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Hunters and gatherers

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Significant places for the wanderers

On the move

"No sense of rootedness, then?"

"We kami go way back before agriculture. People were on the move. Routes, not roots."

"Bad pun, but it shows you've been studying English."

"It's serious. Your new society looks more like hunter-gatherers than agriculture. That's something we kami have to work out, but we've had experience. Rice farming came late to Japan, and before that we had some pretty well-off hunter-gatherers. Productive forests, lots of rain, good fishing."

"Sure, but you still were tied to natural markers."

"OK, but now what happens? People do still relate to fixtures, central nodes, but they aren't always geographical. They're in nets, too. So we have to attach ourselves to those. We look for where people hang their dreams and wishes."