きのう、わたしの家系が423年前に紀州から移動してきた入植地・広島県東広島市河内町入野（こうちちょう・にゅうの）について書きました。本日のドラえもん型タイムマシン旅はその現在地の探訪。
　どうしてこの写真の場所・地域がわが家の故地と推定されるか？　それは江戸期1815年（文化12年）にわたしの六世の祖が、その当時住んでいた広島県福山市今津から、おおむね60km超の距離を旅してその当時から210年前に紀州からこの地に入植したと確認した文書を遺したくれたからです。
　六世の祖は名前を三木寛蔵と言いますが、この先祖は尾道で商家・阿賀屋を営んでいた祖父を継いだ父親が28歳で早世したことで商家としては立ちゆかなくなり、実家に戻った母に連れられ生まれて１歳で福山市北方4kmほどの「中津原」の実家で育てられていた。
　その後、自立し独立して商家を復興させたのですが、そういう人生航路だったことで自分のルーツ、顔も覚えていない父祖について強い思いを抱き続けていたのでしょう。その思いは痛切にわかる。そこで、再興させた商家人生のひと区切りが付いたころ45歳の時点で、この故地・入野を探訪して「原氏」一族の墓地を尋ね、墓参を果たしてきた＜墓域は３枚目の写真の森の中＞。その折りに近郷のひとびとに先祖のことを伝え聞いた。その内容を記述し巻物にして後世に残してくれていたのです。
　この巻物のおかげで、そこからさらに210年ほど後世北海道への移住を経たわたしたちもその導きに与って、この故地を尋ね歩くことが出来るのです。言ってみれば、２重のタイムマシン旅行を重ねてきているようなものでしょうか。寛蔵さんは父の死で血脈が途切れそうだったことでむしろ血の縁に強くこだわりを持つことになり、一方わたしたちは遠く北海道まで故地を離れたことで、より強い望郷感を持つに至った。どちらも、DNAからの「響き」のように思えるのですね。心象の共通性を感じる。

　210年の昔の段階では尋ね歩くことで得られる情報痕跡も多くあったことでしょう。安定した江戸社会であったし機縁は存在していたのだろうと。さすがにわたしたちのように420年以上になると、地域自治体「地域史研究職」などを頼る事になる。しかし次兄は墓域は確認できたのだという。
　故地にしてみれば、繰り返しドラえもんが訪れているようなものかなぁ（笑）。なにかウレシイ。

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English version⬇

【Hometown・Iri no: Ancestors Return After 210 Years, Descendants After 420】
The Doraemon lineage keeps returning to their ancestral land from the future. Echoes of bloodline reverberate through the silent landscape.・・・

　Yesterday, I wrote about Nyūno in Kōchichō, Higashihiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture—the settlement where my family migrated to 423 years ago from Kishū. Today’s Doraemon-style time machine journey explores its present-day location.
　Why do we presume this photographed location and region to be our ancestral home? Because my sixth-generation ancestor left behind documents confirming that in 1815 (Bunka 12), during the Edo period, he traveled over 60km from his then-home in Imazu, Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture, to settle here—210 years after his family originally came from Kishu.
　My sixth-generation ancestor was named Miki Kanzo. His father, who had succeeded his grandfather in running the merchant house Aga-ya in Onomichi, died young at age 28. This left the merchant house unsustainable. His mother, who had returned to her family home, brought him back and raised him at her family home in “Nakatsuhara,” about 4 km north of Fukuyama City, starting when he was just one year old.
　Later, he became independent and revived the merchant house. Given this life journey, he likely held a deep, enduring attachment to his roots and to his ancestors, whose faces he never knew. That feeling is painfully understandable. So, around the age of 45, when a significant phase of his revived merchant life had concluded, he visited this ancestral land of Irino. He sought out the gravesite of the Hara clan and paid his respects there . During that visit, he gathered stories about his ancestors from local villagers. He recorded these accounts, compiled them into a scroll, and left it for posterity.
Thanks to this scroll, even we—descendants who migrated to Hokkaido some 210 years later—can follow its guidance and walk these ancestral lands. You could say it’s like taking a double time machine journey. Mr. Kanzo, facing the potential end of the bloodline with his father’s death, became even more deeply attached to blood ties. Meanwhile, we, having left our ancestral home for distant Hokkaido, developed an even stronger sense of nostalgia. Both feel like a resonance from our DNA. I sense a commonality in our inner feelings.

　Back in the 1820s, there must have been plenty of information traces to uncover through inquiries. It was a stable Edo society, and opportunities likely existed. But after over 420 years, like us, one has to rely on local government “regional history research positions.” Still, my second brother managed to confirm the grave site.
For the hometown, it’s probably like Doraemon visiting over and over again (laugh). Somehow, it makes me happy.

●Notice
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Available on Amazon.

Posted on 1月 6th, 2026 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 未分類