さて北海道から熊野のひとつの象徴としての楯ヶ崎への道。往古の神武東征の重要な故地であり、その後の中世での上皇たちによる「熊野詣」でも、当然行脚したことが考えられる。そういった「高名」な場所なので現代においては、相当「観光開発」されているものと漠然と想像していた。
しかし交通状況を調べるほどに熊野地域全体としてあまり利便性は高くはないことは薄々感じていた。それでもそれなりに開発されているものと思い込んでいた。前日宿泊した旅宿で「楯ヶ崎に行くのです」と申告したときの地元の人としての反応も意外そうであり、「ん？」とは思っていた。
ということで翌朝、クルマで30分ほど走って国道311号線の脇の「楯ヶ崎」駐車場に。最初は「あ、なんかちっちゃい駐車場があるな」とは思ったが、あまりな意外さで通り過ぎてしまった。そこから数分走ったら、反対側車線側にそこそこの駐車場。しかし、高名な観光スポットという刷り込みがあったのでそこもスルーしてさらに先へ向かった。行けども行けどもなにもない・・・。
「そうすると・・・」と、ようやく「観光地」概念への疑念が湧いてきて引き返すことにした。そこまで人影も見えなかったのだけれど、ようやく地元の方が早朝散歩されているのとすれ違うことができて楯ヶ崎について尋ねることができた。・・・あの「ちっちゃい駐車場」が目的のスポットだという。目的の楯ヶ崎はそこから山道の自然道を片道1.9km歩いた先にあるのだと判明。
その段階でようやく、この紀伊半島・熊野地域という実像が感得できはじめてきた。
事前にはこの楯ヶ崎探訪についての安部龍太郎の「半島をゆく」を読んでいたのだけれど、その記述以上に「北海道っぽい」ことがわかってきてしまったのですね。安倍さんはわたしより３つほど年下だけれど、体力的にかなりキツかったと記述されていた。「あれはホントだったのか」という迂闊な気付き（笑）。
まぁそれでも普段から早朝散歩で往復4km程度は札幌の円山周辺地域を歩いているので、体力的には問題はない。よし行くぞ。

この山道はまことに自然そのまま、リアス式海岸地形がそのまま残されていて、起伏と変化に満ちている。途中には湾入りして海岸に出る。そこに「阿古師神社」があって、その機縁も知っているので、参拝させていただいたあと、さらに半島部の山岳地形のなかに分け入っていく。
ほぼ無心で道標のままに歩いていて、ふと気付いたら野生のシカの後ろ姿と5-6m至近で遭遇。
森の中での突然の遭遇であります。あまりに咄嗟だったのでスマホ写真にまでこころが回らなかった。ただ気付いてカメラを向けたら、シカは早々に気付いて去って行ったことでしょう。この遭遇はまったくの一瞬の静寂なイキモノ同士の出会い。
シカの方でもこちらに気付かなかったようで、かれはかれの棲息する普段の環境の中で、静寂な心理のままに自然と一体になって呼吸していると感じた。札幌円山で出会う野生動物はリスや野鳥などで、ここまで大型の動物と出会うことはない。もしあるとすればそれはヒグマ。札幌以外ではクルマに乗っていてシカと遭遇することはあるけれど、こちらもカラダひとつだけの素肌感覚で遭遇するのははじめて。
こちらが「お邪魔」していることは明らかだけれど、かれがわたしに気付かないようには、この時わたしも自然と無心に同期していたのだろうかと、なぜか少しうれしかった。自分でも不思議な心理ですね。

そして楯ヶ崎、熊野の「地域の空気感」がこのとき一気にカラダに染み込んで来た。

English version⬇

4 km of forest road from the parking lot by the national road to Tategasaki [Imperial Mythology and Kumano Trip-6].
Due to a spur-of-the-moment encounter, I was unable to photograph the deer in the forests of Kumano. The deer I encountered in the back were quite naturally divine. …

The road from Hokkaido to Tategasaki is one of the symbols of Kumano. It was an important place for the ancient expedition of the ancient Japanese emperor Jinmu to Kumano, and it is thought that the emperors of the Middle Ages naturally traveled to Kumano on their pilgrimages. Since it is such a “famous” place, I had vaguely imagined that it had been developed as a tourist destination in modern times.
However, the more I investigated the traffic situation, the more I realized that the Kumano area as a whole was not very convenient. Even so, I assumed that the area had been developed to a certain extent. When I told the inn where I had stayed the day before that I was going to Tategasaki, the reaction of the locals was not surprising. I had thought so.
So the next morning, I drove 30 minutes to the “Tategasaki” parking lot off Route 311. At first I thought, “Oh, there is a tiny parking lot,” but I passed by it because it was so unexpected. After driving for a few minutes, I found a parking lot on the opposite side of the road. However, I had an impression that it was a well-known tourist spot, so I passed it and headed further on. I kept going and going, but nothing.
I finally began to doubt the concept of a “tourist spot,” and decided to turn around. I didn’t see any people, but finally I passed a local walking early in the morning and he asked me about Tategasaki. He told me that the “tiny parking lot” was the spot I wanted to visit. It turned out that our destination, Tategasaki, was 1.9 km away from there on a mountain nature trail.
At this point, I finally began to get a sense of the Kii Peninsula and the Kumano area.
I had read Ryutaro Abe’s book, “Peninsula on the Way,” about his visit to Tategasaki, but it turned out to be even more “Hokkaido-like” than Abe’s description. Abe is about three years younger than I am, but he described the trip as physically demanding. I realized that I had been careless and wondered if it was true (laugh).
But I usually take an early morning walk of about 4 km round trip in the Maruyama area of Sapporo, so I have no problem physically. So, I’m going to go.

This mountain road is truly natural, with the rias coastline remaining as it is, full of ups and downs and changes. The path leads to a bay and then to the coast. There is a shrine called “Akoji Shrine” there, which I know the connection to, so after paying my respects, I continued on into the mountainous terrain of the peninsula.
I was walking almost mindlessly, following the signposts, when I suddenly realized that I had encountered the back of a wild deer at a distance of 5 to 6 meters from me.
It was a sudden encounter in the forest. It was so sudden that I didn’t even think to take a picture with my phone. If I had just noticed it and pointed my camera at it, the deer would have noticed it and gone away. This encounter was a totally momentary encounter between two quiet creatures.
Even the deer did not seem to notice us, and I felt that he was breathing as one with nature in his usual habitat, with a tranquil mind. Wild animals encountered in Maruyama are squirrels, wild birds, etc., and we never encounter such large animals. If there is such a thing, it is a brown bear. Outside of Sapporo, I have encountered deer while riding in a car, but this was the first time for me to encounter a deer with only my body against its skin.
It was obvious that I was “intruding” on him, but for some reason I was a little happy, wondering if I had been in sync with nature and mindless, as if he had not noticed me at the time. It’s a strange psychology even for me.

And the “local atmosphere” of Tategasaki and Kumano soaked into my body at once.

Posted on 1月 7th, 2024 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 日本社会・文化研究 | No Comments »

熊野地域の中心都市・新宮市は特異な地形と歴史年代での「熊野信仰」という独自の文化性についての研究を促進するために「熊野学」というカテゴリーを立ち上げ、公共自治体として学会などの活動をバックアップしている。こちらがそのHP。
大阪の伊丹空港で「熊野に行くんです」とレンタカー屋さんで車を借りるときスタッフの若い方に言ったとき「熊野ってどこですか？」と問い返された。京阪神地域ではそういう認識なんだと知らされた。言外に「わざわざ北海道から来た人が」という響きもあったほど。それくらい紀伊南部は関西圏でも「遠い」地域なのでしょうね。関西中央からはかなり遠隔な自治体としてこうした熱意ある取り組みには、北海道人としてもエールを送りたくなる。
一説では1500万年前の地球規模でも最大級のカルデラ噴火がこの地域で発生して、特異な地形が形成されたとされている。「熊野カルデラ」とWikiで参照するとこうした「世界最大級」という情報が出てくるけれど、公共の立場からはまだ学会的に公知とされてはいないというスタンス。
しかし、特異なカルデラ地形が紀伊地域の太平洋岸一体で形成されていることは事実。このような地質学的な検証は冷静に進んでいただきたいと思います。
こうした地球的な火山活動の一端は、和歌山県東牟婁郡串本町の「橋杭岩」（２枚目の写真）の生成メカニズム解説でわかる。以下がその解説図面。


こういった地球レベルのカルデラ活動が造形した自然景観に対して、古代の人びとはどんな印象を抱いたかと考えれば、熊野詣の意味合いがわかりやすく伝わってくる。自然科学の基礎知識が下地にない状態でこうした景観に接すれば、熊野信仰という民族的「昇華」が符合すると気付く。
そしてさらに国生み神話などとの相互作用があったとも想像できる。イザナギ・イザナミにちなんだ象徴的ポイントが熊野各地に刻印されていくことになった。そういった流れで、逆に神武天皇の「東征」経路としてこの熊野の地がアナロジーされたのだとも類推される。
このあたりは神話の霧に包まれていて、凡百としては探究の仕様がない。ただ、神武東征がなんらかの事実の痕跡であるのなら、この熊野を上陸地点にしたというその構想力は素晴らしい。世界の皇統神話のなかでバツグンのレベルではないかと思わされる。そして生成期から日本の皇統が「民のために祈る」存在であり続けたことと併せ、非常に着眼点がすごいことだと思う。
世界の王統神話がほとんどその「出生」時を以て始原とするのに対して、日本の皇統は「神武帝の即位」を以て始原としていることも特異的だとされる。あくまでも統治の正当性ということが主眼であって必ずしも血の神聖性が根拠ではないのだと。
そして万人が納得せざるを得ない自然造形の特異性が、皇統神話に強い説得力を持ったことは間違いない。いよいよ、神武東征の熊野からという経路に興味が深まっていくのですね。

English version⬇

Caldera Topography and Ancient Faith: Imperial Mythology and Kumano Journey-4
The Kumano faith, which has instilled a sense of “samoarinann” even in the myth of the birth of the nation. Persuasive power that far exceeds the world’s royal myths. …

Shingu City, the central city of the Kumano region, has established the category of “Kumano Studies” to promote research on the unique cultural nature of “Kumano worship” in its unique topography and historical age, and is backing up the activities of academic societies and other organizations as a public municipalityこちらがそのHP。

When I told a young staff member at Itami Airport in Osaka that I was going to Kumano when I rented a car at a car rental shop, he asked me, “Where is Kumano?” He asked me “Where is Kumano? I was informed that this was the perception in the Keihanshin region. He even said, “Someone came all the way from Hokkaido. That must be how “remote” the southern part of Kii is, even in the Kansai region. As a Hokkaido native, I would like to send my encouragement to such enthusiastic efforts by a municipality that is quite remote from the central Kansai region.
One theory is that one of the largest caldera eruptions on a global scale occurred in this area 15 million years ago, forming a unique topography. When you refer to “Kumano caldera” on Wiki, you will find information about this “world’s largest caldera,” but from a public standpoint, the stance is that it is not yet public knowledge in the academic world.
However, it is a fact that a unique caldera topography is formed on the Pacific coast of the Kii area. We hope that such geological verification will proceed calmly.
One aspect of such global volcanic activity can be seen in the explanation of the formation mechanism of “Hashikaiwa” (second photo) in Kushimoto-cho, Higashimuro-gun, Wakayama Prefecture. The following is the explanatory drawing.

If we consider what kind of impression ancient people had on these natural landscapes formed by caldera activities on a global level, we can easily understand the meaning of Kumano pilgrimage. If one comes in contact with such landscapes without a basic knowledge of natural science, he or she will realize that the Kumano worship is a nationalistic “sublimation” that is consistent with the Kumano faith.
We can also imagine that there was an interaction with the myth of the birth of the nation. Symbolic points associated with Izanagi-Izanami were imprinted all over Kumano. In this way, it is analogous that the Kumano area was analogized as the route of Emperor Jinmu’s “Eastern Expedition” to Japan.
This area is shrouded in a fog of mythology, and as a layman, I have no way to explore it. However, if the Jinmu Expedition is some trace of fact, the conception of Kumano as a landing site is impressive. It is one of the most outstanding myths of the imperial lineage in the world. The fact that the Japanese imperial lineage has been “praying for the people” from the time of its creation is also a very impressive point of view.
It is also unique in that, while most of the world’s royal myths date their origin from the time of birth, the Japanese imperial lineage dates from the “accession of the Emperor Jinmu. The main focus is on the legitimacy of the rule, not necessarily on the sanctity of blood.
The uniqueness of the natural formations, which everyone had to agree on, was undoubtedly a strong persuasive force in the myth of the imperial lineage. Finally, we are becoming more and more interested in the route of the Jinmu expedition from Kumano, aren’t we?

Posted on 1月 5th, 2024 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 日本社会・文化研究 | No Comments »

ことしは新年早々、能登半島大地震とさらに、その災害救助にあたっていた海上保安庁とJAL機がまさか、羽田空港滑走路上での衝突事故。JAL機の乗員乗客全員は一部ケガ人も出たけれど無事救出。一方、大きな使命感のもと大地震と戦っていた尊い人命が失われてしまった。なんともやるせなく、つらい。ご冥福をお祈りします。
昨年中から2024年は世界にとって分水嶺的な事象が集中することが指摘されてきましたが、どうも騒然とした状況は、日本で象徴的に発生してしまった。なんとか社会平穏を祈念します。


さて昨日元旦から開始したシリーズ２回目。わたしのブログでは千葉県の日本歴史民俗博物館の古代の展示が大革新されたことに感動して「列島37,000年史」シリーズとして自分なりに整理整頓させてもらった。歴史や考古の最新研究の成果を一般に教示いただく博物館・歴史館の学究のみなさんの労に心から感謝したい。
で、考古と歴史の隙間には日本の場合、古事記・日本書紀の世界が広がっている。神武東征の記紀伝承の世界でもこの熊野地域のさまざまなスポットは強く心を捉えられる。
周辺を走る国道311号線の道路脇にある「駐車場」から1.9kmの山道を踏破した先にある神武天皇の東征軍の目印とされる特異な自然景観・楯ヶ崎へのほぼ中間地点にこの阿古師神社はある。
祭神に祀られているのは「三毛入野命」という神武天皇の兄。


系図は神武天皇を祀る「橿原神宮」発行の「由緒略記」から。神武天皇は４人兄弟の末子とされ、この東征行軍中に３人の兄が亡くなっている。長兄の「五瀬命（いつせのみこと）」は難波方面から大和地方に上陸しようとしたときに地元豪族・長髄彦の攻撃を受けその時の負傷がもとで死亡。その遺言の方針に従って弟たちは紀伊半島を迂回して熊野に上陸を目指す。そのとき「楯ヶ崎」を上陸目印としていたが、大嵐に遭遇して神武帝の２人の兄は相次いで「海に身を投じた」とされる。それによって海が静まり一行は上陸を果たしたと。
この２人の兄を祀ったのがこの阿古師神社とその対岸位置関係にある「室古神社」。こちらの祭神に祀られているのは「稲飯命（いなひのみこと）」。両社の中間を通った奥に「二木島港」があり神武帝上陸の「定説」。
このあたり歴史なのか神話なのか判然とはしないけれど、熊野地方の特異な自然景観、北海道の旭川・層雲峡で知られる「柱状節理」地形が「いかにも」感を抱かせる圧倒的舞台装置。とくに楯ヶ崎は巨大な柱状節理地形が太平洋の荒波のなかに屹立していて、見る者に「さもありなん」と思わせる。歴史文学作家の安部龍太郎さんの熊野紀行文を読むと、氏もまったくゾッコン魅了されている様子が伝わってくる（笑）。
中世の皇統の上皇たちが繰り返し熊野を詣でたこともまた、日本史に強い根拠となって「熊野信仰」に大きく寄与していったこともよく理解できる。
かく言うわたしとしては、北海道人として層雲峡以外でここまで圧倒的な自然景観を見たことがなかった。
ちょうど中学校の修学旅行の頃のナイーブなこころに刻まれた自然景観と、この南国ではるかな時間を経て再会したみたいな、不思議な「邂逅」感に包まれていたのであります。

English version⬇

Landing in a peculiar natural terrain, Kojiki: The Myth of the Imperial Lineage and a Journey to Kumano – 2
The unique natural topography of Kumano, so to speak, brings a “convincing” sense of the mythological world with its “Jomon” persuasiveness. It is amazing. I am impressed.

The Noto Peninsula Earthquake occurred early this year, and the Japan Coast Guard and a JAL aircraft engaged in disaster relief unexpectedly collided on the runway of Haneda Airport. On the other hand, precious lives were lost who were fighting against the great earthquake with a great sense of mission. It is very sad and painful. I pray for the repose of their souls.
It has been pointed out since last year that the year 2024 will bring a concentration of watershed events for the world, but apparently the tumultuous situation has symbolically occurred in Japan. I pray for social tranquility somehow.

This is the second in a series that began yesterday, New Year’s Day. In my blog, I was moved by the great innovation of the ancient exhibition at the Japan Museum of History and Folklore in Chiba Prefecture, and I have organized it in my own way as the “37,000 Year History of the Archipelago” series. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the scholars at the museum and history museum for their hard work in sharing the results of their latest research on history and archaeology with the general public.
In the gap between archaeology and history, in the case of Japan, the world of Kojiki and Nihonshoki is expanding. The various spots in the Kumano area are also strongly associated with the legend of the Kiki legend of the Jimmu expedition to the east.
This Akoshi Shrine is located almost halfway to Tategasaki, a unique natural landscape said to be a landmark of Emperor Jinmu’s eastern expeditionary force, after stepping over a 1.9 km mountain path from the “parking lot” on the side of the National Route 311 road that runs through the area.
The deity enshrined at the shrine is Sankeirino-no-mikoto, the elder brother of Emperor Jinmu.

The genealogy is taken from the “Brief History” issued by the Kashihara Jingu Shrine, which enshrines Emperor Jinmu. Emperor Jinmu is said to have been the youngest of four siblings, and three of his elder brothers died during his march to the east. The eldest brother, Itsuse-no-mikoto, was attacked by a local powerful tribe, the Nagasuhiko, when he was about to land in the Yamato region from the Namba area, and died from injuries sustained during the attack. In accordance with the policy of his last will and testament, his younger brothers made a detour around the Kii Peninsula, aiming to land at Kumano. They had set Tategasaki as their landing point, but encountered a great storm and the two brothers threw themselves into the sea one after the other. This calmed the sea, and the party was able to make landfall.
The two brothers are enshrined at the Akoji Shrine and the Muroko Shrine on the opposite shore. The deity enshrined here is Inahi-no-Mikoto. The “Fugishima Harbor” is located in the middle of the two shrines, and it is said that the Emperor Jinmu landed there.
Although it is not clear whether this area is history or myth, the unique natural landscape of the Kumano region and the “columnar jointed terrain” known in Asahikawa and Sounkyo in Hokkaido provide an overwhelming stage setting that makes one feel “just as it should be”. The Tategasaki area in particular, with its huge columnar-jointed terrain soaring above the rough waves of the Pacific Ocean, makes the viewer think, “That’s just as it should be. Reading the Kumano travelogue of Ryutaro Abe, a writer of historical literature, one can see that he too is utterly fascinated by the area (laugh).
It is also understandable that the repeated pilgrimages to Kumano by the emperors of the imperial lineage in the Middle Ages contributed greatly to the “Kumano faith” as a strong basis for Japanese history.
As for myself, as a Hokkaido native, I have never seen such overwhelming natural scenery outside of Sounkyo.
I was wrapped in a strange feeling of “encounter” with the natural scenery that was engraved in my naïve mind when I was on a school excursion in junior high school, as if I was reunited with it after a long time in this tropical country.

Posted on 1月 3rd, 2024 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 日本社会・文化研究 | No Comments »

ことしわたしは「年男」なのですが、還暦を過ぎてなのであんまりお呼びでない（笑）。しかし自分的には「第２のスタート」気分も大きくなって来ています。ちょうど仕事人生の結節点も超えたので、ようやく昔人の「還暦」が自分にもやってきたという感覚。
上の画像、新年の冬場の写真ではなく夏まっ盛りのような房総の「入道雲」。昨年訪れた千葉県一宮の芥川龍之介に所縁の「芥川荘」旅宿建築の探訪時のものです。
住宅雑誌の主幹として永年生きてきたのですが、その環境からスピンアウト。けれど個人的にはやはり「建築・住宅」には強くこだわりを持っている。そういうタイプだけれど加齢が進んできてその住空間での人間の生き様みたいなこととの「合間」のようなことに心が向かっていく。
そんな心境にピッタリだったのが、この芥川荘探訪でした。このブログでも何回か書きましたが、この房総・九十九里の海浜の宿で夏目漱石が期待した文学青年・芥川が東大を卒業したばかりの時期に、のちに結婚した女性に求婚のラブレターを書いていた青春まっ盛りの場所。
その文章の碑には青春期の男の心情がそのままストレートに記され、なんとも微笑ましかった。
そういう心情の背景装置として九十九里の浜辺があり、防砂林のなかに茅葺きの平屋建物があった。北海道人としてはこういう房総のまぶしい真夏という体感は羨望のさらに先にある。
たまたま現地をふらりと訪れる機会を得て、一種、官能的に受容したのですね。
やはり芥川龍之介という人物、その書いた世界観という読書体験があって、なお、かれも感受した住空間の体感を共有できるということがひどく新鮮で、再生感が強くわき上がっていた。
そんな心理に房総のこの「入道雲」がエールを送ってきてくれたように感じられたのです。


翻って年末、友人を訪ねたらかれのふるさとのオホーツクの海辺の町の漁船の羅針盤をみた。満艦飾に飾り立てられたその町の最盛期を象徴するような船の写真も添えられていた。人口減少していく北海道内の地方・地域の先を見据えながら、われわれ世代はその「羅針盤」を預かっている立場であることが、しのばれた。
わたし自身はひとつの整理は付けられたけれど、これからも人間としての生き様は続いていくし、なにより未来の人たちへのバトンタッチの責任はまだまだある。
日々、時々刻々と身の回りの状況は生々流転、いっときも留まることはない。つねに自分の位置を冷静に確認してどのように真摯に生きていくか、試され続けていくのでしょう。

English version⬇

Happy New Year 2024!
The energetic iridescent clouds of summer in Boso gave me the energy for a second start. I would like to continue to live my life with a firm sense of direction. ・・・・.

This year I am the “New Year’s Man,” but since I am over 60 years of age, I am not really called upon to do so (laugh). However, I am beginning to feel like I am starting a second life. Since I have just passed the nodal point in my professional life, I feel that the “60th birthday” of the old-timers has finally arrived for me as well.
The image above is not a photo taken in winter at the beginning of the New Year, but rather, the “iridocumulus” in Boso that looks like it is in the height of summer. It was taken during my visit last year to Ichinomiya, Chiba Prefecture, to explore the architecture of “Akutagawa-so,” an inn associated with Ryunosuke Akutagawa.
I have spent many years as the lead editor of a housing magazine, and this is a spin-out from that environment. However, personally, I still have a strong interest in “architecture and housing. I am the type of person who is interested in architecture and housing, but as I get older, I find myself more and more interested in the “in-between” of the human life in the living space and the architecture of the house.
This visit to Akutagawa-so was a perfect fit for such a state of mind. As I have written several times in this blog, Akutagawa, a literary young man whom Soseki Natsume had hoped to meet at this seaside inn in Kujukuri, Boso, was in the prime of his youth when he wrote a love letter of courtship to the woman he later married when he had just graduated from the University of Tokyo.
The monument to his writings was a straight description of the sentiments of a man in his youth, and it was quite amusing to see.
The Kujukuri beach served as a backdrop for these sentiments, and the one-story thatched building stood in the midst of a sand forest. As a Hokkaido native, the experience of the dazzling midsummer in Boso is beyond envy.
I happened to have the opportunity to visit the area on a whim, and I was receptive to it in a kind of sensual way.
I had the experience of reading about Ryunosuke Akutagawa and his worldview, and the fact that I could share the experience of a living space that he had also experienced was extremely fresh, and a sense of rebirth was strongly stirred up in me.
It was as if this “Irido-no-Un” in Boso was sending me a cheer.

When I visited a friend at the end of the year, I saw a compass of a fishing boat in a seaside town in his hometown in Okhotsk. It was decorated in full sail and had a picture of a boat that symbolized the town’s heyday. It was a reminder that our generation is in a position to keep a “compass” as we look ahead to the declining population of Hokkaido’s rural and regional areas.
Although I myself have been able to put things in order, I will continue to live my life as a human being, and above all, I still have the responsibility of passing on the baton to future generations.
Day by day, moment by moment, the circumstances around me are constantly evolving and changing, and I never stop for a moment. We will continue to be tested to see how we can live our lives with sincerity, always calmly checking our position.

Posted on 1月 1st, 2024 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 日本社会・文化研究 | No Comments »

きのうはオフィス社屋を共同しているReplanメンバーの仕事打ち上げ日。
身分的には「代表者」から変化して、いまは一定期間「相談役」を拝受しておりますが、一応別会社。なんですがなんとなく出社していたメンバーから、帰り際にあいさつされておりました。大きな変動をいっしょに体験してきたので、みんなの表情にそのことが見えていたように感じました。なによりもみんな前向きに、全力を挙げて未来に向かっていることが喜ばしい。深い感慨。
そんなメンバーの中に出産・育児からようやく復帰したメンバーもいて、朝会の時にはリモートだったので画面越しにカワイイ子どもさんの顔も見ることができた。少子化が進行している日本社会ですが、制度的には女性の働き手が社会参加しやすいようにという方向は進化してきている。企業も、そういった社会的責任感の一端を担うように要請されているということなのでしょう。
これまでの社会では子育て・出産の負担は基本的に「家庭」がそれを担い、２世代３世代が協力し合って未来へといのちをつないできた。しかし基本的には核家族化が究極まで進んで、さらに「個人単位」化にまで社会は変容してきている。
そういう趨勢の中でしかし、未来を担う子どもたちのことは社会全体として護っていかなければならない。女性スタッフの子育てのほんのわずかな部分でも、企業もまた一端を支えられるということなのでしょう。屈託のない「ボーッ」とした子どもたちの表情に無限に癒される気持ちでした。


草戸千軒シリーズ最終回ですが時空間を超えて迫ってくるのは人間らしい、いとなみ感。
市では毎日の食生活を支える新鮮野菜が周辺の郷村から寄せられ、この中世都市が成立した寺院門前町の主役のお坊さんたちも、そのおかげでいのちをつないでこられた。しかし最新研究では草戸千軒では「イヌ」食の痕跡も発見されているとされていた。日本的な「ホンネと建前」ということなのか、真相追究へ、中世の人びとの食文化の不明部分は深まってもいる・・・。
しかしまちと住まいはこうしたくらしの営為をしっかりと支えてきた。交易拠点としては草戸千軒・尾道・鞆の浦などは深い相互ネットワークで結ばれていただろう。わたしの直接のご先祖さまは、瀬戸内海交易圏としてはこの草戸千軒のとなり港・尾道にほど近い地で家系のバトンを渡し続けてきていた。商家としてさまざまな交流が容易に想像でき、この草戸千軒、その後継交易拠点などに関係があったことだろう。
そう想像するとちょっと時間と運命ボタンが違っていればと妄想が膨らみ続けてしまった（笑）。いろいろな気付きを与えていただいた次第です。

English version⬇

The One That Connects Lives – Kusado Senken 2023 Revisited – 16
It is the last day of work for the year. I am very much thankful for your hard work. Even in such a situation, childbirth, childcare, and life continue. From Senken Kusado to today and tomorrow. The last day of work for the year.

Yesterday was the work launch day for Replan members who share an office building.
Although I have changed my status from “representative” to “advisor” for a certain period of time, it is a different company. I was greeted on my way home by a member who had somehow come to the office. I felt that everyone’s expressions showed that they had experienced the big change together with me. Above all, I was pleased to see that everyone was looking forward to the future with all their might. Deep emotion.
One of these members had finally returned to work after childbirth and childcare, and since I was remote during the morning meeting, I was able to see her cute child’s face through the screen. Japanese society is experiencing a declining birthrate, but systematically, there has been an evolution in the direction of making it easier for female workers to participate in society. It may mean that companies are also being requested to take part in such a sense of social responsibility.
In the past, the burden of child rearing and childbirth was basically borne by the “family,” and two or three generations worked together to pass life into the future. However, the nuclear family has reached its ultimate stage, and society has been further transformed into an “individual unit.
Despite these trends, however, society as a whole must protect the children who bear the future. Even a small part of the female staff’s efforts to raise their children may mean that the company can also play a part in supporting them. I felt infinitely healed by the carefree, “spaced-out” expressions on the children’s faces.

This is the final installment of the Kusado-Senken series, but what comes to us across time and space is a sense of humanity and cousinliness.
The city received fresh vegetables from the surrounding villages, and the monks who played a leading role in the temple town where this medieval city was established were also able to sustain their lives thanks to the fresh vegetables. The latest research, however, indicated that traces of “inu” eating had also been discovered in Kusado-Senken. In the search for the truth, we are still trying to understand the Japanese “Honne to Tatemae” (honesty and tactfulness), and the unknown aspects of the medieval people’s food culture are deepening….
However, the town and its houses have firmly supported this way of life. As trading centers, Kusado-Senken, Onomichi, and Tomonoura were probably connected by a deep mutual network. My direct ancestors continued to pass the family baton in the Seto Inland Sea trading area, which is located near Onomichi, a port next to Kusado-Senken. As a merchant family, it is easy to imagine the various interactions that must have taken place between the Kusado-Senken and its successor trading post.
Imagining this, I kept imagining that if only time and the fate button had been a little different (laughs). I am grateful for the many insights I have been given.

Posted on 12月 30th, 2023 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 住宅マーケティング, 日本社会・文化研究 | No Comments »