Do you know what kind of trees are in this forest? Here’s a trick: Instead of looking up at the trees, you can tell by looking down at the nuts on the ground.

We can find acorns, walnuts, and chestnuts, the same nuts the Jomon people would find and eat by boiling them in their Jomon pottery pots. There was a vast abundance of food in the forest, as evidenced by the fact that the remains of the Jomon people show few traces of struggles or fights. With enough food to go around, there was no need for conflict.

By the way, how large do you imagine the Isedōtai site to be? It stretches down to the far south end of this forest, about 200,000 square meters, which is the same length as four Tokyo Domes. Even though the site itself is so big, the stone circles are only in this area. Why do you think that is?