“We are not already living in the ‘future’. It is the ‘past’ that we should remember.”
This is a phrase often used by Yasunao Nakayama, a contemporary critic of civilization. For him, “evolution” is not a linear upward movement, but a process of spiraling back to the past and regaining a spiritual dimension. Among these, the subject that Nakayama pays the most attention to and that forms the core of his thinking is the “Jomon.”
Why "Jomon"?
For modern Japanese, the Jomon period is merely a chapter in history that we pass over in school education. However, Nakayama Yasunao sees the Jomon period as “a symbol of the most refined spiritual civilization.” There was no monetary economy or ruling structure, and instead, there existed a “cosmic society” in which humans resonated with nature and operated in harmony.
He analyzes the sensibilities of the Jomon people as “intuitive, sympathetic, and spiritual,” and argues that this sensibility, which has been missing in modern society, is what is needed in the coming Earth era.
“The Jomon people lived to connect with the gods. We today live to connect with money.”
This sentence succinctly expresses Nakayama Yasunao’s view of civilization.
From a civilization of resonance to a civilization of separation
Nakayama’s “fall of civilization” began with the transition from the Jomon to the Yayoi period. Settlement, agriculture, rice cultivation, centralization. In other words, the Yayoi values that prioritized “order” and “efficiency” transformed the spirituality of the Japanese people.
In the Jomon world, all beings “resonated” with each other. People consciously interacted with plants, animals, stones, water, fire, and wind. However, modern humans have overused their “brains” and left their “bodies” and “spirituality” behind.
This “separation” resulted in today’s technological society, which is causing phenomena such as the destruction of nature, mental illness, and loss of identity.
Jomon Revival is a spiritual reset
So what does “Jomon Revival” mean?
According to Nakayama, it is not simply nostalgia or a return to primitive times. Rather, it is “a trigger for an ascension to a new dimension that appears after breaking through the highly advanced information society.”
Jomon Revival is an act for modern people who are tired of information to regain their senses and reactivate their five senses: sound, scent, wind, and texture. Facing nature, touching the earth, and listening to your own heartbeat – this is the essence of the Jomon lifestyle.
He calls it a “project to restore the spirituality of sensitivity,” and he himself practices it through pilgrimages to shrines, a reevaluation of hemp, and sky observation.
Can we bring back the Jomon to the city?
So, can this spiritual Jomonness be restored even in urban spaces dominated by technology and economy? Nakayama answers “Yes.”
For example, attempts to bring a “little Jomon” into cities have already begun, such as “rooftop greenery,” “hemp clothing,” “diatomaceous earth walls,” and “crystal acoustics.” By dotting modern lifestyles with “resonance points,” the spirit will recover like ripples. Nakayama’s goal is to create a “Jomon techno-spiritualism” that combines city and nature.
“Civilization will perish, but the spirit will not. This is why true reconstruction is about ‘restoring the spirit.'”
Conclusion: Rebooting your memory
The “Jomon Revival” that Nakayama Yasunao advocates is not an escape to a utopia of the past. It is a “reboot” journey in which modern people who have been through all kinds of turmoil can awaken memories sleeping deep in their souls and regain a sensibility that resonates with nature.
The future we are heading for is in fact nothing less than a return to “the true civilization that once existed.” Science and spirit, city and nature, past and future – the code that reconnects all of these is the “Jomon.”
