reached Hokkaido. This marked in Hokkaido what is called the "Epi-Jomon" culture, which means "continuation of the Jomon culture." The Epi-Jomon culture lasted until around 1,200 years ago.