SHIZUOKA CITY KANKO NAVI

　I once took a young man from the Netherlands to the Toro Ruins. I assumed he wouldn’t know what they were, so I was surprised when he said, “I know them.” He told me he had studied them at a university in the Netherlands. Since we live in the age of the internet, if you search for “Toro Ruins” in English, you’ll find plenty of information on various websites, including the English Wikipedia.I suppose this means that people all over the world are interested in what life was like for the Japanese 1,800 years ago.

　The Yayoi-period settlement recreated on the vast grounds is extremely simple, with no special gimmicks, but that is precisely what draws visitors right in. By “draws them in,” I mean, of course, making them feel as if they’ve slipped back in time to become residents of this utopia.

The Tōro Ruins: a utopia from the Yayoi period. A famous site that even appears in school textbooks.

The remains of the dwelling were discovered during the war. Excavations continued thereafter, and after the war, the site was designated a National Special Historic Site. The grounds are extensive.

A rural landscape from the Yayoi period that feels like a journey back in time. I can’t help but imagine that this must have been a paradise.

To take a trip back to life 1,800 years ago, I step inside the Toro Museum.

It really was a kantoi that had been prepared. They lend it to time travelers who come here for free. Of course, I borrow it and put it on.

There were people who were completely on board with it. What is it that makes everyone feel that way?

Food from 1,800 years ago. Even if someone told me this was all I could eat, I’m starting to feel like I could actually manage just fine.

A way to start a fire without matches, a lighter, or even flint. An elderly man, a veteran of the Yayoi period, teaches me how to start a fire.

I found myself thinking, “I’d like to live there for a little while.”

The Serizawa Keisuke Museum of Art is located next to the Toro Ruins. The building was designed by architect Seiichi Shirai. It blends beautifully into the landscape.

The Keisuke Serizawa Museum has fantastic exhibits and a wonderful atmosphere inside. It makes me want to call this place home, too.

At "Toro Mochi no Ie," located west of the Toro Ruins, you can enjoy authentic, freshly pounded Abe River mochi. It is said that Tokugawa Ieyasu himself named it. Because the soybean flour has a golden hue, he named it after the Abe River, where gold was once abundant.

・Shizuoka City Tōro Museum

・Shizuoka City Keisuke Serizawa Museum of Art