昨日は図書館でたっぷりと資料探しでした。
　生来の歴史好きと家系DNAの探訪とが重なってきて、高齢期の「主戦場」化してきているように思っています。年末には再度、家系の故地探訪にも再び行く予定なのですが、その目的地がどんどん多くなってきている。そういうことでさらに大量蓄積されている先人の知恵に導きを希求することになる。
　やはり先日の「国立国会図書館」を頂点とする先人の蓄積業績にはひたすら頭が下がります。そうして古文書類も確認しつつ、写真のような図書館での探究の醍醐味も堪えられない。
　先人の「知の着眼点」が本の背表紙から「こだま」のように響いて来ます。
　ただただ没頭し、自分という存在で今を生きている家系のDNAがたどってきた史的環境、出会った世相の実質を可能な限りに再体験したい、という思い。
　大つかみとしての歴史は、いわば一般解として学び続けているけれど、そこにDNA的な要素が加わってくると、肌感覚としてのリアリティが見えてくる。連綿と繋がってきた家系・DNAがそれぞれの局面でどのように意思し、人間行動軌跡を歩んできたのか、血肉に木霊〜こだま〜してくる気がする。
　知人からは「仏壇を背負って北海道まできた家系って、そもそも希少だから・・・」と言われます。まぁそれも事実でしょう。先住のみなさんの積層を除けば開拓期以来のこの地にはたかだか150年ほどの歴史時間しかない。その出自の故地を思いそこに「帰る」生き方もあると思います。
　しかし、この北海道に生きることを選択して生きてきた父祖の思いは承継したい。
　・・・そんな思索の旅路に没頭していて、ふと気付いたら札幌地方を襲っていた暴風雪がどんどん勢いを増してきていました。訪問していた図書館は自宅から6.5kmほどの市街地経由距離。行きはそれほどの風雪渋滞ではなかったのですが、帰り時間、夕方５時前後には一寸先も見えにくい暴風雪状況。
　通常の２車線道路がほぼ１車線になってしまい交差点「右折車」があれば、信号通過もできない。自然の猛威による渋滞に拍車がかかる。通常15分程度の移動時間が、ほぼ３倍くらいの時間。
　さて、昨日は２回やっていた雪かき、本日はどうかなぁ・・・。北国の冬本格化です。

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English version⬇

Blizzard Approaches. DNA Obsessed with Excavating Encountered Situations and Materials
I’ve always loved history, but now that unraveling my own bloodline’s journey has been added, I’m nearly “sunk” in obsession. And then, without mercy, a blizzard from the cold regions arrives. …

　Yesterday was spent thoroughly searching for materials at the library.
My innate love of history and the exploration of my family lineage DNA have converged, and it seems to be becoming my primary focus in my later years. By year’s end, I plan to revisit ancestral homelands once more, though the list of destinations keeps growing. This naturally leads me to seek guidance from the vast, accumulated wisdom of our forebears.
Indeed, I can only bow my head in reverence before the monumental achievements of those who came before us, culminating in the National Diet Library. While verifying ancient documents, I also find the pure joy of library exploration, like that captured in photos, utterly irresistible.
　The “perspectives of knowledge” from our ancestors echo like “kodama” spirits from the spines of books.
I simply want to immerse myself, to re-experience as fully as possible the historical environments traversed by the DNA of my lineage—the very essence of the times they encountered—and to live in the present as my own being.
While I continue to learn the broad strokes of history as a general solution, when DNA-level elements are added, a visceral reality becomes visible. I feel the echoes—kodama—resonating in my very flesh and blood, revealing how this lineage and DNA, continuously connected, made decisions and walked human paths at each juncture.
An acquaintance remarked, “A family that carried their Buddhist altar all the way to Hokkaido is rare to begin with…” Well, that’s true enough. Excluding the layers of history built by the original inhabitants, this land has only about 150 years of recorded history since the pioneering era. I think there’s a way of life that involves remembering the ancestral homeland and “returning” to it.
However, I want to inherit the spirit of my ancestors who chose to live here in Hokkaido.
…I was deep in such contemplative thoughts when I suddenly realized the blizzard hitting the Sapporo area was rapidly intensifying. The library I visited was about 6.5 km from home via the city streets. The way there wasn’t too bad in terms of wind and snow congestion, but by the time I headed back, around 5 PM, it was a blizzard where you couldn’t see a foot in front of you.
The normally two-lane road had effectively become one lane. If there were cars turning right at an intersection, you couldn’t even get through the signal. The natural disaster only worsened the traffic jam. What normally takes about 15 minutes took nearly three times as long.
Well, yesterday I shoveled snow twice… I wonder how it’ll be today… Winter in the northern regions is in full swing.

Notice
My book “Writers and Living Spaces” published as an e-book by Gentosha
Available on Amazon.

Posted on 12月 13th, 2025 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 未分類