ことし５月に長兄の本家でなにげに発見の古文書。ひとつは江戸期1803年時点の東広島市河内町入野の地域史とも関わる内容だったので、広島県立文書館に訪問し解析をお願いして、無事に公的な解析結果が判明した。江戸後期の地域社会のひとつの実相記録としてアーカイブされた次第。
　一方、1905年日本専売公社によって国内での塩業が国家独占とされたことによって、わが家系は江戸期からの広島県福山市松永で生産される塩の生産流通管理事業の存立基盤を喪失した。この経緯の中でどのような国家独占側との交渉などの経緯があったかは不明だけれど、このプロセスを当主として実体験したわたしの祖父は、そこから北海道へと拠点を移動させてきた。
　その時期の消息を発掘するのに、江戸末期に縁戚関係を結んでビジネス的にも強固な関係であった岡山県井原市の「庄屋」家である岸岩太郎氏からの「書簡」が２通発見されたのだ。が、こちらについては地域社会との関わりより、やはり家系史の資料と判断できたので、個人としてその解析作業に向き合うこととした。
　親族のなかの書の知識もある長老に意見も求め、書簡のコピーを渡してみたけれど「これはさっぱり・・・」との回答で、困難な局面に立ち至っていた。
　「古文書解析」について民間で請け負うサービスはWEBなどで発見されるけれど、その解析結果の信憑性ではイマイチと思えるし、さらに親族の背景事情について詳細に情報を共有させなければ、到底不可能だと思われた。結果２ヶ月以上、古文書とにらめっこしてきていた。
　祖父の性格までわきまえた親族でなければ，手紙のやり取りでの「息づかい」の部分までは判読できないということがわかってくる。牛歩のような日々を過ごしてきたのですが、TOPPANの開発した古文書解析環境「古文書カメラ〜ふみのは」なども活用し、徐々に実相が浮かび上がってきている。
　結局は正面から向き合って、徐々に判読できてくるくずし字の単語の積層から文意を掴んでいくしかない。　　昭和元年時点の社会動向も踏まえると、上の写真部分（赤字は判断結果）でも戦前期の「資本家層」と思える差出人・岸岩太郎さんのため息が聞こえてくる。
　「無配当」が「５年も続いていて少々閉口」している実感が見えてくる。
　先日、歴史家の磯田道史さんがテレビ番組で語っていましたが、くずし字判読についてはやはりその文章と正面から向き合うしかないのですね。ふ〜む、辛抱強く頑張るしかありません。

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English version⬇

[Days of Slow-Moving Dialogue, Meditating on “Gankō Shihai” While Deciphering Letters Written in Cursive Script]
As demonstrated by TOPPAN’s development of the “Ancient Document Camera—Fuminoha,” there is a market for deciphering ancient documents. The potential for new business areas in an aging society. …

　In May of this year, I casually discovered some old documents at my eldest brother’s family home. One of them contained information related to the local history of Irino in Kawachi-cho, Higashi-Hiroshima City, dating back to 1803 during the Edo period. I visited the Hiroshima Prefectural Archives to request an analysis, and the official results were successfully determined. It has now been archived as a record of the reality of a local community during the late Edo period.
　Meanwhile, in 1905, when the Japan Monopoly Corporation established a state monopoly on the domestic salt industry, my family lost the foundation for our business—the production and distribution of salt in Matsunaga, Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture, which had been in operation since the Edo period. Although the details of any negotiations with the state monopoly at that time remain unclear, my grandfather, who experienced this process firsthand as the head of the family, subsequently relocated the family’s base of operations to Hokkaido.
　In my efforts to uncover information from that period, I discovered two “letters” from Mr. Iwataro Kishi of the “Shōya” family in Ibara City, Okayama Prefecture—a family with whom we had formed kinship ties in the late Edo period and maintained strong business relations. However, since these letters were more relevant to our family history than to our ties with the local community, I decided to undertake their analysis on my own.
　I sought the opinion of an elder relative who was knowledgeable about calligraphy and gave him copies of the letters, but his response was, “I’m completely lost…,” leaving me at an impasse.
　While private services for “historical document analysis” can be found online, I found the reliability of their results to be lacking; moreover, I felt it would be impossible without sharing detailed information about our family’s background. As a result, I’ve been poring over these ancient documents for over two months.
　I’ve come to realize that unless you’re a relative who truly understands my grandfather’s personality, it’s impossible to decipher the “subtle nuances” in the correspondence. It’s been a painstakingly slow process, but by utilizing tools like “Fumino-ha,” an ancient document analysis environment developed by TOPPAN, the true nature of the letters is gradually coming into focus.
　Ultimately, there’s no choice but to face the text head-on and grasp the meaning of the text layer by layer as I gradually decipher the words written in cursive script. Considering the social trends at the start of the Showa era, even in the portion of the photo above (the red text indicates the analysis results), I can almost hear the sigh of the sender, Iwataro Kishi—who appears to have been part of the pre-war “capitalist class.”
You can sense his genuine frustration that “no dividends” have “continued for five years, which is a bit of a headache.”
　As historian Michifumi Isoda mentioned on a TV program the other day, when it comes to deciphering cursive script, there really is no choice but to confront the text head-on. Hmm, I guess I’ll just have to be patient and keep at it.

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

Posted on 7月 11th, 2026 by 三木 奎吾
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　有田の伝統的街並みのなかに佇む公開されている住宅「小路庵」〜しゅうじあん〜（江副孫右衛門旧家）を探訪した。＜現在は喫茶店として営業＞この建物はTOTO第５代社長にして公選初代町長だった江副孫右衛門（1885～1964）年）の生家という旧家。大正14（1925）年に建設。有田では町なかの狭い通りを小路と呼び、この家の前の道は「柿の木小路」と呼ばれ、そこから「小路庵」と名付けられたという。
　幼友達から「マゴエンシャン」と呼ばれていたかれの生家は祖父から続く窯焼きの家。父八蔵の理解のもと、明治33（1900）年に佐賀県立工業学校有田分校に入学後、東京高等工業学校の窯業科へ進学。
　しかし八蔵は石炭窯の導入に失敗し継ぐべき窯を失ったマゴエンシャンは創立早々の「日本陶器合名会社」に就職。そこでディナーセットの開発に成功し、高圧碍子や点火碍子、耐酸磁器の創製にも成功し、戦時中「日本碍子」や「日本特殊陶業」の社長を歴任した。
　しかし、軍部とのあつれきが原因で社長を辞任し、窯業界の第一線からは退いたが、とはいえ各窯業企業のご意見番として多忙を極め、その上「月の半分くらいしか有田にはいられないが」という事情をわかってもらった上で昭和22（1947）年、有田町長に就任したのだという。・・・
　上の写真は昨日紹介した有田の街のランドマーク「トンバイ塀」に囲まれ、窯場を抱え込んだような配置で建てられている住宅の様子。いまはうっすらと痕跡が残っているだけだが、窯場の写真は展示資料からその様子を転載してみた。焼き物から片時も目を離さないぞという窯業家の魂魄が伝わってくる。

　南面した窯場を朝夕、丹念に観察し日々の生産を思う暮らしぶりだったのだろう。
　そして、この有田の窯場産業は、佐賀藩の反射炉完成のための技術的要素を供給していたことは先日のブログでも触れたとおりだけれど、その幕末期からかれが生きた戦前・戦中期には当然、軍部との関係性も強まったことと想像できる。そのあたりは詳細にまで立ち入りたくはないが、あつれきとはそういったことの絡みなのだろう。
　有田という、日本の製造業・日本人全般にとっても重要な地域での「生産者の息づかい」が具体的に感受できる家だと思われた。

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[The Birthplace of TOTO’s Fifth President in Arita: “Embracing the Kiln”]
A home in Arita where you can feel the “breath of a potter” still lingering. The way of life and mindset of someone who fired pottery as part of daily life come to life here. …

　I visited “Shuji-an” (the former home of Magobei Ezoe), a private residence open to the public nestled within Arita’s traditional townscape. This historic house is the birthplace of Magobei Ezoe (1885–1964), the fifth president of TOTO and the first popularly elected mayor of Arita. It was built in Taisho 14 (1925). In Arita, the narrow streets in town are called “koji” (alleys), and the street in front of this house is known as “Kakinoki Koji” (Persimmon Tree Alley), which is said to be the origin of the name “Shuji-an.”
　His childhood friends called him “Magoenshan,” and his family home was a pottery-firing business passed down from his grandfather. With the support of his father, Hachizō, he enrolled in the Arita Branch of the Saga Prefectural Industrial School in Meiji 33 (1900) and later advanced to the Ceramics Department at the Tokyo Higher Technical School.
　However, after Hachizō failed to introduce coal-fired kilns and Magōenshan lost the kiln he was supposed to inherit, he joined the “Nippon Toki Gomei Kaisha” shortly after its founding. There, he successfully developed a dinner set and pioneered the creation of high-voltage insulators, ignition insulators, and acid-resistant porcelain; during the war, he served as president of both “Nippon Insulators” and “Nippon Special Ceramics.”
　However, due to friction with the military, he resigned as president and stepped back from the forefront of the pottery industry. Nevertheless, he remained extremely busy as a trusted advisor to various ceramics companies. Furthermore, after ensuring that people understood his situation—namely, that “I can only stay in Arita for about half the month”—he reportedly assumed the position of mayor of Arita Town in Showa 22 (1947). …
The photo above shows a residence built in a layout that seems to envelop the kiln, surrounded by the “Tonbai Wall”—a landmark of Arita that I introduced yesterday. Although only faint traces remain today, I’ve reproduced a photo of the kiln from the exhibition materials to illustrate its appearance. You can sense the spirit of a family dedicated to the pottery trade—one that never takes its eyes off the ceramics for even a moment.

　His daily life must have revolved around carefully observing the ruins of the south-facing kiln site every morning and evening, while reflecting on the day’s production.
　As I mentioned in a recent blog post, the Arita kiln industry supplied the technical expertise needed for the completion of the Saga Domain’s reverberatory furnace; naturally, one can imagine that his ties to the military grew stronger from the late Edo period through the pre-war and mid-war years in which he lived. I don’t wish to delve into the details of that, but the tensions likely stemmed from such entanglements.
　It struck me as a house where one can tangibly sense the “breath of the producers” in Arita—a region of great importance to both Japanese manufacturing and the Japanese people as a whole.

Posted on 7月 9th, 2026 by 三木 奎吾
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　さて九州全周の旅、佐賀県という自分にとって「未踏の地」を歩きながら、ずっと気になっていた場所があった。
　それは、平戸（ひらど）のこと。
　わが家系は江戸後期、広島県福山市の西、尾道に隣接する今津で「商家・あが屋」を営んでいた。当時この地は参勤交代の大名たちが泊まる宿場町として機能しており、薩摩藩をはじめとする雄藩もここを利用していた歴史がある。わが家は本陣職を司る河本氏と強い縁戚関係だったことから本陣・脇本陣の用向きを「手代（てだい）」的な立場で受託し、実務を取り仕切っていたと伝承されている。当然、宿泊する大名たちと直接言葉を交わす機会も多くあった。
　そうした大名の一人が、平戸藩主の松浦（まつら）氏。
　幕末期、当主であり希代の文人・随筆家として名高い松浦静山がその膨大なエッセイ集『甲子夜話（かっしやわ）』の中で、1800年頃のわが家の当主・寛蔵（静山は「勘蔵」と記述）一家の様子を書き残してくれている。以下、その登場部分の引用。

〜29日 夜にいれば雨ふりたれど、つよからで、暁にはやむ。
宿立いで、流れにそひ提の上行に、けさはあたたかに覚え、夜も明、
安芸の国をも出て、備後の国三原の城もあとになし、
糸崎なる八幡の宮をふし拝み、磯辺ゆきつつながむれば、海路
は波も平かなれど、嶋山は霧を帯、雲冠て日も晴やかならず。
尾の道の塩焼くはまの冬げしき、煙もたえだえ心も慰まで、
坂こえ行けば一里あまり、今津村にいたり、ここに宿る。
家はこだかきところにて、河本保平という圧屋（庄屋）なり。
この家一室に男女群居して、妻のごとき者多しと聞けば、
家内いかほどか住ると問に、いふ。主人保平年四十余、妻も
また四十余、妾は三十ばかり京の人、養子材太二十三、材太の
妻は保平女ニ十ニ、その妹十ー、弟八十吉八、其妹は妾の子年ニ、
『手代 勘蔵三十余、其妻年詳ならず、子正二郎十』
婢三人僕六人、ともに二十人住居ける。これ和睦友愛の家というべきか。
抑男女無別の室か。何にせよ父子夫婦兄弟臣妾、めでたき栄なり。〜

　この『』で表記された部分がわが三木家の先祖。三木寛蔵とその子である10歳の正二郎（のちの三木文蔵）の記述部分。
　各自の年齢までこれほど詳細に記載されるのは、殿様と先祖との間に直に言葉を交わす昵懇な会話があったことの何よりの例証ではと。とくに「其妻年詳ならず（妻の年齢は詳しく分からない）」というあたり「いやぁ、あたしの歳まではちょっと・・・」なんていう、旅宿の夜の笑顔混じりの会話の残響が聞こえてくるよう（笑）。
　歴史に名を残す文人大名にこうして記録されていたおかげで、わが家のルーツ調査は大きな手がかりと確信を得ることができた。まさに一族にとっての厚恩。
　そんなわけで、今回の九州旅ではどうしても「静山公へのお礼参り」として平戸城に行きたかったワケ。２枚目の空撮写真（出典: 国土画像情報 ）が示す通り、平戸城は海に突き出た見事な天然の要害。１枚目の写真の堂々たる城郭を仰ぎながら、はるばる瀬戸内海を渡りわが先祖の暮らす今津宿に泊まり温かい文章を書いてくれたと、深い感謝の念。
　・・・なんですが、てっきり地理的に「佐賀県」と思い込んでいたら、実は「長崎県」だったことが判明。直前になって自分の無知ぶりに再度驚かされることとなりました（笑）。
　県を勘違いとは。われながら困った無知ぶり（泣）。

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English version⬇

[Introducing My Family Lineage in *Koshiya-wa*: Seizan Matsuura’s Visit to Hirado Castle]
My exploration of my family history was greatly encouraged by a passage written by a prominent literary figure of the late Edo period—a man of humble origins himself. This visit was a gesture of deep gratitude for his kindness. …

　Now, on my journey around Kyushu, as I walked through Saga Prefecture—a “land I had never set foot in” for me—there was one place that had always been on my mind.
That place was Hirado.
In the late Edo period, my family ran a merchant house called “Aga-ya” in Imazu, located west of Fukuyama City in Hiroshima Prefecture and adjacent to Onomichi. At that time, this area served as a post town where daimyo on their sankin-kōtai journeys would stay, and it has a history of being used by powerful domains, including the Satsuma Domain. According to family tradition, because our family had strong kinship ties with the Kawamoto clan—who held the position of honjin (main inn) administrator—we were entrusted with managing the operations of the honjin and waki-honjin in a “tedai” (clerk) capacity, handling the day-to-day affairs. Naturally, we had many opportunities to speak directly with the daimyo staying there.
One such daimyo was the Matsuura clan, lords of the Hirado Domain.
Toward the end of the Edo period, Matsuura Seizan—the head of the clan and a renowned literary figure and essayist of his time—recorded the circumstances of my family’s head, Kanzo (whom Seizan refers to as “Kanzō”), and his household around the year 1800 in his vast collection of essays, *Kasshi Yawa*. The following is an excerpt from that passage.

~On the 29th: It rained during the night, but the rain was heavy and stopped by dawn.
Leaving our lodgings, we walked along the embankment beside the river; the morning felt warm, and as dawn broke,
we left the province of Aki behind, and the castle of Mihara in the province of Bingo was now far behind us.
We paid our respects at the Hachiman Shrine in Itosaki, and as we traveled along the coast, we observed that, though the sea
was calm, but the islands and mountains were shrouded in mist, and with clouds crowning them, the sun did not shine brightly.
The winter scene of the salt-baking beach along the O-no-michi road—the smoke rising intermittently soothed my heart—
After crossing a hill and traveling a little over one ri, I arrived at Imazu Village, where I spent the night.
The house stood in a secluded spot and belonged to Kawamoto Hohei, the village headman.
I heard that men and women lived together in one room of this house, and that there were many women who seemed to be his wives,
so when I asked how many people lived there, he replied: The master, Yasuhira, is over forty; his wife is
also over forty; his concubine, a woman from Kyoto, is about thirty; his adopted son, Zaitaro, is twenty-three; Zaitaro’s
wife is Yasuhira’s daughter, aged twenty-two; her younger sister is eleven; his younger brother is Yachikichi, and his younger sister is the concubine’s child, aged two;
“The steward, Kanzo, is over thirty; his wife’s age is unknown; their son, Shojiro, is ten.”
Three maidservants and six male servants—a total of twenty people lived there. Should this be called a household of harmony and brotherly love?
Or is it a household where men and women live without distinction? In any case, the relationship between father and son, husband and wife, brothers, and master and concubine is a glorious and auspicious sight. ~

The section enclosed in these “” marks the ancestors of our Miki family. It describes Miki Kanzo and his 10-year-old son, Shojiro (later Miki Bunzo).
The fact that even their ages are recorded in such detail is, I believe, the best evidence of the warm, intimate conversations that took place between the lord and our ancestors. Especially the line, “The age of his wife is unknown,” makes me feel as if I can almost hear the echoes of a smiling conversation from a night at an inn, with her saying something like, “Oh, well, I’d rather not reveal my age…” (laughs).

Posted on 7月 7th, 2026 by 三木 奎吾
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　幕末から明治の動乱期に大きな影響力を与えた肥前佐賀藩。36万石余という外様藩のなかで８番目の石高という雄藩であり、藩主・鍋島直正は幕末屈指の名君として知られる。長崎からの海外情報にいち早く接することで経済を活性化させ、医学・科学技術・軍事技術などの近代化を驚異的なスピードで推し進めた。その先見性と実績が、のちの明治帝からの強い信頼へと繋がっていったのだろう。
　かれは明治政府でも議定や初代の「北海道開拓使長官」を務めたが、明治４年に早逝してしまう。もしもう少し長命であれば、その後の日本史、ひいてはわが北海道の歴史も少し違ったものになっていたかもしれない――そんな思いが頭をよぎることがある。
　現在に残る佐賀城本丸歴史館は、かれが天保９（1838）年に再建した本丸御殿の建物を忠実に復元させたものとされる。実地で見てみると、その建築構造としての完成度の高さに圧倒される思い。
　１枚目の写真は展示されている外御書院の復元構造模型。礎石を保護して建設された床下や、複雑にからみあった天井裏の小屋組、防水の役目をする土居（どい）葺きの上に瓦を載せる仕組みなど、当時の知恵が視覚的に実によく理解できる展示になっていた。
　２枚目の写真は大きな屋根を支える実際の「小屋組」で、館内では天井をガラス張りにして見せてくれていた。天井裏の木組みには周囲２ｍ、長さ10ｍもの楠や杉の巨大丸太梁が縦横に組まれて、その迫力に息を呑む。
　さらに３枚目の写真のように、垂直方向の柱と水平方向の足固めを強固に固定する独自の木組み模型もあった。建物のゆがみを極限まで抑えるというこの工法は、軟弱地盤である佐賀平野特有の知恵なのだという。こうした合理的かつ強靭な建築工法を見ていると、のちに薩摩藩が技術を「教わりに来た」という、あの製鉄「反射炉」を完成させた佐賀藩の先端的な科学精神が、そのまま木造建築の構造にも息づいているように思えてならない。
　開拓使の初代長官である鍋島直正の病に伴って家臣・島義勇が「判官」となり、開拓の基本方針、首府・札幌の都市計画のグランドデザインを領導したわけですが、その後の「佐賀の乱」を経て、開拓のヘゲモニー（主導権）は薩摩閥へと握られていくことになっていく。

　４枚目の写真に広がる壮大な本丸の縄張りを眺めながら、もし鍋島直正がそのまま生きて長命であったなら、私たちの北海道は今ごろどんな風景を残していただろうか、と。
　佐賀城の端正な空間の中で、そんな歴史の異次元を静かに彷徨っていた。

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English version⬇

[The Structure of Saga Castle: A Reconstruction Based on the Design from Its Rebuilding in Tenpō 9 (1838)]
As a Hokkaido native with deep ties to the region, I found myself deep in thought, reflecting on the Saga Domain’s progressive spirit—evidenced by, among other things, the success of the “reflecting furnace,” a steel-making process directly linked to innovations in cannon technology. …

　The Hizen Saga Domain exerted significant influence during the turbulent period from the end of the Edo period through the Meiji era. It was a powerful domain, ranking eighth in kokudaka (rice yield) among the outer domains, with a kokudaka of over 360,000 koku; its lord, Naomasa Nabeshima, is known as one of the most renowned rulers of the late Edo period. By being among the first to access information from overseas via Nagasaki, he revitalized the domain’s economy and drove forward modernization in fields such as medicine, science and technology, and military technology at an astonishing pace. It was likely this foresight and track record that led to the strong trust he later earned from Emperor Meiji.
He served as a councilor in the Meiji government and as the first “Commissioner-General of the Hokkaido Development Commission,” but he passed away prematurely in Meiji 4. Sometimes the thought crosses my mind that if he had lived a little longer, the subsequent history of Japan—and by extension, the history of our Hokkaido—might have unfolded somewhat differently.
　The Saga Castle Honmaru History Museum that stands today is said to be a faithful reconstruction of the Honmaru Palace, which he rebuilt in Tenpō 9 (1838). Seeing it in person, one is overwhelmed by the high level of craftsmanship in its architectural structure.
　The first photo shows a scale model of the reconstructed Otsu-no-Shoin on display. The exhibition provided a visually clear understanding of the wisdom of the time—from the floor structure built to protect the foundation stones, to the intricately interwoven roof trusses in the ceiling cavity, and the system of laying roof tiles over the “doi” that serves as a waterproof layer.
　The second photo shows the actual “roof trusses” supporting the large roof; inside the museum, the ceiling was made of glass to allow visitors to view them. The wooden framework in the attic features massive round beams of camphor and cedar—2 meters in circumference and 10 meters long—arranged in a crisscross pattern, and their sheer scale is breathtaking.
　Furthermore, as shown in the third photo, there was a model of a unique timber-framing technique that firmly secures the vertical posts to the horizontal bracing. This construction method, designed to minimize building distortion to the utmost extent, is said to be a unique solution developed specifically for the Saga Plain, which is characterized by soft ground. Observing such rational and robust architectural techniques, I cannot help but feel that the cutting-edge scientific spirit of the Saga Domain—which later enabled them to complete the iron-smelting “reflecting furnace” that the Satsuma Domain came to “learn” from—is very much alive in the structure of this wooden architecture.
　When Naomasa Nabeshima, the first Commissioner of the Development Commission, fell ill, his retainer, Yoshiyuki Shima, assumed the role of “Vice-Commissioner” and led the formulation of the basic policies for the development project as well as the grand design for the urban planning of the capital, Sapporo. However, following the subsequent “Saga Rebellion,” hegemony (leadership) over the development project gradually shifted into the hands of the Satsuma faction.

As I gazed at the vast grounds of the Honmaru spread out in the fourth photograph, I wondered: if Naomasa Nabeshima had lived a long life, what kind of landscape would our Hokkaido have retained by now?
　Amid the elegant spaces of Saga Castle, I quietly wandered through that alternate dimension of history.

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Posted on 7月 5th, 2026 by 三木 奎吾
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　さて、唐津という魅力的な街に別れを告げ、県庁所在都市・佐賀市のお城見物へ向かった。
書いてきた通り、九州全県を回るのが今回のツアーの初心であり、その中でも佐賀県というのは大分県と並んで、全国でなぜかこれまで一度も来たことがなかった。まぁ北海道人としては特別に用事がなければ、九州では福岡中心に、鹿児島までの中央部縦断型の旅路が一般的でしょうね。
　そういうこともあって、佐賀県という存在への知見はまったくないに等しい。
　有田や唐津といった「焼き物・陶芸」というイメージがある程度で、あとは北海道の開拓期に「肥前（佐賀）」の島義勇が、北海道神宮の主祭３神を天皇の命令で背中にくくりつけて（背負って）持ってきてくれたことへの感謝の念を持っているというところだろうか。これはわたしのふだんの散歩道として、北海道神宮を朝、参拝するのが日課になっていることが大きい。わたし以外の人は、あまり縁を感じないかも知れない。
　わたしもその程度しか知識がなく、佐賀県についての正確なMAP感すら持っていなかった。事前に訪問先を調べておくこともカミさんにすべてお任せで、せいぜい縁づいた福岡県久留米市周辺について、すこし知識を得ていた程度。まぁ成り行き任せ、カーナビ任せのノー天気旅（笑）。

　まぁでも、そういうカラッポが無垢にその土地を感じられ、ジワジワとくる感じが楽しい。
　・・・なんですが、２泊した唐津から早朝に佐賀市の中心部に向かって走り始めて、カーナビに任せていたルートなのに、どこまでも一般道を走っていることに気付く。自分でもそれくらいは事前に調べろよ、と思うのですが、高速道路になかなかたどりつかない。
　２枚のMAPの通り、一応断続的に高速道路はあるのだけれど、かえって遠回り（一般道で48.6km、高速併用で54km）になっていた。ナビが選んだのは山林を縦断する国道203号線。日本海・玄界灘から県庁所在地への重要動線とは思えないほどの見事な「山道」ぶりでした。
　北海道で札幌から各主要都市に行くのに、メインが高速道路ではないというのはなかなか遭遇しないので、ちょっと驚き半分の道中体験。佐賀市というのは県の各地域の「中心」的な交通動線とは言い切れないのだなぁ、という実体験。
　でもそれが九州の地形や風土、そして地域の歴史の縮尺を感じさせてもらったドライブで、非常に印象深いモノがありました。

●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⬇

[The only way from Karatsu to Saga City is via a mountain road on a national highway—hmm…]
This is a carefree trip where I’ve left all the travel planning to my wife. It’s nice to be spontaneous, but we’ve reached the point where I’m thinking, “Wait, aren’t we on the highway yet?” …

　Well, after bidding farewell to the charming town of Karatsu, I headed to Saga City, the prefectural capital, to visit the castle.
As I’ve mentioned before, the original goal of this tour was to visit every prefecture in Kyushu, and among them, Saga Prefecture—along with Oita Prefecture—was one of the few places in the country I, for some reason, had never visited before. Well, as someone from Hokkaido, unless I have a specific reason to go elsewhere, my typical trip to Kyushu usually centers on Fukuoka and follows a route running north-south through the central region all the way to Kagoshima.
　For that reason, my knowledge of Saga Prefecture was practically nonexistent.
　My impression was limited to the “pottery and ceramics” associated with places like Arita and Karatsu, and perhaps a sense of gratitude for the fact that during Hokkaido’s pioneering era, Shima Yoshiyuki of “Hizen (Saga)” brought the three principal deities of Hokkaido Jingu Shrine to Hokkaido by tying them to his back (carrying them) on the Emperor’s orders. This is largely because visiting Hokkaido Jingu in the morning has become part of my daily routine—it’s my usual walking route. Other people might not feel much of a connection to the place.
　My knowledge was limited to that extent as well; I didn’t even have a clear mental map of Saga Prefecture. I left all the research on where to visit to my wife beforehand, and at most, I’d gained a little knowledge about the Kurume area in Fukuoka Prefecture, which I had some connection to. Well, it was a carefree trip where I just went with the flow and relied on the car’s GPS (lol).

　But actually, that kind of blank slate allows me to experience the land with a pure, innocent eye, and I enjoy the way the feeling gradually sinks in.
　…That said, after spending two nights in Karatsu, I set off early in the morning toward the center of Saga City. Even though I was following the route the GPS suggested, I realized I was driving on local roads with no end in sight. I thought to myself, “You should’ve checked that much beforehand,” but I just couldn’t seem to get onto the expressway.
As shown on the two maps, there are expressways here and there, but taking them actually made for a longer route (48.6 km on local roads vs. 54 km using a mix of local and expressways). The navigation system had chosen National Route 203, which cuts straight through the mountains and forests. It was such a spectacular “mountain road” that it was hard to believe it was a major route connecting the Sea of Japan and the Genkai Sea to the prefectural capital.
　In Hokkaido, it’s quite rare to travel from Sapporo to major cities without using the expressway as the main route, so this was a journey that left me half surprised. It was a firsthand experience that made me realize Saga City cannot be described as the “central” transportation hub for all regions of the prefecture.
　However, it was a drive that allowed me to get a sense of the scale of Kyushu’s topography, climate, and regional history, and it left a very deep impression on me.

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

Posted on 7月 3rd, 2026 by 三木 奎吾
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