Talk:Suzumiya Haruhi:Volume7 Epilogue

15 Genroku

15 Genroku corresponds to 1702 AD.

From the Wikipedia:

Genroku (Japanese: 元禄) was a Japanese era that spanned the period from 30 September 1688 to 13 March 1704. The reigning emperor was Higashiyama, the reigning Shogun was Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, nicknamed the "dog shogun". The period followed the Jōkyō era and was followed by the Hōei era.

The era is generally considered to be the golden era of the Edo period. The previous hundred years of peace and seclusion in Japan led to economic stability, and arts and architecture flourished. To finance the splendour of the Genroku era, the Shogunate reduced the quality of coins. This caused an inflation. To solve the crisis, the Kyoho Reforms were carried out a few years after the era.

"cracks"

The photo she handed to me showed a pot with cracks all over, using a white wall as a background.

I take this to indicate a vessel with crackled glaze, not a cracked pot per se. A pot that wasn't watertight wouldn't have a readable 300 year-old piece of paper in it. Ground water and freeze-thaw cycles are not kind to cracked earthenware pots or their biodegradable contents... However, this point may lie beyond the range of the author's detailed consideration. Is the original Japanese any more specific than the translation as it stands?