Rock hounds are always looking for new places to dig. Sometimes it is hard to find them. But we could tinker with that theme a bit and start “looking for new things in old places”. There is a museum in Chichibu, Japan, two hours from Tokyo that houses over 1700 rocks, all of which resemble human faces. They call the museum Chinsekikan (which means museum of curious rocks). Apparently, the owners have been accumulating the odd collection for over 50 years with the lone requirement that Mother Nature was the only artist (Strategy, 2016).
There are rocks with names and those that remain nameless at Chinsekikan. Visitors are invited to name the rocks. Do you see any you would like to name? How about the two below that are not part of the Japanese museum, but have been posted recently on rock hound Facebook pages?
How about we all scour our garages, our basements, and our collections for “rocks that look like faces”? And this summer when you are out, whether it is on a club trip or a family outing, keep your eyes open for faces in the stones. Maybe next year everyone in your favorite rock club can pool their finds and produce a club collection worthy of an exhibit.
Remember the face must be natural to the rock. No carving and no make-up.
Nope, these faces would not count.
References:
Strategy, J., 2016, The Japanese Museum of Rocks That Look Like Faces; Colossal Webpage, Nov. 14th
Rockhound Connection Facebook Group