昨日は週の半ばの祝日休日。どうも中間の月曜日が変調させる日程で、どうも休日気分が盛り上がらないままで過ごしておりました。そんな浮かない気分でいたら、元気いっぱいの除排雪車両群がわが家前の道路に出動してくれていました。
　「中学校通学路」になっているので、わが家前の道路は除排雪作業では優先度が高いし、当然頻度も高い。土地選びのときにそういうメリットを勘案していましたが、人生時間でもっとも長い時間を経過してきて、こういうメリットはやはり大きかったと再認識しています。わが家前の中学校はかなりの人口密集地域の中学校として生徒数も高い水準で推移しているようだし、今後の人口減少局面でも、こういうメリットの存続可能性は高いのではないかと、カンを働かせています。
　こういう集中除排雪が継続的に行われることから、自ずとそのことを前提にした自宅敷地＆自宅前道路「雪かき」行為の計画性が担保されるように思う。
　札幌暮らしがながい人間からすると、このやむを得ない雪との「対話」、それも11月くらいから4月くらいまでの半年に及ぶ期間の雪かき計画期間というのは、もっとも主要な外部環境との関わり。関東以南地域での「庭仕事」以上に、自然との「対話」機会だと思うようになってきました。いわゆる伝統的日本美意識の花鳥風月とは乖離した独自の自然対話感覚。
　わが家では、狭めの敷地の平面部分にはロードヒーティングを敷設して表面にはレンガを敷いて、造園ではない庭としてきました。職住一体型住宅としては、わかりやすいコンセプト。最初はロードヒーティングをよく使っていたのですが、しかし札幌は年間積雪が5mを超える多雪都市。＜図は2/11AM9:00現在のことしの年間降雪量データですでに70%程度で推移＞　このような世界でも奇跡的な多雪大都市なので、融雪地面と非融雪地面の「高低差」がハンパなく発生する。厳冬期３ヶ月程度は、その高低差に悩むことになる。そこで敷設したロードヒーティングは数年で中止。まぁ、こういう用途に化石燃料を使うことにためらいが感じられるようになってもいた。
　以降、ほぼ30年以上は前面道路を含めての雪かきを自分自身に課してきた。比較的健康体で人生を過ごしてきたのには、こういう条件設定も大きかったかも知れません。今後の高齢期については、健康面との兼ね合いで考えて行くことになりますね。オモシロい課題。

English version⬇

[After the Snow Festival, it’s spring… or is it?
For the people of Hokkaido, the dialogue with snow is an earnest feeling of the flower, bird and wind seasons. A huge divergence from the traditional Nippon ‘mono no aware’ warm-weather sensibility. Shin Kacho Fugetsu? …

　Yesterday was a mid-week public holiday. The mid-week Monday schedule was a bit of a challenge, and I was not feeling very happy about the holiday. When I was in this mood, a group of snow clearing vehicles were out on the road in front of our house.
　The road in front of our house has a high priority in snow removal work because it is a ‘junior high school route’, and of course the frequency is high. We took these advantages into account when we chose the land, and now that we have lived here for the longest time in our lives, we realise that these advantages were still significant. The junior high school in front of our house seems to have a high number of students as a junior high school in a densely populated area, and I have a hunch that these advantages have a high chance of surviving even in the future when the population is declining.
　The fact that this kind of intensive snow removal is carried out on a continuous basis seems to naturally guarantee the planning of the act of ‘snow shoveling’ the home site & the road in front of the home on that basis.
　For those of us who have lived in Sapporo for a long time, this unavoidable ‘dialogue’ with the snow, and the planning period for snow shoveling, which extends over a period of six months from November to April, is the most important relationship with the external environment. I have come to think that this is an opportunity to ‘dialogue’ with nature even more than ‘garden work’ in the Kanto region and southwards. A unique sense of dialogue with nature that diverges from the so-called traditional Japanese aesthetic of Kacho Fugetsu.
　In our house, we have laid road heating and bricks on the surface of the flat part of the narrow plot, making it a non-landscaped garden. This is a straightforward concept for a house with an integrated work/residential area. At first, road heating was often used, however, Sapporo is a city with heavy snowfall, with an annual snowfall of more than 5m. As this is such a miraculously snowy metropolis in the world, the ‘height difference’ between the snow-melting ground and the non-snow-melting ground occurs without a hump. For about three months during the severe winter season, the difference in height is a problem. The road heating system installed there was discontinued after a few years. Well, we also began to feel hesitant about using fossil fuels for this kind of application.
　Since then, I have been obliged to shovel snow myself, including on the front road, for almost 30 years or more. This kind of conditioning may have been a big part of the reason why I have spent my life in relatively good health. I will have to think about my future old age in combination with my health. An interesting challenge.

Posted on 2月 12th, 2025 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 「都市の快適」研究 | No Comments »

　昨日、高齢夫婦の休日の過ごし方として、札幌市近郊の小樽市の温泉施設に向かっておりました。こちらはその泉質がカミさんの好みに合っているので、ここのところの雪かき作業でお疲れモードの彼女の肉体疲労回復に最適と判断しての温泉行脚。
　小樽は明治14（1881）年 明治天皇の北海道行幸の上陸地。8月30日明治天皇は当時の参議・大隈重信らとともに軍艦「扶桑」で青森から小樽に上陸、札幌・手宮間の幌内鉄道の「義経号」で札幌に入られた。北海道の歴史にとってもきわめて重要な土地。そういう故地であるのでわたしのような年代の人間には、どこか、小樽は遠雷のように北海道で「日本が始まった」地域というような記憶心象がある。
　すっかり国際的な観光地になってしまっている運河通りのメインストリート「臨港線」を避けて、上の地図にある裏道「小樽港縦貫道」を通って手宮方面に抜ける車道を往来するのが、日頃からのわたしたちのドライブルート選択であります。冬の道路脇に堆雪した大きな雪山のある小樽市街の様子も、青春期以来のいろいろな記憶残像があるので、高齢期の人間には人生ノスタルジックな脳内回想を刺激される。わたしの数寄。
　そんな記憶回廊のなかを走行していたら、交差点でも信号があるワケでもないその道路脇の雪山の陰から突然、車道にアイスクリームを食べながら異様な毛糸帽子をかぶった男性が飛び出してくるではありませんか（！）。
　咄嗟ではありましたが、脳内回想もあってクルマのスピードは控えめにしていたので、急減速して事なきを得ました。すでに日が高くなっていた晴天で道路面が表れていたので、スリップせず減速が効いたことも良かった。当方の必死の様子に別に悪びれる風もなく、その人物は自分だけの世界に閉じこもられて、なにごともなげに立ち去られていった。
　まぁ確かめる術はありませんでしたが、風体からして海外観光客、それも全体状況からして某国の方であろうことも推認できた。運河街のレンガ造の倉庫古建築にさかんにカメラを向けているひとが異常に多かったことも状況を証立てている。
　今朝のYahooニュースをチェックしたら、CNN発出の記事が見られていた。「映画「Ｌｏｖｅ　Ｌｅｔｔｅｒ」ロケ地の小樽市、観光客殺到でオーバーツーリズム深刻化CNN.co.jp」〜
　わたしたちにできることとして、ぜひみなさん、くれぐれも普段の日常生活にお気を付けてください。

English version⬇

Dangerous overtourism encounters in Otaru
The daily lives of citizens in Kyoto and other cities are becoming increasingly difficult, but Hokkaido, a scenic beauty with snow, is now also facing a growing danger of overtourism. …

　Yesterday, as a way of spending a holiday for an elderly couple, we headed to a hot spring facility in Otaru City, a suburb of Sapporo. The quality of the hot springs here is to Kami’s liking, so we decided it would be the best place for her to recover from the physical fatigue of shoveling the snow recently.
　Otaru was the landing place of the Meiji Emperor’s Hokkaido excursion in 1881, when he and his councilor at the time, Shigenobu Okuma, landed in Otaru from Aomori on the warship Fuso on 30 August and entered Sapporo on the Horonai Railway’s ‘Yoshitsune-go’ between Sapporo and Temiya. This is an extremely important land in the history of Hokkaido. As such a place of origin, people of my age have a memory of Otaru as the place where ‘Japan began’ in Hokkaido, as if it were a distant thunderbolt.
　Our daily driving route of choice is to avoid the main Canal Street ‘Rinko Line’, which has become an international tourist attraction, and take the back road shown in the map above, the ‘Otaru Port Traverse Road’, which leads to the Temiya area. The view of Otaru city with large snow piles composted on the side of the road in winter also stimulates nostalgic brain recollections of life for people in their old age, as there are various memory afterimages since their youth. My Sukiyoko.
　As I was driving through such a memory corridor, a man in a strange woollen hat suddenly jumped out from behind a snowy mountain on the side of the road, where there was neither an intersection nor a traffic light, eating an ice-cream on the roadway (!).
　
I had to slow down quickly, but I had a recollection in my brain that the speed of the car was moderate, so I was able to slow down quickly and save the day. It was a good thing that the road surface was already sunny and the sun was already high in the sky, so the deceleration worked without slipping. The person who had been driving the car was not offended by our desperation, but kept to himself and walked away without a care in the world.
　Well, there was no way to be sure, but I could guess that he was a foreign tourist from his appearance, and from the whole situation, I could also guess that he was from a certain country. The fact that there were an unusually large number of people pointing their cameras at the old brick warehouse buildings in the canal district also attests to the situation.
　I checked Yahoo News this morning and found an article from CNN. The city of Otaru, where the film Love Letter was shot, is facing serious overtourism problems due to the influx of tourists.CNN.co.jp」〜
　As for what we can do, we urge everyone to take care in their daily lives.
　

Posted on 2月 10th, 2025 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 日本社会・文化研究 | No Comments »

　いやぁ、まことに感動してしまっております。
　ちょっと以前から近隣のお宅のアプローチ前、道路側に雪を貯めてボックス状になっていたのは確認していたのですが、どうも昨日日中にその雪塊に対して雪像作りをチャレンジされている様子が見られるではありませんか（！）
　道行く人びとも、なんとなく気になるようで注目を集めていたようでした。で、さらに時間が経過して見てみたら、写真のような光景に変貌していたではありませんか。いや、お見事！　素晴らしい。
　周辺道路は中学生の通学路になっているし、さらに近くの保育園児たちもときどき保母さんたちに連れられて、通行することがある。たしか毎年のようにこうした雪像作りを趣味にされているようで、こどもたちが大喜びしている様子に、強いリスペクトを感じさせられていましたが、それを今年も実行されている。
　先日、北海道民・札幌市民の雪かき営為について、単なる「自分だけがよければ」という枠を超える「公共奉仕」的な営為ではないかという心意で、本州以南地域での「庭仕事」への思い以上のものかも知れないと書いたのですが、この雪像作りには、そういった公共への気配りとか配慮、子どもたちへの地域のこころのようなものが表出している。こどもたちに笑顔を届けるというサンタクロース的な心情とも言えましょうか。まことに感動。
　こういう「街の市井のこころ」に触れられる子どもたちが、どんな受け止め方をしてくれるだろうかと想像すれば、同じ市街地空間を共有するものとして、まことに頭が下がる思い。感謝の念でいっぱいです。

English version⬇

The ‘Snoopy snow sculpture’ in our neighbourhood is a moving sight.
Residents of the north have a common love of snow, and there is something about the snowman that touches their heartstrings. An expression of love for the children growing up in the area. …

　Well, I am really impressed.
　We had seen that the snow had been stored in a box on the road side in front of the approach to a neighbour’s house, but yesterday during the day, we saw them trying to make a snow sculpture out of this snow mass (!).
　People on the road seemed to be somewhat curious about it, and it seemed to be attracting a lot of attention. And when I looked at it after some more time had passed, it had transformed into a scene like the one in the photo. No, it’s brilliant!　It’s wonderful.
　The surrounding roads are used as a route for junior high school students to go to school, and nursery school children sometimes pass by, accompanied by their mothers. I remember that you seem to make snow sculptures as a hobby every year, and the children’s delight in this activity made me feel a strong respect for you, which you are doing again this year.
　The other day, I wrote about the snow shoveling activities of Hokkaido and Sapporo citizens as a kind of ‘public service’ that goes beyond the mere ‘as long as it’s good for me’, and that it may be more than the kind of ‘garden work’ that people in the south of Honshu do, This snow sculpture shows a kind of community spirit towards children. Could it be said to be a Santa Claus-like sentiment to bring smiles to the children? It is truly moving.
　Imagining how children who are exposed to this kind of ‘heart of the city’ would perceive it, as people who share the same urban space, I feel truly bowed down. I am filled with gratitude.

Posted on 2月 8th, 2025 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 「都市の快適」研究 | No Comments »

　さてきのうは「関連会社」札促社のメンバーが帯広でイベント開催のちょうど当日２月４日に歴史的短時間大豪雪に見舞われての翌日で、ハラハラしながら心配していたのですが、なんとか全員無事で帰還してきてくれました！
　なにが出来るわけでもなく、メンバーが乗ってきてそのまま会社事務所に置いていった各人の車両の雪かきなどをして、無事の帰りを祈念していたのですが、元気な顔を見てひと安心。現地で合流の東京から前日乗り込みの社長の様子も確認できて、その無事も確かめられた。そして、未曾有の豪雪の様子を「目をいっぱいに開きながら」話してくれていました。
　スタッフは北海道生まれと東京世田谷、京都宇治生まれと出身地が別れているので、かえって北海道以外のスタッフからの反応で「北海道ってこれくらいのドカ雪、よくあるのだろうなぁ」と思っていた、という声も聞けて、驚きの新発見。イヤイヤそんなことないから（笑）、といった会話ぶりも臨場感があってドカ雪体験を共有しておりました。
　札促社は事業承継したわたしですが、事務所建物と敷地の管理は「大家」的に承っているし、顧問的な立場の期間でもあるので「身内」感覚が継続中ということであります。
　しかし事業承継から１年と４ヶ月経過して、一方では徐々に新設会社「リプランハウス（株）」の独自活動も牛歩ながら、できることを進めてきています。比較的自由な立場の個人企業とは言え、やはり大きなテーマは「住宅という領域が今後どのように推移発展していけるか」ということ。
　そんなことから写真のような新住協札幌支部の2/3支部総会に初参加。新住協の鎌田紀彦先生には昨年ご挨拶に伺った際に「市民会員」という比較的に自由な立場での参加を決定いただいた経緯があります。そういう次第ですが、札幌支部のみなさんから支部メンバーの一員としてご案内いただいたのです。とくに札幌支部はメンバーが大きく若返りしていて、まことに新時代の家づくりの現場の感覚があふれかえっているように感じられます。
　「新住協の会合だから、ひたすら技術研修・学習」ではなく、むしろ若い会員企業スタッフが常日頃体感しているリアルな北海道の家づくりの現場の空気感が伝わってくる。
　会合では「では、市民会員の三木さんから発言を（笑）」みたいに振ってもいただいて、楽しく本音トーク報告を炸裂させていました（笑）。貴重な機会と認識して、今後の活動に反映させていこうと考えております。４月に予定の著作電子出版の発売を機に、対外的な活動もと思いますので、このブログ読者のみなさんとも、今後とも情報交換をよろしくお願いします。

English version⬇

‘Imadoki-Japan/Hokkaido house-building, what do the makers really think?’
　On the information intake base of housing journalism in the capacity of a free citizen member. It explores how housing can be developed in the future. …

　Yesterday was the day after the members of our affiliate company, Fusoshusha, were hit by a historic short-time heavy snowfall on 4 February, the very day of the event in Obihiro, and we were worried about them, but they all managed to come back safely!
　There was nothing we could do, so we were praying for their safe return by shoveling snow from their vehicles, which they had left at the company office, but it was a relief to see their cheerful faces. We were also able to check on the president of the company, who had ridden in from Tokyo the day before to join us on site, and we were able to confirm his safety as well. And he was telling us about the unprecedented heavy snowfall ‘with his eyes wide open’.
　The staff were born in Hokkaido, Setagaya, Tokyo, and Uji, Kyoto, so it was a surprising new discovery to hear the reaction from the non-Hokkaido staff that they had thought, ‘I wonder how often it snows this much in Hokkaido’. The conversation was very realistic and we were able to share the experience of the snowfall.
　Although I have taken over the management of the business, I still manage the office building and grounds as a ‘landlord’, and I have been in an advisory capacity for a period of time, so I still feel like a ‘relative’.
　However, one year and four months have passed since I took over the business, and I am gradually doing what I can to promote the independent activities of the newly established company, Replan House Co. Although we are a private company in a relatively free position, the main theme is still ‘how the field of housing can develop in the future’.
　This is why we participated for the first time in the 2/3 branch general meeting of the Sapporo branch of the New Housing Association, as shown in the photo. When I visited Mr Norihiko Kamata of the Shinjyukyo last year, he decided to join as a ‘citizen member’, which is a relatively free position. That is how it happened, but I was invited by the Sapporo Branch as a member of the Branch. The Sapporo branch in particular has seen a significant rejuvenation of its members, and it seems to be overflowing with a sense of the new age of house building.
　The meeting was not a technical training and learning session because it was a Shinjyukyo meeting, but rather it conveyed a realistic sense of the Hokkaido house-building scene that the staff of young member companies experience on a daily basis.
　At the meeting, I was even asked to make a statement by a citizen member, Mr Miki (laughs), and I happily burst out with an honest talk report (laughs). I am aware that this is a valuable opportunity, and I intend to reflect this in my future activities, including external activities on the occasion of the launch of the electronic publication of my book scheduled for April, so please continue to exchange information with the readers of this blog as well.

Posted on 2月 6th, 2025 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 住宅マーケティング | No Comments »

今朝はこの冬最強寒波が広く日本海沿岸地域に大きく張り出してきて、しばらくの間、激しい降雪の予報も出ていますね。いま午前５時前の時で激しい降雪ぶり。どうもこの冬の最盛期に突入の感じです。が、きのうの札幌はドカ雪の一服でおだやかな晴天が朝から見られていましたので、久しぶりに早朝散歩コースを歩いておりました。しばしの小休止時間でしょうか。
　こちらの円山の里山部分に沿った小河川に隣接する散歩道、そこそこ多くのみなさんが散歩しているので、けもの道のようなわずかな幅の踏み固められた雪道が続いている。こういう風情は自然と人間の対話を感じさせられて好きな光景。その床面には微妙な凹凸もあるので注意深く足を運んでいく必要がある。例によって夫婦での早朝散歩。男の冬靴の底は幅に作られているけれど、女性はファッション性優先の場合、どうしても「ほっそり」しているので、こういう床面には気をつける必要がある。でも基本的にやわらかい新雪なので、スケートリンクのようだった数日前までと比較して歩きやすく快適な冬の散歩を楽しめます。
　円山の里山部分にはごらんのように「カツラ」の巨木。いかにもな表情が惹き付けられていますが、こうして新雪をかぶった姿もなかなかにいい表情を伝えてくれますね。
　さすがにふだんは見られるカモやリスたちの姿を確認することはできません。しかしドカ雪の合間の晴天に、野鳥たちはさまざまにさえずっていてくれて、その姿をカメラに収めたいと、じっと観察されている方もいました。円山公園でも「シマエナガ」が観察されるということ。こうした自然の中で辛抱していたら、お目にかかれるのかも知れませんね。

　本日から「さっぽろ雪まつり」開催。ことしは例年以上に世界中からの観光のみなさんが目に付きます。というか、一部ではオーバーツーリズム状況もあるようです。数日前までは札幌市内中心部にはそれほど積雪がなかったので、近郊の定山渓方面へ「雪見」に観光客が集中し、その往復は路線バス一択なので生活の足として利用する地元民が、路線バスに乗れないということ。京都のような状況が札幌に押し寄せている。雪のある大都会は世界でも珍しい、アジアの人びとにはとくにということで、こういった現象になっているようです。
　夕方には市内中心部で会合があって地下街を往来していましたが、道行く人の半数程度が観光客風のみなさんでした。秩序が維持されて観光を楽しんでいただきたいと祈ります。

English version⬇

[Sapporo Winter Walk in Maruyama & Hokkaido Shrine].
The beasts’ paths in the snow teach us about nature’s reincarnation. The subtle unevenness tells us about the ‘mood’ of the heavens. Introspective exercise time. The beauty of the big city with snow. …

This morning, the strongest cold wave of the winter is widely spreading over the coastal areas of the Sea of Japan, and heavy snowfall is forecast for some time to come. It’s now just before 5am and it’s snowing heavily. It looks like we are entering the peak season of this winter. However, yesterday Sapporo had a lull in the heavy snowfall, and it was mild and sunny from the morning, so I went for an early morning walk for the first time in a while. It was time for a short break.
　The walking path next to the small river along the satoyama part of Maruyama here, where many people take a walk, has a slightly wide, well-trodden snow-covered path like a monster trail. I like this kind of atmosphere because it gives a sense of dialogue between nature and humans. The floor of the path has subtle unevenness, so you have to tread carefully. As usual, a couple take an early morning walk. The soles of men’s winter shoes are made to be wide, but women, when fashion is their priority, are inevitably ‘slender’, so they need to be careful on these floor surfaces. But basically, the soft fresh snow makes for an easy and comfortable winter walk compared to a few days ago, when it was like a skating rink.
　As you can see, there are huge ‘katsura’ trees in the satoyama part of the Maruyama. The trees have a very attractive appearance, but they also look very nice with fresh snow on their faces.
　As expected, the ducks and squirrels that can normally be seen here cannot be seen. However, in the fine weather between the heavy snowfalls, wild birds were singing in a variety of sounds, and some people were watching intently, hoping to capture them on camera. The ‘striped eagles’ were also observed in Maruyama Park. If you persevere in this kind of nature, you may be able to see them.

　The Sapporo Snow Festival starts today. This year we are seeing more tourists from all over the world than ever before. In fact, there seems to be an over-tourism situation in some parts of the city. Until a few days ago, there was not so much snow in the centre of Sapporo city, so tourists are concentrating on the Jozankei area in the suburbs to ‘see the snow’, and the local people who use the local buses as a way of life are unable to ride them because they have only one choice to go there and back. A situation similar to that in Kyoto has swept over Sapporo. This phenomenon seems to have occurred because a big city with snow is rare in the world, especially for Asian people.
　In the evening, I had a meeting in the city centre and was going to and from the underground shopping centre, and about half of the people on the street looked like tourists. I hope that order will be maintained and that people will enjoy sightseeing.

Posted on 2月 4th, 2025 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 日本社会・文化研究 | No Comments »