今回ようやくにして世界遺産「富岡製糸場」を探訪することができたのですが、遠く北海道から、東京出張の合間時間での訪問と言うことで、事前にはほとんど準備も出来ていなかった。関東には東北の半分くらいの「馴染み」のある北海道人ですが、そのなかでもやはり茨城・栃木・群馬の３県については土地勘がなかなかない。「ま、だいたいあの辺だべ」くらいの感覚で移動し始めた。起点は成田便とのアクセスがいい青砥。カーナビ依存症が進行していますので方向的にいくつかの取材先を入れていて、館林、足利を探訪後、富岡に向かった。
　高速でいえば東北道を北上して、どこかで左側に降りて・・・くらいの適当な感覚。館林も富岡も同じ群馬だから、というところだったのですが、これが東の果てと西の涯くらいの距離感で、また高速道路がしっかりつながっているという安心感が大きすぎた（笑）。
　実際には各所の取材が面白くて「ノリ」まくりで時間超過につぐ超過。最後はレンタカーの借り上げ時間を２時間近く超過して、なんとか営業時間中に返却できたというお粗末ぶり。最後は高速道の数珠つなぎ渋滞にも遭遇させられた。関東平野、なかなかのツワモノ（笑）。


　富岡製糸場のことはその歴史性とか背景事情などはある程度知識はあったけれど、その面積規模などの空間性の想像力はまったく欠けていた。なんとか午後２時頃に現地に到着して駐車場にクルマを預けて探訪開始〜終了してクルマに戻ったのが午後５時寸前。最後は閉門時間を気にしながら、やや駆け足での探訪になってしまいました。
　工場の敷地は55,391.42㎡〜16,785坪という広大な「世界遺産」。たったの３時間では歩きまわって「ホエ〜」と嘆息しているだけに終わりそう。まぁそこは撮影した写真、全300点ほどで視覚体験を追体験しながら、学びの時間をしっかり継続させていただいております。写真整理で見やすく編集していると、その空間体験も確実に蘇ってくれる。これってたぶんデジタル画像時代の開始とともに人類が獲得した「追体験手法」であるように思っています。体験が重層化してくれる。
　そのほかに現地で購入した書籍資料などをあちらこちらと参照しながら、さまざまな観点からの体験と思考の整理整頓に取り組んできております。学生時代にはまったくこういう探究心を持たずボーっと過ごしていたのですが、そろそろ人生時間に限界点を意識するようになってあわてて始めているような体たらく。でもそういうことも含めて、こういう時間のありがたさを深く実感させられています。

English version⬇

The end of the Edo period – Meiji period, the push for industrial development – Tomioka Silk Mill – 2
We visited the 16,785 tsubo World Heritage site in three hours with our eyes black and white. The experience of seeing the site itself left me with a sense of experience, but I was impressed by the depth of the “knowing” experience that I gained from it. …

This time I was finally able to visit the World Heritage Site of Tomioka Silk Mill, but I had done very little preparation in advance, coming from as far away as Hokkaido and visiting in the time between business trips to Tokyo. I am a Hokkaido native with about half as much “familiarity” with the Kanto region as I do with the Tohoku region, but I still had little familiarity with the three prefectures of Ibaraki, Tochigi, and Gunma. I started out with a feeling of “Well, it’s roughly in that area. The starting point was Aoto, which has good access to Narita Airport. Since I am becoming dependent on the car navigation system, I had several destinations in mind, and after visiting Tatebayashi and Ashikaga, I headed for Tomioka.
　In terms of highways, we headed north on the Tohoku Expressway and got off somewhere on the left side…just like that. Tatebayashi and Tomioka were both in the same part of Gunma, but this was about as far as the end of the east and the end of the west, and the sense of security that the highways were well connected again was too great (laugh).
　In fact, the coverage of each place was so interesting and “flippant” that it took more and more time. In the end, we managed to return the rental car during business hours, almost two hours over the time limit. We also encountered a traffic jam on the expressway at the end of the trip. The Kanto Plain is quite a tough nut to crack (laughs).

　Although I had some knowledge of the historical background of the Tomioka Silk Mill, I lacked the ability to imagine the spatial scale of the area. We managed to arrive at the site around 2:00 p.m., left our car in the parking lot, and started to explore. The last part of the visit was somewhat of a rush, as we were concerned about the closing time of the gates.
　The factory site is a vast “World Heritage Site” of 55,391.42 m2 (16,785 tsubo). In only three hours, I would have ended up walking around and sighing “whew! Well, we are reliving the visual experience with the 300 or so photos we have taken, and we are continuing our learning time. When I edit the photos to make them easier to see, the spatial experience is sure to come back to me. I think this is probably a “method of reliving” that humankind acquired with the start of the digital image era. The experience becomes multilayered.
　In addition to this, I have been working on organizing my experiences and thoughts from various perspectives, referring here and there to books and other materials I purchased locally. I spent my student days in a daze, not having this kind of inquisitive mind at all, but now I am beginning to be aware of a breaking point in my life time, and I am starting to panic. However, including these things, I am deeply appreciative of the time I have.
　

Posted on 10月 4th, 2024 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 歴史探訪