本日アメリカのトランプ大統領は中国訪問外交をスタート。注目して報道を待つ一択。
　世界情勢の推移を待ちながら、さて「いまできること」として向き合っている「四百年間のいのちの履歴書」と名付ける家系史まとめ作業。次兄からは次々「次はこれを調査しなきゃならないな〜」と楽しそうな指令が飛んでくる（笑）。正直たいへんですが困難があると逆に燃え上がるのがわたしの基層心理。まぁそれを見透かされている可能性も（笑）。仕方ない。
　古文書の解析作業って「内容を早く読みたい，理解したい」という当たり前の欲求に対して、読解の困難性の壁が立ちはだかる。現代のパソコンやWEB、SNSでの情報摂取スピードから考えたら、新幹線vs赤ちゃんの成長くらいの時間差がある。日常的に大量の情報を受容してその速度感で生きているものを自制して、それこそ時間を停止させて、じっと向き合うしかない。
　その地域の歴史解析に深く関わる文書の場合は、各地方自治体の「公文書館」などで受け入れてもらえるケースもあるが、私的な家系資料ではそうはいかない。古文書解析の有料サービスなどもいくつか見ているけれど、くせ字なども多いので、解析の信憑性に全幅の信は置きにくい。
　そこで凸版さんが無料公開しているアプリ、古文書カメラ「ふみのは」を使ってiPhoneで画像撮影し、適当な大きさに画像分割して読み取りさせている。その上で文字認識させた断片と、家系史の「人間関係」に照合させながら眼光紙背に徹する作戦。時間は掛かるけれど「直感」が徐々に起き上がってくる。このあたり、他人の解析を超えて深い納得感がある。
　上の写真で書簡の切手とスタンプの判断から「岡山井原」局のスタンプ印判を発見。その理解に踏まえて差出人の住所の筆文字は「岡山（不明字）井原」という地名のくずし字であるとの心証を得た。そしてさらに祖父（三木吾一）の人間関係調査から差出人のくずし字は「岸 岩太郎」との推認に至った（！）次第。
　この人物と祖父は福山近郊での商家家系として江戸末期〜明治期に大きな取引関係にあった繋がり。さらに祖父の姉が岸家に嫁いでいる強固な血縁コネクション。
　・・・にしても、この「岸」字のくせ字っぷりは難解そのもの（笑）。何回堂々巡りさせられたか、ですが、わたし的には「眼光紙背に徹した」瞬間でありました。ドヤァ！

●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⬇

[Eyes Piercing Through the Paper: Progress in Deciphering Ancient Manuscripts?]
A reading pace that cannot help but feel detached from the fast-paced rhythm of modern life… I stare intently, focusing my thoughts. Is this, too, a “guidance” from my ancestors? …

　Today, U.S. President Trump kicked off his diplomatic visit to China. I have no choice but to keep a close eye on the news.
While waiting to see how the global situation unfolds, I’m focusing on what I can do right now: compiling our family history, which I’ve dubbed the “400-Year Resume of Life.” My second-oldest brother keeps sending me cheerful instructions one after another, saying, “Next, you’ll have to look into this…” (lol). Honestly, it’s tough, but facing difficulties actually fuels my passion—that’s just my basic nature. Well, there’s a chance he’s seen right through me (lol). Oh well.
When analyzing old documents, the natural desire to “read and understand the content quickly” is met with the formidable barrier of interpretive difficulty. Compared to the speed at which we consume information via modern computers, the web, and social media, the time difference is like that between a bullet train and a baby’s growth. For those of us who are used to absorbing massive amounts of information daily and living at that breakneck pace, we have to rein ourselves in, effectively stop time, and just sit with it.
　In cases involving documents deeply tied to regional historical analysis, local government “archives” may accept them, but that’s not the case with private family records. I’ve looked into a few paid ancient document analysis services, but since there’s a lot of handwriting with unique quirks, it’s hard to place complete trust in the accuracy of their analysis.
　So, I’m using the free app “Fuminoha” (an ancient document camera) released by Toppan to take photos with my iPhone, cropping the images to a suitable size for scanning. My strategy is to cross-reference the recognized text fragments with the “relationships” in my family history, delving deeply into the text to grasp its true meaning. It takes time, but “intuition” gradually begins to emerge. In this regard, I find a deeper sense of conviction than I do in analyses by others.
　In the photo above, by examining the letter’s postage stamp and postmark, I identified a postmark from the “Okayama Ihara” post office. Based on that understanding, I formed the conviction that the handwritten address of the sender was a cursive form of the place name “Okayama (unreadable character) Ihara.” Furthermore, through research into my grandfather (Miki Goichi)’s relationships, I deduced that the sender’s cursive name was “Kishi Iwataro” (!).
　This individual and my grandfather were connected through their merchant families in the Fukuyama area, having maintained significant business ties from the late Edo period through the Meiji era. Furthermore, there is a strong blood connection, as my grandfather’s older sister married into the Kishi family.
…That said, the idiosyncratic style of the character “Kishi” is truly baffling (lol). I don’t know how many times I went around in circles, but for me, it was a moment of “seeing through the paper with my eyes.” Ta-da!

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

Posted on 5月 14th, 2026 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 未分類