この３連休は北海道は比較的温暖な気候で推移。わたしたち夫婦は賃貸用不動産の管理者として冬の間、いつ何時大雪が襲ってくるかも知れないので、その保全管理義務から長期出張などで家を空けることを避けています。とくにこの時期１月初旬は真冬まっ盛りで保守管理の在宅一択なのですが、この気候の良さに誘われ、冬の遠出ドライブ。
　実は健康維持の早朝散歩でも工夫しておりまして「冬の札幌歩きやすい道」地下鉄札幌駅からすすきの駅までの「地下歩道空間」に目をつけ、琴似駅の24時間営業店舗の駐車場を利用してJR線で札幌まで移動し、この地下歩道空間を元気に往復。途中、夜通し飲み明かした「元気いっぱいだけれどフラフラ」の若者集団をはるかに抜き去って、元気に歩数確保しております（笑）。どうだ！
　で、それに飽き足らず、冬だけれど陽射しは春の感じられるなかドライブで、北海道中部の美唄市宮島沼まで来た次第であります。「冬はどうなっているんだろうね？」〜真冬の元気な夫婦道。
　この宮島沼は日本国内で最北かつ最大のマガンの寄留地。世界でも有数のマガンの飛来地として知られ、ヒシクイやコハクチョウなどの水鳥も飛来する。これらから国指定宮島沼鳥獣保護区（集団渡来地）に指定されている（面積は25ha、全域が特別保護地区）。2002年に日本で13番目のラムサール条約登録湿地となり2015年には「生物多様性保全上重要な里地里山」（重要里地里山）に宮島沼および周辺湖沼群の農地が選定された地域。

　夏場にはよく訪れるけれど冬場どうなっているか初体験。こちらの写真は展示されている夏場の早朝の鳥の一斉群舞の様子。冬場ですが、別に道路はきれいに除雪されていて、また観察センターの建物も公開されているではありませんか。ただし、外観はこんな感じで、屋根からの雪崩雪が、一部通路を阻んでいるし、暖気にさらされてときどき屋根雪がどさどさと落ちても来る。


　ということで沼の方向を見た様子が上の写真であります。浅い水深の水面はすべて雪原になっていまして、鳥たちの姿はどこにも見当たらない。しかし雪原の先には月形町の「道民の森」方向の豊かに降雪した山並みが冬の景観美を提供してくれている。
　真冬のひと休みのような風情を楽しむことができました。この時期もワルくないですよ。

English version⬇

The Ramsar wetland Miyajima Marsh is covered in snow.
Early morning walks in the city centre to discover ‘hole-in-the-wall’ spots, followed by a search for winter scenic beauty in the suburbs. As a healthy elderly person, I will get through the winter in a positive and active manner. …

The weather in Hokkaido was relatively mild during this three-day weekend. As managers of rental properties, we avoid being away from home for long periods of time during the winter months due to our obligation to maintain and manage our properties in the event of heavy snowfall. Especially at this time of year, early January, we have no choice but to stay at home for maintenance management in the middle of winter.
　In fact, I have been taking some ingenious steps in my early morning walks to maintain my health, and I spotted the ‘underground walkway space’ from Sapporo Subway Station to Susukino Station, using the parking lot of a 24-hour shop at Kotoni Station to get to Sapporo on the JR line, and then cheerfully walked back and forth along this underground walkway space. On the way, I have far outstripped a group of ‘full of energy but dizzy’ young people who had been drinking all night, and I have kept a healthy walking count (laughs). How’s that?
　And not content with that, we drove through the winter but with a hint of spring sunshine to Miyajima-numa, Bibai City, in central Hokkaido. I wonder what it’s like in winter?’ 〜A healthy couple of roads in the middle of winter.
　Miyajima-numa is the northernmost and largest stopover for geese in Japan. It is known as one of the world’s leading geese fly in, as well as waterbirds such as the brown-eared bulbul and the whooper swan. In 2002, it became the 13th wetland to be registered under the Ramsar Convention in Japan, and in 2015, Miyajima Marsh and the farmland of the surrounding lakes were selected as an ‘important satochi-satoyama’ (satoyama that are important for biodiversity conservation). The area was selected as an ‘Important Satoyama’ (Important Satoyama for Biodiversity Conservation) in 2015.

　I often visit in summer but this is my first experience of what happens in winter. The photo here shows the early morning bird swarms in the summer months. Although it is winter, the roads have been cleared of snow and the observation centre building is open to the public. However, the exterior of the building looks like this, with snow avalanches from the roof partially blocking the pathways, and the warm air sometimes causes snow to fall from the roof.

　So the photo above shows the view in the direction of the swamp. The shallow water surface has all been turned into a snowfield and there are no birds to be seen anywhere. However, beyond the snowfield, the richly snow-covered mountain range in the direction of the ‘Dojin no Mori’ in Tsukigata Town provided a beautiful winter scene.
　We were able to enjoy the atmosphere of a midwinter break. It’s not a bad time of year either.

Posted on 1月 14th, 2025 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 日本社会・文化研究 | No Comments »

　今回の検査入院による「効用」として驚いているのが、食事コントロールによるダイエット効果。昨年５月の入院時以降、取り組んでいたダイエット作戦によって、血液検査時の各種数値、HbA1cなどは劇的に改善されてきていましたが、食事の方はどうしても意思の決定的な弱さから、ついつい食べ過ぎが始まって、徐々に体重増加が見られていた。
　それがふたたびショック療法のように写真のような制限食に遭遇して数日、自分でもすぐに体感できるほどにスッキリ感に満たされてくるではありませんか！
　で、退院後、昨日朝食運動後計量してみたら、昨年５月以降でも最少体重になっていた。人生時間でながく年齢数字を上回っていた体重数字が、ついに幼年期以来、いや生まれてこの方という歴史的逆転が視野に入ってきた！。まことに自分でも信じられない未体験領域に突入であります。
　制限食については、カミさんと娘が強い関心を持ってスマホ経由で、わたしといっしょに「食事栄養指導」の先生との相談に同席してくれて、あれこれと具体的に「どうすべきか」の実践的内容を打ち合わせ、質問などさせていただいていた。あ、もちろんわたしも同意しながら、そのご指導をありがたく拝聴させていただいていました。
　人間の命というモノは、この具体的な肉体の活動停止とともに儚くなるのでしょうが、しかしその瞬間まで精一杯の努力・工夫は継続意志を持っているべきでしょう。この「福音」のような体重数字を奇貨として、その継続努力をさらに進めていきたいと思い始めております。そういう努力をときどき、忘れないようにするためにも、今回のような検査入院は有益。
　少ないカロリーで、どのように楽しく美味しい食習慣を営んでいけるかも、究極的に最重要な「生存戦略」だろうとも思えますね。やるぞ！

English version⬇

[Age>weight. Amazing dietary effects and diet evolution]
The post-discharge diet of May last year was effective, but the stimulus of the test hospitalisation was introduced when the diet was somewhat stagnant. Is weight loss a positive life strategy? …

　One of the ‘benefits’ of this hospitalisation is the surprising effect of weight loss through diet control. The diet strategy I had been working on since my hospitalisation in May last year had dramatically improved my various blood test values, HbA1c, etc. However, due to the decisive weakness of my will, I had inevitably started overeating when it came to food and was gradually gaining weight.
　After a few days of encountering the restricted diet as shown in the picture, as if it were shock therapy again, I was filled with a sense of refreshment that I could immediately feel myself!
　So, after leaving hospital, I weighed myself yesterday after breakfast exercise and found that I was at my lowest weight since May last year. The weight figure, which had exceeded my age figure for a long time in my life time, is finally on the verge of a historical reversal, the first time since childhood (!). I can’t believe it. I am entering a new realm that I can’t believe I’ve never experienced before.
　My wife and daughter were very interested in the restricted diet and attended the consultation with the nutritional guidance doctor via smartphone, where we discussed the practical details of what to do and asked questions. Of course, I agreed with him and listened to his guidance gratefully.
　Human life will be fleeting with the cessation of this concrete physical activity, but until that moment, we should have the will to continue our utmost effort and ingenuity. I am beginning to think that I would like to use this ‘gospel’ weight figure as a chance to further that continuing effort. In order to remember to make such efforts from time to time, a test hospitalisation like this one is beneficial.
　How I can enjoy my eating habits with fewer calories is ultimately the most important ‘survival strategy’, I think. Let’s do it!

Posted on 1月 12th, 2025 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: おとこの料理＆食 | No Comments »

　昨日、国立病院機構・北海道医療センター検査入院から無事に退院。ほんの３泊４日日程でしたが、やはり「居住環境」メディアを作ってきた人間なので、そういう視点から見る部分がありました。前回の昨年４月末〜５月初頭GW中の２泊３日はたまたま空いていた１人部屋だったのですが、今回はさすがに万が一の急患の可能性にも遠慮して通常の４人部屋。
　そこでの家具の仕様にやや面食らった点があった。上の写真がベッドサイドに置かれ壁面に２方向閉鎖されているその家具ですが、いちばん驚いたのが、外套や上着の収納箇所が、壁に押しつけられている超狭め空間に「押し込められて」いたのです。しかもそのポール部分には家具背面から出てきている電線の類いが巻き付けられていてコート類を収納させるのに非常に難渋させられたのです。っていうか、まさかそういう箇所に配置されているとは、はるかに常識想定外でそうとわかってからも、この時期の定番ダウンジャケット収納のため、重たい家具全体をやや手前に移動させる必要があった。「滅多に使わない」衣類収納という疎外された存在扱いなのでしょうか。
　ギリギリ２枚の衣類を掛けたら満杯なのですが、収納させるのにけっこうな作業集中がなければ成功できない。コード類が邪魔して円滑にはいかないのですね。
　で、わたしは「中居なんとか」の異常行動ふるまいを当然としてきたテレビ業界をほとんどまったく視聴しないので、これが万人共通用として空間の枢要な位置を占めていることに「オイオイ」感が否めない。まぁそれはある程度仕方ないけれど、テレビを視聴するためには「テレビカード」購入の必要がある。困ったのは絶対必需家電である冷蔵庫も、そのテレビカードを購入して入れなければスイッチONできない仕様であること。これはまったく理解できなくて丸１日、持参していたミカンが冷蔵されていなくて、取り出すときやや香りがキツくなっていることに気付くまで、うかつにも冷蔵庫が働いていないことがまったくわからなかった（泣）。
　いま考えると、テレビは全国民が等しく視聴するという潜在観念とは違う価値観の人間は想定外なのでしょう。まぁわたしが「異常な」なんだと決めつけられるのは構わないけれど。ただわたし以外にもこういう嗜好性のタイプは増えてきていると思うので、意味不明の「性的多様性対応・受容」を強制するより、こういう多様性対応を考えて欲しいと思わされた次第。

English version⬇

[National Hospital Authority / Trouble with ‘universal’ furniture
More and more people are the type of people who do not watch television and use computers for information contact. Why not make food fridges function without the acceptance of television? …

　Yesterday, I was safely discharged from the National Hospital Organisation Hokkaido Medical Centre from a test hospitalisation. It was only for three nights and four days, but as someone who has made ‘residential environment’ media, I had to look at it from that point of view. The last time, from the end of April to the beginning of May last year, I stayed in a single-person room that happened to be available, but this time I stayed in a regular four-person room, taking into account the possibility of an emergency.
　I was a little surprised at the specification of the furniture there. The photo above shows the furniture, which was placed by the bedside and closed to the wall in two directions, and the most surprising thing was that the cloak and jacket were ‘pushed’ into the very narrow space pressed against the wall. Moreover, the pole was wrapped around an electrical wire coming out of the back of the furniture, which made it very difficult to store the coats. Even after realising this, it was necessary to move the entire piece of furniture forward a little to store the down jackets that are a staple this time of year. Is it the marginalised status of ‘seldom-used’ clothes storage?
　It is full when just barely two garments are hung, but you have to have considerable work concentration to succeed in getting it to store them in the first place. Cords get in the way and it doesn’t go smoothly.
　And since I hardly watch the TV industry, which seems to have taken Nakai’s abnormal behaviour for granted, I can’t deny that I feel ‘oui oui’ at the fact that this occupies a pivotal position in the space as a universal use. Well, that can’t be helped to some extent, but what is troubling is the need to purchase a ‘TV card’ in order to watch TV. And the fridge, which is an essential household appliance, cannot be switched on without purchasing and inserting a TV card. This was completely incomprehensible to me, and for a whole day I had no idea that the fridge was not working until I carelessly noticed that the tangerines I had brought with me were not refrigerated and had a slightly stronger aroma when I took them out (tears).
　Now that I think about it, people with different values than the subconscious notion that television is something that all people watch equally are not expected to do so. Well, I don’t mind if people assume that I have an ‘abnormal’ lifestyle. However, I think there are more and more people with this type of preference other than me, so I would like them to think about how to respond to this type of diversity rather than enforcing a ‘sexual diversity response/acceptance’ that makes no sense.

Posted on 1月 10th, 2025 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 日本社会・文化研究 | No Comments »

　一昨日1/6にわが家から300メートルと至近距離の「北海道医療センター」（国立病院機構）に検査入院。３泊４日と短時間でこれまでも数回こちらの病院には同程度かそれ以上の長期間入院しているので、あんまり考えることもなく入院を迎えておりました。まぁ感覚的に「慣れている」だろう、と気軽に考えて直前には仕事を片付けるのにほぼ徹夜の没頭。そこから「駆けつけた」。
　なんですがやはりそれなりの環境変化があるので、６日はまったく違う環境に戸惑って身の回りの「環境整備」が全然できなかった。そうすると持ち込んだMacを使って仕事する上で、「あれ、これはどうしたらいいかなぁ」という事柄が続出。
　環境変化へのカラダ感覚の適合に、一定の時間が掛かることに今更ながら気付き驚く。月に一回程度は４−５日ほどの関東・関西への出張が定期化しているし、日数的にもたかがその程度と軽く考えすぎていた。出張には出張での「慣れ」があって、入院のような事態とは環境条件がまったく違うということなのでしょう。おかげさまで、６日はそういう適合不足であれこれ意味不明の混乱。寝具にまで気が回らず、ちょい寒めで過ごさざるを得なかった。
　しかし丸１日くらい時間経過するとようやく「慣れ」てきて、すべてにスイッチが入ってきます。そのためにいちばん効果的なのはやはりカラダを積極的に動かすこと。幸いこちらの病院は広大な建築空間なので、２番目の図のiPhoneアプリ「ヘルスケア」での「歩数管理」で、通常の散歩１日歩数とほぼ同じくらいを確保することが出来た。建築内部空間のあちこちを歩きまわることで空間感覚が再起動してくる。上の写真はエントランス中庭のクリスマスっぽい飾り付け。
　この建物内での動作記憶が復元されて、平衡感覚が「蘇ってくる」。いろいろな情報判断にとってこれが重要。高齢化のなかでつい忘れやすい大事な心得ポイント。
　さて本日最大目的の「血管造影X線診断」。無事に終われば明日には帰れる。前向きに対処したい。

English version⬇

[Time lag in environmental change adaptation].
A whole day in a daze because you are not prepared to change your mind because you have experienced it so often. If you wake up your body, you can solve the problem at once. …

　The day before yesterday, on 6 January, I was admitted to the Hokkaido Medical Centre (National Hospital Organisation), which is only 300 metres from my house, for a check-up, which took only three nights and four days. I thought casually that I would be ‘used to it’ sensibly, and just before, I was immersed almost all night to get my work done. I rushed to the hospital from there.
　But there is a certain amount of environmental change, so on the 6th, I was so confused by the completely different environment that I couldn’t do any ‘environmental maintenance’ around me at all. Then, when working with the Mac I brought with me, I had a lot of questions about what to do with it.
　I was surprised to realise after all this time that it takes a certain amount of time for the body’s senses to adapt to changes in the environment. I have been taking business trips to the Kanto and Kansai regions for 4-5 days once a month, and I had been thinking too lightly that it was just a matter of the number of days. I guess it is because I am used to travelling on business, and the environmental conditions are completely different from a situation like a hospital stay. Thanks to that, on the 6th, I was confused about this and that due to such a lack of adaptation. I couldn’t even think about my bedclothes and had to spend the day a bit cold.
　But after a whole day, you finally get ‘used to it’ and everything switches on. The most effective way to do this is to actively move your body. Fortunately, this hospital is a vast architectural space, so I was able to get almost as many steps as a normal walk by using the second iPhone application ‘Health Care’ to keep track of my steps. Walking around the building’s interior space reactivates a sense of space.
　The memory of movement within the building is restored and the sense of equilibrium is ‘revived’. This is important for various information decisions. This is an important point that is easily forgotten in the ageing of the population.
　The main objective of today’s visit is the ‘angiographic X-ray’. If it is completed successfully, I can go home tomorrow. I want to deal with it positively.

Posted on 1月 8th, 2025 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 出張＆旅先にて | No Comments »

　昨年末に送付されてきていた「校正チェック」全８万文字超に年始早々から没入しておりました。その作業が締め切り７日に対して１日早く、本日早朝にフィニッシュ。とにかく大量なので、まぁなんとかゴールになだれ込んだ、という無理矢理感はあるのですが、あとはゆっくりと全般に目を入れていって、作業を返送したい。
　ということなのですが、本日からは前々から予定の通り、北海道医療センターの定期の「精密検査チェック」で４日間入院する予定。その直前になんとか作業は間に合った。こういう緊張感のあるプロセスというのは、むしろ精神健康上、なかなかにピリッとしていて良いかも知れません。精神的な若さを維持するためには、この程度の刺激は効果的なのだなぁと実感しております。どうなることかと思っていたのですが、時間に追われることで、メリハリが強調され、最後はラストスパート感が沸き立って、アタマのなかは沸騰気味でした。
　ということで、写真は先日来連絡をいただいているご先祖の故地の寺院から送っていただいた仏像写真集。広島県福山市には、草戸千軒遺跡がありわが家の故地・今津もあるのですが、そちらの「ふくやま美術館」での「国宝明王院本尊33年ぶり公開記展示会」の図録であります。
　だんだんとこういう「仏像・仏画」に面白さを感じてくるようになるモノですね。ちょっと若いときには芸術は宗教というくびきから開放されることで身近になって来たと思っていたのですが、自分の加齢と共に仏像・仏画に強く惹かれるようになってきた。
　飛鳥大仏と作者・止利仏師から運慶など作家たちとその作品から、非常に興味深い示唆が得られるようになってくるモノなのですね。この列島では文化現象として仏教というものが歴史時間、果たし続けてきた深くて広い領域があるのだと再認識させられる。奈良京都といった中枢地域でのそれらはそれとして、地域に根ざした仏像群にも、その地域での人びとの「息づかい」が匂い立っていると感じるようになる。作者としての仏師たちの作り手としての内面性や、依頼者としての宗教者の「祈り」、そしてそれと「対話」し続けてきた地域の人びとの心情のことなどが、層をなして響き渡ってくる。
　多くの先人の生き様を伝えてくれていることが、染み入ってくる感覚。みんな同じようなモノと思っていた仏像・仏画の表情に、超絶な「多様性」を見る思い。この図録を眺めながら、心静かに健康精密診断を、謹んで受けて参ります。あ、ブログは引き続き、毎日書きますのでよろしく。

English version⬇

[From immersion and excitement in writing work to hospital admission for a full check-up].
　Brain boiling during manuscript checks. At times like this, it is good to have a quiet dialogue with Buddhist statues and paintings. I thought they were all the same, but I was reminded of their diversity. …

　Since the beginning of the year, I have been immersed in a ‘proof check’ of over 80,000 words, which was sent to me at the end of last year. The work was finished early today, one day ahead of the seven-day deadline. Anyway, it’s a huge amount of work, so I feel forced to say that I managed to get to the goal, but, well, I just want to slowly put my eyes on the whole thing and send the work back.
　That being said, from today I will be in hospital for four days for a routine ‘full check-up’ at the Hokkaido Medical Centre, as I have been planning to do for some time. I managed to get the work back in time just before that. This kind of tense process is probably rather good for my mental health, as it is quite piquant. I realise that this level of stimulation is effective in maintaining mental youth. I wondered what would happen, but being pressed for time emphasised the sharpness, and at the end I felt a sense of a last spurt, and my mind was boiling.
　The photo is a collection of photographs of Buddhist statues sent to us by a temple in the place where our ancestors were born, who have been in contact with us since the other day. In Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture, there is the Kusado-Senken Ruins, where my family’s ancestral home, Imazu, is also located, and this is a catalogue of the ‘Exhibition of the National Treasure Meio-in Honzon (the main image of Myoin Temple), which is open to the public for the first time in 33 years’ at the Fukuyama Museum of Art in Fukuyama City.
　I gradually began to be interested in Buddhist statues and paintings like this. When I was a bit younger, I thought that art had become more accessible by being freed from the yoke of religion, but as I have grown older, I have become more and more attracted to Buddhist statues and paintings.
　From the Asuka Giant Buddha and its creator, the Buddhist monk Tori-Butsushi, to Unkei and other artists and their works, it is an object from which we can get very interesting suggestions. In this archipelago, we are reminded that Buddhism, as a cultural phenomenon, has continued to fulfil a deep and wide range of tasks over the course of history. Aside from the Buddhist statues in the central regions of Nara and Kyoto, we can also smell the ‘breath’ of the local people in the Buddhist statues that are rooted in the local area. The internal nature of the Buddhist sculptors as creators, the ‘prayers’ of the religious people who commissioned them, and the emotions of the local people who have continued to ‘dialogue’ with them, echo through the layers of the statues.
　It is a sense that seeps into the way of life of many of our ancestors. The feeling of seeing superb ‘diversity’ in the expressions of Buddhist statues and paintings, which I had thought were all the same. While looking at this catalogue, I will respectfully undergo a health check-up in peace and quiet. I will continue to write a blog every day.

Posted on 1月 6th, 2025 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 日本社会・文化研究 | No Comments »