わたしの年代、1940-50年代生まれの人間は、いわゆる「戦後世代」でクルマ革命・テレビ革命のただ中で生きてきた最初期年代に属します。とくにわたしの場合、自転車乗り練習を始めた時期には札幌有数の大動脈幹線道路に面した家だったので、練習のときに猛速のクルマに危うく轢かれ死ぬ寸前の体験をした。その様子を目撃した父親が、わたしに「自転車乗り練習の厳禁」を厳命することになった。
　親の言いつけをよく守る素直な幼少年は厳しい言いつけをよく順守した。命令撤回は結局、父の死までなかった。
　で、移動手段としての自転車利用が叶わなかったので、逆に18歳の免許取得可能年齢到達の途端に免許を取得した。そうすると今度は仕返しで「移動の自由」を最高レベルで享受する人生に向かった。
　社会人になる直前、入社決定していた広告会社の入社研修を兼ねて当時の創業家社長からのご指名で、四国一周ドライバーとして活躍したりした（笑）。まぁ誰でも運転は出来る時代なのですが自分でも運転には自信もあった。社長が乗り込むと同時に、ぴしゃりと「安全運転最優先で行きます（キッパリ）」とやや逆に命令調で宣言していた。
　社長は「おお、その考えに完全同意だ（笑）」と言ってくれていた。
　まぁそんなクルマ運転人生を送ってきて、いまでも東京〜兵庫県姫路往復などのロングドライブも平気でこなしているような人生行脚。そんなわたしなので、今回の関西〜山陰の旅も当然レンタカーでの自由ドライブ。で、カミさんと話していて興味深かったスポットがこの「ベタ踏み坂」〜鳥取県・江島大橋。
　まぁアクセルをずっと踏み続ける過酷な坂道橋、という意味と理解。ぜひ「映え」の写真でも撮影できたら、と考えて出発。しかしいかんせん勝手のわからないカーナビ頼みのドライブ。「あ、ここがそうか」と気付いたときは、順調に後続車が連なる１本道の橋の直前。助手席のカミさんに「急いでiPhoneで写真撮って」と言ったが、間に合わず。
　やむなく橋を下りて駐車場所に止めてから「あとの祭り」写真を撮影していた（泣）。写真は２枚目が鳥取県HPの観光用写真と３枚目がわたしが撮った「あとの祭り」写真。
　っていう失敗写真ではありますが、それもまた楽しい「移動人生」のひとこま。人生での未踏の県、鳥取県最初の貴重な体験でありました。

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English version⬇

The “Sticky Slope” of the Aftermath – Eshima Bridge, Tottori Prefecture, Japan]
This is the image of a harsh slope bridge where you have to keep stepping on the accelerator pedal. However, the latest cars cleared the slope with ease (laugh). The photo was not taken. Well, it had to be done. The photo was not taken.

　Those of my generation, born in the 1940s and 1950s, belong to the so-called “postwar generation,” the first generation to live in the midst of the car and television revolutions. Especially in my case, when I started practicing bicycle riding, my house faced one of the major arterial highways in Sapporo, and I was almost run over by a fast-moving car while practicing and nearly died. My father, who witnessed the incident, strictly ordered me not to practice riding my bicycle.
　As an obedient youngster, I obeyed my parents’ strict orders very well. The order was not rescinded until my father’s death.
　And since I could not use a bicycle as a means of transportation, I obtained a driver’s license as soon as I reached the age of 18, which was the age at which I could obtain a driver’s license. In doing so, I was now headed for a life in which I would enjoy the highest level of “freedom of movement” as a form of payback.
　Just before I entered the workforce, I was assigned by the president of the founding family at the time to drive around Shikoku as part of the induction training for an advertising company I had decided to join (laugh). Well, this was an era when anyone could drive, but I was also confident in my driving skills. As soon as the president got in the car, he declared in a somewhat contrary commanding tone, “I will go with the highest priority on safe driving (crisp).
　The president said, “Oh, I completely agree with that idea (laugh).
　Well, I have lived such a life of driving, and even now I can make a long drive from Tokyo to Himeji in Hyogo Prefecture and back without a hitch. Since I am such a person, this trip from Kansai to San’in was naturally a free drive in a rented car. I was talking with my wife about this interesting spot, the “Sticky Slope” – Eshima Ohashi Bridge in Tottori Prefecture.
　We understood that it means a severe slope bridge where you have to keep stepping on the gas pedal all the time. We set off, hoping to take some “eiyoe” photos of the bridge. However, we had to rely on the car navigation system, which we didn’t know how to use. When I realized, “Oh, this is it,” I was right before the bridge on a straight road with a steady stream of following cars. I told my wife in the passenger seat to hurry up and take a picture with her iPhone, but she couldn’t get there in time.
　I had no choice but to exit the bridge and park in a parking lot before taking the “after the fact” photos (tears). The second photo is a tourist photo from the Tottori Prefecture website, and the third is the “After Festival” photo I took.
　I know it is a failure, but it is also a fun part of my “life on the move”. It was my first precious experience in Tottori, a prefecture I had not yet explored in my life.

I would like to inform you that my book “The Writer and the Living Space” is now available as an e-book from Gentosha .
　

Posted on 6月 26th, 2025 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 出張＆旅先にて