正月休みも３が日を終えて、あすからは平日モードで新年のスタート。
　ということで、昨年からの懸案の領域に徐々に復帰していきたいと思っています。これまで伯父（父の兄）やわたしの次兄が中心になって家系肉親の調査活動が行われてきていたのですが、わたし自身、会社仕事からは少し離れてきたことで、次兄から「オマエ、やれ！」という命令が下ってきたという経緯。
　大量に収集されてきた「資料類」を譲渡されたので、それをベースにしながら、わたしとしてはそれぞれの家系の人びとが遭遇した江戸期から以降の戦後にまで至る歴史経緯を対照させながら、経済を中心にして社会のありよう、わが家系の事業の実相に基本的に着目しながら立体的な探究を心がけています。
　こういう探訪は、日本人としての家系情報から比較的に途切れ気味の北海道人には、きわめて鮮烈な領域。
　おお、こういう知的興奮領域があったのか、と驚かされてもいる。もちろん、そういう基盤を作ってくれてきたのは伯父や次兄の丹念な調査活動。そしてやはり「現地調査」で知り得る「気付き」こそが最大の基礎。その基盤に立って現代で活性化してきている「地域史」探求の成果である各地域の情報集積の文献をしっかり参照。さらに現代的な探索手段としてその「誤情報」（笑）にも悩まされるけれども、きわめて有用なことは間違いがない生成AIなどを活用しつつ、多角的に情報の真贋見極め作業を継続してきています。
　そういうなかから、江戸期までの瀬戸内海世界における基盤的な経済基盤「塩業」とわが家系の関わり合い探索をひとつの掘り起こし領域に。未来からやってきた子孫として十分敬意を払ってそれぞれの時代に「降臨」してご先祖の事跡に「こんにちは」と旅する気分。ドラえもん的な探訪記か（笑）。

　それこそ、リアリティのある「家系の履歴書」編纂作業のような心理であります。
　さっそく「塩業」の瀬戸内海世界での先駆け的存在としての「竹原の塩」〜江戸期の尾道で塩の代名詞的な商家だった「竹原屋」の塩業の故地・広島県竹原海浜と、わが家系の江戸初期・慶長年中の入植地「入野」との距離が、ほんの17km程だったという事実に気付かされた。まずはわが家系・八世の祖にあたる先祖の生きた時代とその背景に、ドラえもん的に接近遭遇していきたい・・・今年もどうぞよろしく。

●お知らせ
拙書「作家と住空間」幻冬舎から電子書籍で発刊
お求めはAmazonで。
https://amzn.asia/d/eUiv9yO

English version⬇

【Time Machine “Doraemon”-Style Exploration: Returning to Family History Research…】
I never imagined I could relive my ancestors’ deeds from a Doraemon-like perspective, rather than Nobita’s. An exhilarating historical excavation viewpoint…

　The New Year holidays have ended after the first three days, and starting tomorrow, it’s back to the weekday grind for the new year.
So, I intend to gradually return to the unfinished business from last year. Until now, my uncle (my father’s older brother) and my second older brother had been leading the research activities into our family lineage and relatives. However, since I’ve stepped back a bit from my company work, my second older brother issued the command: “You do it!”
　I’ve been handed over a large collection of “reference materials,” and using these as a foundation, I’m aiming for a multidimensional exploration. I’m focusing primarily on the economic and social realities, and the actual nature of our family’s businesses, while cross-referencing the historical contexts encountered by people from each branch of the family tree, spanning from the Edo period through to the post-war era.
　For us Hokkaido natives, whose family lineage information is comparatively sparse, this kind of exploration is an exceptionally vivid realm.
Oh, I’m amazed to discover such an intellectually thrilling domain existed. Of course, the foundation for this was laid by my uncle and second eldest brother’s meticulous research activities. And indeed, the “insights” gained through “field research” form the most crucial foundation. Building upon this base, I thoroughly reference the accumulated literature from each region—the fruits of the revitalized “local history” research in the modern era. Furthermore, as a contemporary investigative tool, I utilize generative AI (laughs), which, while sometimes troublesome due to its “misinformation,” is undeniably extremely useful. I continue the multifaceted task of discerning the authenticity of information.
　Within this framework, I’ve focused one area of excavation on exploring the connection between my family lineage and the foundational economic pillar of the Seto Inland Sea world up to the Edo period: the salt industry. As a descendant who has come from the future, I pay full respect, “descending” into each era to travel and say “hello” to my ancestors’ deeds. It’s like a Doraemon-esque exploration diary (lol).

It’s precisely that psychological state akin to compiling a realistic “family lineage resume.”
　I was immediately struck by the fact that the distance between “Takahara no Shio”—pioneering salt production in the Seto Inland Sea world—and the salt industry’s ancestral home in Takahara, Hiroshima Prefecture (where the ‘Takaharaya’ merchant house was synonymous with salt in Edo-period Onomichi)—was only about 17km from “Iri no,” the settlement site of my family lineage during the early Edo period, around the Keichō era. First, I wish to approach the era and background of my eighth-generation ancestor, the progenitor of my lineage, in a Doraemon-like close encounter… Wishing you all the best this year too.

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

Posted on 1月 4th, 2026 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 未分類