Jomon—10,000 Years of Prehistoric Art in Japan

Tokyo National Museum

[Image: Vessel with flame-like ornamentation, From Sasayama site, Tokamachi-shi, Niigata, Middle Jomon period, 3000-2000 BC (National Treasure Tokamachi City, Niigata (entrusted to Tokamachi City Museum)) Photo by Ogawa Tadahiro]

This event has ended.

The Jomon period is thought to have begun about 13,000 years ago. Its people relied mainly on hunting, fishing, and gathering for sustenance, while exercising their ingenuity in daily life by creating a variety of tools full of vigor and mysterious charm. Under the theme of “Jomon Beauty,” this exhibition presents outstanding works of art created in diverse regions of the Japanese archipelago from the beginning to the end of the Jomon period, shedding light on the techniques with which these works were created and the spirit imbued in them. Visitors are invited to witness this magnificent “surge of beauty,” which lasted approximately 10,000 years.