きのうの続きです。わが家の家系はこの福山市西部の今津町で確実に商家として生業を営んでいたようなのですが、そういう「営業実態」についての記録や実物などは、北海道移住に際しての混乱期に多くが散逸していて、なかなか確認することができませんでした。たまたまわたしはこういう「探究・深掘り」が住宅（関連）取材として興味と機会があるので、企図してきていた。しかしなかなかリアリティと整合性のある「実感」には至っていなかったのです。
　そういうもどかしさを抱えながらいたのですが、草戸千軒遺跡の取材と、わが家が強く関係していた今津の蓮華寺の様子、それらが同一生活文化圏、宗教文化圏としてもきわめて近接し相互に関係している状況事実とクロスすることで、生々しく浮かび上がってきた次第です。
　わが家は瀬戸内海地域有数の「商都」であった尾道を本拠とする商業ビジネス集団「あがや」に属していたことは確実なのです。わたし自身も遺品のひとつとして商家としての「あがや」家紋入りの「膳部」を承継保有しています（笑）。江戸期の「商家」の営業実態としては、物流としての水運利用によって、物資の流入する尾道のような港湾商業都市拠点から、販売先地域への物流の継続的運営管理が生命線なのでしょう。草戸千軒遺跡は江戸期には衰退していたとされていますが、瀬戸内海と河川（芦田川）の水運を利用していたことは発掘などから明白な事実。その水運機能が草戸では衰退していたのに対して「今津」＜イマドキの港という含意＞の地名自体でわかるように、中世期の草戸千軒と同様の水運物流機能が、この今津で確保されていたのでしょう。
　そしてその物流の対象先は、「今津宿」とされた参勤交代の宿場機能に対してだった。この今津には薩摩藩や平戸藩などの西国大名家が「定宿」として利用してきた事実がある。「本陣」としての「河本家」と「脇本陣」としての「蓮華寺」への物資納品の役割を独占していた事実。まさに大名家などが必要とする物資を尾道の「あがや」本拠から調達して流通販売することが、主要な江戸期の経済物流機能だった。その物流のリアリティが草戸千軒遺跡の発掘痕跡ジオラマと、まったく同一文化圏だった事実から、まさになまなましく実感できたのです。
　言ってみれば、中世の草戸千軒の役割が、江戸期のこの今津で再生されていたのでしょう。
　わが家の家系伝承では、平戸藩主の松浦静山の書き記した「甲子夜話」に今津宿本陣での大名貴賓接遇に一家を挙げて奉仕している様子が記録されている。
　そうした商家としての営業の基本構造が見事に「見える化」されてきた次第。う〜むオモシロい気付きが得られたと頓悟しております。全体イメージを知る大きな機縁。

English version⬇

[Actual business conditions of ‘local small and medium-sized merchant families’ in the Bingo Fukuyama Domain during the Edo period].
The reality of the business conditions of our family’s ancestors has become visible. The breath of life has been intensely felt. …

This is a continuation of yesterday’s article. My family seems to have been a merchant family in Imazu-cho in the western part of Fukuyama City, but many records and actual objects relating to the ‘business situation’ were scattered during the period of confusion when the family moved to Hokkaido, so it has been difficult to confirm the existence of such a family. It just so happened that I had planned to do this kind of ‘exploration and in-depth research’ as a housing (related) journalist because I was interested and had the opportunity to do so. However, I have not been able to come to a ‘real feeling’ of reality and consistency.
　I had been feeling frustrated about this, but by crossing the coverage of the Kusado-Senken site with the situation at Renge-ji Temple in Imazu, to which my family was strongly related, and the fact that they were very close and interrelated as the same living and religious cultural sphere, the situation came to the fore in a vivid way.
　It is certain that my family belonged to the Agaya, a commercial business group based in Onomichi, which was one of the leading ‘commercial capitals’ of the Seto Inland Sea region. I myself have inherited a ‘zenbu’ with the ‘Agaya’ family crest as a merchant family as one of my personal belongings (laughs). The business reality of a merchant family in the Edo period was the continuous operation and management of logistics from port commercial centres such as Onomichi, where goods flowed in through the use of water transport as logistics, to the areas where the goods were sold. Although the Kusado Senken site is said to have declined during the Edo period, it is an obvious fact from excavations and other evidence that the site made use of water transport from the Seto Inland Sea and rivers (Ashida River). While the water transportation function was in decline at Kusado, the name of the place itself, ‘Imazu’ (meaning ‘Imadoki port’), indicates that the same water transportation and distribution function as at Kusado-Senken in the medieval period was secured at Imazu.
　The logistics destination was for the function of an inn for the pilgrimage, which was called ‘Imadzu-juku’. It is a fact that this Imazu has been used as a ‘fixed inn’ by the Satsuma and Hirado clans and other western daimyo families. The Kawamoto family monopolised the role of delivering goods to the Rengeji Temple, which served as the ‘main lodge’ and the ‘side lodge’. The main economic and logistical function of the Edo period was to procure the goods needed by the feudal lords and others from the ‘Agaya’ headquarters in Onomichi for distribution and sale. The reality of this logistics could be seen in the diorama of excavated traces at the Kusado-Senken site and the fact that they were in exactly the same cultural sphere, which made it possible to feel the reality of the logistics in a very sedate way.
　In other words, the role of Kusado-Senken in the Middle Ages was being recreated here in Imazu during the Edo period.
　In our family tradition, the Koshi Yawa, written by Shizan Matsuura, lord of the Hirado domain, records how the whole family served at the Imazu-juku Honjin for the reception of noble guests of feudal lords.
　The basic business structure of such a merchant family has been successfully ‘visualised’. I am now realising that I have gained some interesting insights. A great opportunity to understand the whole picture.

Posted on 1月 3rd, 2025 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 日本社会・文化研究, 歴史探訪 | No Comments »

2025年 あけましておめでとうございます。
　みなさまには、永年格別のご厚誼をいただきありがとうございます。昨年2024年は会社譲渡の円滑な落着を見届ける責任を、大過なく終了。また、深く関係する札幌市清田区の不動産の件で隣接する全国企業などとよい関係を構築できて、ひとつの大団円を迎えることが出来ました。さらに取り組んできた個人としてのはじめての出版作品
　『作家と住空間 〜表現者のナマの息づかいに触れる』
　が、いよいよ４月に電子書籍で発刊される予定で、校正作業などが大車輪進行中。これは仕事人生で取り組んだ「住空間とそこに暮らす人間の相関性」を、誰もが知る著名作家の事例から掘り下げる、という「人生まとめ企画」。
　見城徹氏で知られる「幻冬舎ルネッサンス」から発刊予定。わたし三木奎吾の生きた証（大袈裟〜笑）、なにとぞご一読願えれば幸いです。
　みなさまのご多幸をお祈りいたします。また引き続きあたたかいお導きをよろしくお願いします。
　発刊されましたら、みなさまには必ずこのブログなどで正式にご案内差し上げたいと思います、なにとぞよろしくお願い申し上げます。＜電子出版の装丁は現在先方にて作業進行中で、写真はわたしの「内容説明図版」。この旨ご理解ください。＞



　ということで、新年明けていつものように北海道神宮に初詣。まぁ毎日のように早朝散歩しているコースのひとつなので、通い慣れた道なのですが、大みそかから元旦に掛けて札幌はそこそこの降雪。たぶん20cmを超えていると思いますので、参道はなかなか幻想的な景色が顔を見せてくれておりました。いかにも日本列島最北の地の鎮守らしい新年の光景。明治の開拓と同時にやってこられた大国魂神（おおくにたまのかみ）・大那牟遅神（おおなむちのかみ）・少彦名神（すくなひこなのかみ）の最初期三神は、後に祀られた明治天皇からこの地の寒冷と積雪を教えられ、もっと早く言ってくれと思われているかも知れませんね（笑）。本日はわが家駐車場や家の前などの雪かきにさすがに大汗を掻いて、その汗が引くのを待っての参拝でした。
　この冬は岩見沢以北の大雪がたびたび報じられていますが、だいたい札幌と岩見沢地域はこと降雪に関しては対比的な関係でして、札幌はこれまでは少雪気味で推移していまして、散歩道のスッテンコロリンに最注意ということでしたが、この降雪で例年通りの本格的な冬の到来のようです。ことしも冬にめげずに過ごしましょうね。

English version⬇

Happy New Year!
This is a project to publish an e-book based on the experience of exploring houses as a life theme. This is a “life summary project” that delves into the homes of famous writers who are well known to everyone. The book will be published in the form of an e-book…

Happy New Year!
　I would like to thank you all for your continued support over the years. Last year, 2024, I completed my responsibility of seeing that the transfer of the company was completed smoothly and without incident. In addition, we were able to build good relationships with neighbouring national companies and others in the area of real estate in Kiyota-ku, Sapporo, with which we are deeply involved, and we were able to reach a great conclusion. In addition, the first published work as an individual that I have been working on.
　The Writer and the Residential Space: Touching the Real Breath of the Expressionist’.
　is finally scheduled to be published as an e-book in April, and proofreading and other work is underway on a big wheel. This is a ‘life summary project’ that delves into the ‘correlation between living spaces and the people who live there’, which I have worked on throughout my working life, using examples of well-known writers who are well known to everyone.
　It is scheduled to be published by Gentosha Renaissance, a company known for its writer Toru Miki. I would be very happy if you could read the living proof (exaggeration – lol) of my life, Keigo Miki.
　I wish you all the best of luck. We also ask for your continued warm guidance.
　When the book is published, we will be sure to inform you officially through this blog and other means, so please do not hesitate to contact us. ＜The binding of the e-publication is currently being worked on by the publisher, and the photo is my ‘illustration of the contents’. Please understand this. >
　So, as usual, I went to Hokkaido Jingu Shrine for the first time after the New Year. It is one of the routes I walk early in the morning every day, so I am used to it, but from New Year’s Eve to New Year’s Day, Sapporo had a fair amount of snowfall. The approach to the shrine was quite a fantastic sight. This is a New Year’s scene that is very typical of the township shrine in the northernmost part of the Japanese archipelago. The first three deities, Okunitama no Kami, Onamuchi no Kami and Sunahikona no Kami, who came to Japan at the same time as the Meiji era settlements, were told of the cold and snowfall in this area by Emperor Meiji, who later enshrined them, and may have been asked to tell them earlier (laughs). Today, I was sweating heavily shoveling snow from our parking lot and in front of our house, and waited for the sweat to subside before visiting the shrine.
　This winter, heavy snowfall north of Iwamizawa has often been reported, but Sapporo and the Iwamizawa area have a contrasting relationship when it comes to snowfall, with Sapporo having had light snow so far, and the greatest attention being paid to the snowfall on walking paths. The snowfall seems to be the start of a full-blown winter as usual. Let’s not let winter get the better of us this year.

Posted on 1月 1st, 2025 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 未分類 | No Comments »

　さて本日は12月も押し迫っての30日。きのうも札幌市内から岩見沢方面へと移動往復していましたが、札幌から北のこちら方面では吹雪で、帰りには案の定、高速通行止め。途中では片側２車線のメイン国道道路がほぼ全線で１車線になっておりました。なかには大きく雪煙を上げて道路脇の雪山に衝突して停止しているようなクルマも散見しておりました。とくに道路の左側はどこに雪山があるか、前走車の走りっぷりから判断するしかないので、注意深く観察していなければならない。そういう経験知の少ない方には過酷な条件。しかし経験豊富なわたしも、さすがに高齢化で疲労感はいや増してくる。きのうはお隣の国で航空機の墜落事故でほぼ全員落命という情報。なんといっても安全最優先で、年末を過ごしたいですね。
　なんですが、一方で年末時期には早朝からわが家恒例の年末買い出しで、北海道中の海産物が集まってくる「札幌中央市場」にここ何日か通っております。札幌市内全域の魚屋さんやお寿司屋さんなどの「業者向け」の市場なのですが、わたしは少年時から食品事業を営んでいた家業の関係から中央市場にはその「空気感」に深い馴染みがあって、わざわざではありますがこの時期の買い出しには血が沸き立ってしまうのです。
　中央市場には、一般客も買い出しに来る店舗のほかに「場内」と呼ばれる業者向け専門の店舗区域もありますが、少年時からそういう店舗に「配達」などで手伝いに駆り出されていたので新鮮な魚介類や野菜類が活発に取引される現場感覚が、時間を超えて蘇ってくる部分があるのですね。
　とくに地元産の魚類の取引では、その生産者の仕事ぶりがなまなましく伝わってくるものが大きい。津軽海峡で水揚げされたマグロの巨大な魚体が冷凍された状態で捌かれていく様子などは、目を瞠るほどに刺激的。シンプルな漁場の名前が印字された魚箱の様子から、その海の空気がリアルに感じられたりする。想像力、とふつうに書くけれど、そのようなイキモノの鼓動感がそこに籠もっているように感じているのですね。
　で、買い出しなので当然カミさんといっしょにああだこうだと掛け合いしながら。
「このマグロの中トロ、なかなかウマそうだなぁ」
「でも、ちょっとこっちの方がもう少し赤身が強そうだから、いいんでない？」
「サケはどうせ毎日食べるから、この箱ごと買っちゃうか？」
などと品評しながらの楽しい買い出し。
　厳しい寒さの続く、それも早朝の買い出しですが北海道という地域の元気そのままが、全身に一気に駆け巡ってくるようで、なんとも楽しい時間であります。

English　version⬇

I’ll make love to you at Sapporo Central Market for year-end shopping.
The market is filled with the vitality of fresh fish and shellfish caught in the northern seas, despite the bitter cold. The market is a vibrant place where you can buy seafood from all over Hokkaido. …

Today is the 30th of December. Yesterday, I was traveling back and forth from Sapporo to Iwamizawa, but there was a blizzard in this direction north of Sapporo, and as expected, the highway was closed to traffic on the way home. On the way home, the main national highway, which has two lanes on each side, was almost entirely one lane. Some of the cars were stopped after crashing into snow piles on the side of the road, sending up a big cloud of snow. Especially on the left side of the road, one can only judge where there is a snowbank by the driving style of the car in front, so one has to watch carefully. These are harsh conditions for those with little experience and knowledge. However, even I, who have a lot of experience, am feeling more and more tired due to my advanced age. Yesterday, I heard that almost all of the crew members lost their lives in a plane crash in a neighboring country. I would like to spend the end of the year with safety as my top priority.
　On the other hand, I have been going to Sapporo Central Market, where seafood from all over Hokkaido gathers, for our family’s annual year-end shopping from early in the morning for the past few days. The market is for fishmongers, sushi restaurants, and other “traders” from all over Sapporo, but I am deeply familiar with the atmosphere of the central market because my family has been in the food business since I was a boy, and it makes my blood boil to go there to do the shopping.
　In addition to the stores where ordinary customers come to buy, the Central Market also has a special area for vendors, called the “in-place” area, and since I was sent to these stores as a boy to help with “deliveries” and the like, the sense of being on the spot where fresh seafood and vegetables are being actively traded has come back to me beyond time.
　Especially in the trade of locally produced fish, the work of the producers can be felt in a very vivid way. The sight of huge tuna landed in the Tsugaru Straits and processed in frozen form, for example, is blindingly exciting. The simple name of the fishing grounds printed on the fish box gives the viewer a realistic sense of the atmosphere of the sea. I usually write the word “imagination,” but I feel as if such a sense of the heartbeat of the living creature is contained in these boxes.
　And of course, I was shopping, so my wife and I were talking about this and that together.
“This medium fatty tuna looks pretty tasty,” she said.
But this one looks a little leaner.
I eat salmon every day anyway, so why don’t I just buy this whole box?
We were having a good time shopping while evaluating the products.
　It is a very enjoyable time, as the energy of the Hokkaido region seems to rush through my body all at once, even though it is early in the morning when the bitter cold continues.

Posted on 12月 30th, 2024 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: おとこの料理＆食 | No Comments »

　日本の高級住宅建築という文化は北海道では、明治初期からの建物で、たとえば清華亭や豊平館のような明治天皇の「御座所」として建てられた建築があるけれど、最初期から寒冷地域の建築として、その「与条件」に対して日本の住文化はどう対応するか、ということが中心軸戦、背骨になっていると思う。
　そこでの空間体験がネイティブな人間からすると、この姫路の高級数寄屋建築とは、庭の景観、その先の「借景」環境との内外部の視覚的芸術性が究極的な、きわめる対象だったのだと思える。その日本建築的伝統価値感との根源的相違をいつも感じさせられる。
　その建築の感受性的な興味対象はつねにそういった視覚的芸術性が最優先されているのだと。それに対して北海道建築は、凶暴なブリザードが室内を暴走し、いたたまれない厳しい冬期自然環境から、室内を保護し、人間居住性を優先させてきた住文化なのだといつも思わされる。この姫路の高級数寄屋住宅での内観空間には、「望景」というわかりやすい眺望最優先の建築動機から、室内装飾障壁画でも風景画一択となっていた。
　こうした空間構成の動機からは、四季折々の自然のうつろいが最大関心事として画面が構成されていった。ごく自然に「花鳥風月」がその主要領域とされたのでしょう。「もののあわれ」みたいな心情交流が、最大関心事に昇華されていったものでしょう。
　北海道という「異界」で過ごしてきているとはいえ、血族としてはそのルーツを本州以南地域に持っている人間としては、こういった数寄屋の住文化、精神性もいわば血脈としては腑に落ちている。「わかるよなぁ」とは思って受容しているのだけれど、こういった精神世界はいわば「浮ついた世界観」だとも根底的には思い続けている。北海道でこういう花鳥風月を描くとすれば、本州以南地域の建築ではほとんど描かれていない冬の猛吹雪をどう描くか、となる。どうしてもその表現は「箱庭」的な空間性をはるかに超えてしまう。

　日本画の後藤純男の作品を富良野の画廊で見ていると、建築自体が正面に雄大な北海道的な山並みに向かって建てられていて、箱庭に自然を写し撮るというような心象ではない。言ってみれば「ポスト花鳥風月」というような表現意欲を感じさせられる。やはりどちらかといえば西洋画のような額縁で囲まれた作品として受け止めることになる。家の中でそうした絵画を鑑賞するとしても、やはり「額縁画」となって壁面に展示される。
　この「望景亭」のように建具自体に装画している空間性に、違和感は感じつつも「ああ、いいなぁ」とも本然的には「同期」したいとも感じておりました。見果てぬ夢。

English version⬇

Himeji, Sukiya-style architecture “Bokkei-tei” and wall paintings.
The “Kacho-fu-getsu” worldview is expressed in every place and fixture of the sukiya-style architecture. This is the world of the highest Japanese sensitivity and value. There is no blizzard in winter as the theme of the paintings. ・・・・.

　In Hokkaido, the culture of high-class residential architecture dates back to the early Meiji period (1868-1912), with buildings such as the Seikatei and the Toyohirakan, which were built for the Emperor Meiji as his “throne room,” but I think that from the beginning, the central axis and backbone of Japanese residential culture was how to respond to the “given conditions” as architecture in a cold region. The experience of space there is the backbone of the Japanese residential culture.
　From the perspective of someone who is a native of Himeji and experienced the space there, it seems to me that the high-class sukiya architecture of Himeji was ultimately about the visual artistry of the garden landscape and the “borrowed landscape” environment inside and out. I am always reminded of the fundamental difference between the traditional values of Japanese architecture and these traditional values.
　The sensibility of the architectural interest is always focused on the visual artistry of the building. In contrast, the architecture of Hokkaido has always given priority to human habitability, protecting the interior from the harsh natural environment of winter, when violent blizzards run rampant through the interior and make it unbearable to live in. In the interior space of this high-class sukiya house in Himeji, the motive of the architecture was to give the highest priority to the view, which is easy to understand: “望景”, which means “to look out over the landscape”.
　From this motive for spatial composition, the changing nature of the four seasons became the primary concern in the composition of the paintings. The main area of interest was naturally “flowers, birds, wind, and the moon. Emotional exchanges like “the mercy of things” must have been sublimated to the greatest concern.
　Although I have spent my life in the “other world” of Hokkaido, as a person whose family roots are in the southern part of Honshu, I understand the culture and spirituality of the sukiya as a bloodline, so to speak. I can understand it and accept it, but at the same time, I continue to think that this kind of spiritual world is a “floating worldview. If I were to depict this kind of flower, bird, wind, and moon in Hokkaido, I would have to find a way to depict the blizzard in winter, which is rarely depicted in architecture in the southern part of Honshu. Inevitably, this expression goes far beyond the “box garden” spatiality.

　When I saw the works of Japanese-style painter Sumio Goto at a gallery in Furano, the architecture itself was built facing the majestic Hokkaido-like mountain range in front of it, not the mental image of capturing nature in a box garden. In other words, it is a “post-Kacho-fu-getsu” style of expression. If anything, the works are more like Western-style paintings framed in a frame. When we appreciate such paintings in our homes, they are displayed on the wall as “framed paintings.
　I felt a sense of discomfort with the spatiality of the fittings themselves, as in this “Bokkeitei,” but I also felt a sense of “ah, I like it” and naturally wanted to “synchronize” with it. A dream that will never be fulfilled.

Posted on 12月 28th, 2024 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 住宅マーケティング | No Comments »

　札幌に帰還して２日目、早朝散歩。いつもの北海道神宮〜円山公園緑地コースを巡っていて、アメリカ領事館の裏庭あたりのベンチに、この雪だるま発見（笑）。毎年、冬の時期に円山公園周辺で雪だるまを作るアーティストの方がいるようで、散歩者としてはその光景にある「予定調和」感を感じている。
　「おお、ことしも頑張っているんだなぁ」という微笑ましさを受け取っていた。去年までは自然木に付加造形していたように記憶しているけれど、ことしはベンチを素材として使っているので、半ばは公共側との了解があるのかも知れないなどと想像させられていました。
　さっぽろ雪まつりといういまや国際的なイベントも、もともとは雪だるま造形という日本の雪国人のごく自然な「遊び心」、いわば現代風の「民俗」が昇華したものだと認識しています。柳田國男は北海道に「民俗はない」とみなしていたのではないかと思いますが、もし存命であれば、雪まつりイベントというのは、素朴な民俗心がこの地で表出していった最大のモノと認識した可能性が高い。ただ、北海道は日本社会が欧米社会と文化的に「混淆」して、そういう国際化も同時進行したので、「伝統的ニッポン」性は薄らいで来ているのだと思う。しかし、雪を使って儚い造形をこころみて、それがひとびとのニッコリ「コミュニケーションツール」になれるというのは、ある種、その本質において日本民俗的だとも思えるのですね。雪まつり現象をそのように捉え返す視点というのが足りていなかったのだとむしろ思える。
　この円山公園のオブジェ、それもクリスマス時期に出現する私的アート作品には、２月初旬という雪まつり時期とは違う時空間でオモシロい新規性を感じさせられている。クリスマスを祝うという心理は日本人オリジナルな心情というより、欧米圏的な文化価値感の好意的で日本的な反映ということでしょう。そういう「シン民俗」として、こんな風にオモシロオブジェという発想を仕掛けてきていると感じられる。
　公共としてはこういった自然発生的な「仕掛け」はある意味では困ったことではあるかも知れませんが、わたし的にはこういう「クリスマスの日本民俗化」という志向性発露として興味深く感じております。こういう志向性からなにかユニークな日本人的なカウンターカルチャーを欧米世界に対して発していけるのではないかと。言ってみれば「クリスマス版雪まつり」として、かれらキリスト教文化圏から楽しい反応があり得るのではないでしょうか？　ちょっと、妄想過多かなぁ（笑）。・・・

English version⬇

The annual Sapporo Maruyama Park “Christmas Version Snow Festival” objects.
A pleasant reunion on the walkway. The creator’s message: “I did my best this year, too. I love this kind of “folk” nature. I love this kind of “folklore.

　On the second day after returning to Sapporo, I took an early morning walk. I was cruising along my usual route from Hokkaido Shrine to Maruyama Park Greenbelt when I spotted this snowman on a bench around the backyard of the U.S. Consulate (smile). It seems that every year there is an artist who makes a snowman in the Maruyama Park area during the winter season, and as a walker, I feel a certain “scheduled harmony” in the scene.
　As a walker, I received a smile from them and thought, “Oh, they are doing a good job this year, too. I remember that until last year, the artists had been using natural wood as an additional formative element, but this time they were using benches as a material, which made me imagine that they might have an agreement with the public side halfway through.
　I am aware that the Sapporo Snow Festival, now an international event, was originally a sublimation of the natural “playfulness” of the people of Japan’s snow country, a modern “folk custom,” so to speak, of making snowmen. Kunio Yanagida may have regarded Hokkaido as having no “folk customs,” but if he were still alive, it is highly likely that he would have recognized the snow festival event as the greatest manifestation of the simple folk spirit in the region. However, since Japanese society in Hokkaido has become culturally “mixed” with Western society, and such internationalization has been taking place at the same time, I think the “traditional Nippon” character of the festival is fading away. However, the fact that people can use snow to create ephemeral forms and use them as a “communication tool” to smile at each other is, in a sense, Japanese folklore in its essence. It seems to me that we have not had enough perspectives to understand the phenomenon of snow festivals in this way.
　The objects in Maruyama Park, private artworks that appear during the Christmas season, have an interesting novelty in a time and space different from that of the snow festival season in early February. The psychology of celebrating Christmas is not an original Japanese sentiment, but rather a favorable and Japanese reflection of Western cultural values. As such a “sin folklore,” I feel that they are setting up the idea of omoshiro objet d’art in this way.
　Although such a spontaneous “device” may be a problem for the public in a sense, I find it interesting as a manifestation of the orientation of “Japanese folklore of Christmas”. I believe that this kind of orientation could lead to the creation of a unique Japanese counterculture to the Western world. In other words, as a “Christmas version of the Snow Festival,” it would be a joyful response from the Christian cultural sphere, wouldn’t it?　I may be being a bit paranoid (laughs). I love this kind of “folklore.

Posted on 12月 26th, 2024 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 「都市の快適」研究 | No Comments »