Great Big Story visited with Yoshiko Hayama, the owner and proprietor of Chineskikan, a wonderfully unique museum in Chichibu, Saitama Japan. The museum is dedicated to the practice of “jinmenseki”, the practice of gathering rocks rocks of many different sizes that all appear to have faces in one way or another. The museum is where Hayama proudly displays her pareidolian findings. There are even rocks that resemble such celebrities both real and animated. Hayama stated that she learned this trade from her father and with the increasing curiosity of tourists, she hopes to honor her father by staying in business for a long time.
Owned and operated by Yoshiko Hayama, Chineskikan is home to some of the most spectacular stones nature has to offer, with rocks that resemble everyone from Elvis Presley to E.T. Following in her father’s footsteps, Hayama is preserving the legacy of “jinmenseki,” continuing the search for rocks that resemble human faces.
