現在の札幌市は年平均気温が10°前後。ちょっと20年くらい前には８°程度と言われていたけれど、最近の温暖化の影響が大きいのかと思われます。ことしの異常な野生動物の人間界への接近遭遇には、巨視的にはこの温暖化、とくに今年かなり暑かったことが影響しているのかも知れませんね。
こうした気候変動は歴史年代に入ってもさまざまに社会的影響を及ぼしている。王朝貴族の女性たちが十二単というファッションに身を包んでいたことにも関わりがあったと言われるし、さらに江戸中期〜末期にかけての飢饉は寒冷化の直接的影響と言われる。
ざっくりとした時代ごとでは縄文時代は暖かく弥生時代は寒く、平安期にはやや温暖、江戸時代は再び寒冷化した（14〜19世紀半ばは「小氷期」とも）。
北海道札幌周辺についてどうであったか。この擦文期の遺跡からは写真のようにアワ・キビ・ヒエなどの、自然由来とはいえ人間が「管理」していたであろう植物食物が発見されているという。ジオラマ絵画では、女性たちがさまざまな植物資源を採取している様子が活写されている。
明治のごく初期からこの遺跡にほど近い「桑園」地域ではクワが栽培されたけれど、植物性資源もこの札幌・石狩中部扇状地は比較的適地であったことが偲ばれる。
わたしのようなお米大好き人間からすると、こういった穀類は心の底からうれしくなる（笑）。「おお、これならオレでも暮らしていけるかも」と思えるし、同時にこういった採取食品はどうも歴史的に女性的な雰囲気が感じられて「母の味わい」という郷愁をそそるのかも知れない。ジオラマ表現に女性たちが描かれているのは、たぶん人類史全般としてのそういう常識があるのだろうと推測。


こういった植物・穀類はそれぞれ品種毎に土器に収納されて保管され、いまの「米びつ」のように調理台所周辺に貯蔵されて、毎日の食膳を彩ったに違いない。食生活としては米のように単独で「炊き上げる」という食習慣はなかったのではないか。そうではなく、男達が狩猟・漁撈活動の結果、獲得されたサケ・エゾシカなどの動物性タンパク源との「鍋料理」として食したことが想像される。穀類は雑炊の主役として、ひとびとの食感に染みわたっていたように感じる。
おとこもおんなもそれぞれの必死な生産活動で暮らしを支え合ってきた、そういう光景が脳裏に立ち上ってくる。一方で本州社会での米作についての情報知識はあっただろう。後の時代のアイヌ期の婚姻儀礼のなかに「米を腹一杯食う」という所作があったとされる。北海道島では生産できなかった「輸入品」である米への独特の心理があったとも想像できる。

English version⬇

Exploring the rich plant and grain gathering Sapporo “Abrasive Culture” site-3
The main ingredient of one-pot dishes harmonizes with animal protein, a masculine food source obtained through heroic hunting and fishing. Grains like porridge may be a nostalgic taste of mother’s cooking. ……

The current annual average temperature in Sapporo is around 10°. It was said to be around 8° a little more than 20 years ago, but recent global warming seems to have had a significant impact. The unusual encounters of wild animals with the human world this year may have been influenced by this macroscopic warming, especially the fact that it was quite hot this year.
Such climate change has had various social effects in the historical period. It is said that the fashion of the women of the royal aristocracy of the time, known as junihitoe, had something to do with this, and the famine of the mid to late Edo period is said to have been a direct result of the cold weather.
The Jomon period was warm and the Yayoi period was cold, the Heian period was slightly warmer, and the Edo period was cold again (the 14th to mid-19th century was also known as the “Little Ice Age”).
What was the situation in the Sapporo area of Hokkaido? As shown in the photo, plant foods such as millet, foxtail millet, and Japanese millet, which are of natural origin but would have been “managed” by humans, have been found at the ruins of the Aburibun period. The diorama paintings vividly depict women gathering various plant resources.
Mulberry was cultivated in the “Mulberry Garden” area near the site from the very beginning of the Meiji era (1868-1912), and the Sapporo/Ishikari Chubu fan-shaped area was a relatively suitable location for plant resources.
For a rice lover like myself, this kind of grain makes me happy from the bottom of my heart (laugh). At the same time, such harvested foodstuffs have a historically feminine atmosphere, and may stimulate a sense of nostalgia for “mother’s taste. I assume that the fact that women are depicted in the dioramas is probably due to the common sense of human history in general.

These plants and grains were stored in earthenware vessels for each variety, and stored around the kitchen like today’s “rice cribs,” and must have been part of the daily diet. They must have been stored in earthenware and stored around the kitchen like today’s “rice hibi,” and must have been used as a daily staple food. Rather, it is imagined that the men ate it as a “one-pot dish” with animal protein sources such as salmon and Ezo sika deer acquired as a result of their hunting and fishing activities. Grains seem to have played a leading role in the porridge, which seems to have permeated the people’s palates.
The scene of men and women supporting each other’s livelihood through their frantic production activities rises up in my mind. On the other hand, they probably had information and knowledge about rice cultivation in the mainland society. It is said that in the Ainu marriage rituals of later times, there was a custom of “eating a full meal of rice. It can be imagined that there was a unique mentality toward rice, an “imported product” that could not be produced on the island of Hokkaido.

Posted on 12月 8th, 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 »

自分自身の情報メディア人としての「終活」を兼ねて、撮影してきた大量の写真類を整理整頓作業。まぁ基本的には自分の興味のおもむくままに撮りためてきた写真データなのですが、着手してみるとその大量さに驚かされる。これを基礎に別途まとめ作業していくのは、多大な労力だとほとほと実感（泣）。
しかしまぁ、自分自身での整理整頓であり、過去に自分がたどってきたことの追体験なので、興味のありかはしっかり浮かび上がらせることはできる。時間と労力はかかるけれど、あらたな気付きもあって有意義であります。
そんななかに札幌市埋蔵文化財センターの取材写真が発見された。
文字記録のない時代の人間記録からその時代相を掘り起こしていく、それも住まいと暮らしという側面から照射して事実把握を行っていくという作業は自分自身でもかなり刺激的です。で、確認作業を進めていったら不覚にも、この埋蔵文化財の発見場所はわが家から2-3kmほどの北大構内だと知れた。K39遺跡と名付けられて位置は札幌市北区北23条西14で、わたしがよく散歩する宮の森地区から北大方向に流れていく「琴似川」の流域地域だというのですね。俄然、整理整頓作業に加速スイッチが入ってしまった。
展示ではジオラマに発掘成果が落とし込んであって、暮らしぶり・住まい方などの情報がクリアに明示されている。
この段階、西暦で600年代後半から1100年代にわたる時期の北海道は「擦文時代」という、続縄文から少し発展した時代相。基本的には狩猟採集社会が継続している時代。最終的には鎌倉幕府の成立によって、あまり実質はないけれど、直轄地域として認識されていった。アイヌ文化期へと引き続いていく時代。それまでは「竪穴住居」だったものが、アイヌ期には「平地型」住居に変容していく。この住居形式の変化は非常に興味深く、アイヌ民族という存在のナゾにも繋がっていくと思っています。

遺跡の説明としては以下。「K39遺跡は旧琴似川沿いに北海道大学構内とその周辺に広がる遺跡。1996年から1999年に市内の「環状通」の改築にともない調査を実施。調査の結果、擦文時代の竪穴住居跡、焚き火跡、土器・鉄製小刀・斧・琥珀製の玉などとともに、アワ・キビ・ヒエ、サケ・エゾシカ・カワシンジュガイなどの食料の一部も発見。また、古い川跡からは川を横切るように打ち込まれた杭列（漁撈用の杭？）や舟・矢・杵・容器・箸・櫛・杭・編み具・おもり・カンジキ、縄・ヒモ・わらじなどの繊維製品が大量に出土。木製品などの腐りやすい生活具がまとまってみつかることは珍しく、当時の生活の様子が顕在化している」。＜要旨＞
いちばん上のジオラマは当時の竪穴住居の様子。結構大型で繊維製品の「袋」に多量の植物性保存食が確保されている様子がわかる。
ということで、ジオラマや発掘品などを素材にして1000年以上前の先人と対話を試みたい。

English version⬇

Exploring the “Abrasive Culture” Site in Sapporo, Hokkaido, over 1,000 years ago.
The history and life of people are visualized in a realistic way right under our noses! It is a pleasure to be able to compare and contrast with the ancient times in the Honshu area. The “Rubbun” site is located right next to our house.

I have been organizing the large number of photos I have taken as part of my “life after death” as an information media person. Basically, it is the photo data that I have been taking as my interests dictate, but when I started, I was surprised at the sheer volume. I realized how much effort it would take to organize this data into a separate set of basic data (I cried).
However, since this is my own reorganization, and since I am reliving what I have done in the past, I am able to clearly see where my interests lie. It takes time and effort, but it is also meaningful because it brings new insights.
In the midst of all this, I discovered a photograph taken by the Sapporo City Archaeological Center.
It is quite stimulating for me to dig up human records from a time when there were no written records, and to grasp the facts from the aspect of housing and daily life. As I proceeded with the confirmation work, I was surprised to learn that this buried cultural property was discovered on the campus of Hokkaido University, about 2-3 km from my house, in the area of the “Kotoni River” flowing from the Miyanomori area where I often take a walk to the direction of Hokkaido University, in Kita 23-jo Nishi 14, Kita-ku, Sapporo City. I was suddenly turned on to organizing the exhibition.
In the exhibition, the results of the excavation were incorporated into a diorama, clearly indicating the lifestyle and way of living.
Hokkaido at this stage, from the late 600s to the 1100s A.D., is in the “Scrubun period,” a slightly developed phase from the post-Jomon period. Basically, it was a period when hunter-gatherer society continued. Eventually, with the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate, Hokkaido was recognized as a region under its direct control, although it did not have much substance. A period that continued into the Ainu cultural period. What had previously been “pit dwellings” were transformed into “flatland” dwellings during the Ainu period. This change in housing form is very interesting, and I believe it is connected to the riddle of the existence of the Ainu people.

The following is a description of the site. The K39 site is located in and around the Hokkaido University campus along the old Kotoni River, and was surveyed from 1996 to 1999 in conjunction with the reconstruction of the “Ring Road” in the city. As a result of the survey, we found the remains of a pit dwelling from the Aburumon period, the remains of a fire, earthenware, iron swords, axes, and amber beads, as well as some foodstuffs such as millet, millet, Japanese millet, salmon, Ezo sika deer, and Japanese mussels. In addition, a row of piles (fishing piles?) driven across the river were found at the site of an old river. A large amount of textile products such as boats, arrows, pestles, containers, chopsticks, combs, stakes, weaving tools, weights, candlesticks, ropes, twine, and straw sandals were also excavated from the old river site. It is rare to find wooden products and other perishable household utensils in such large quantities, and this is a clear indication of the way of life at that time. <Summary
The diorama at the top shows a pit dwelling of the period. It is quite large, and you can see that a large amount of plant food was stored in textile “bags.
Therefore, we would like to try to have a dialogue with our ancestors more than 1,000 years ago using the diorama and excavated items as materials.

Posted on 12月 6th, 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 »

本日は住宅探訪については閑話休題。
現代生活では日帰り温泉というのは生活の句読点として定着している。日本人はお風呂好き民族ですが、それも公衆浴場文化というのが最大の特徴でしょう。広い浴槽、開放的な環境というのが風呂好きには堪えられない。
そんなことから大都市圏ではあの手この手、さまざまな温浴施設が休日の利用客を狙って趣向を凝らした温浴環境を提供している。建築設備のメーカーでも、戸建て住宅の高コスト化の波の中で、高価格にならざるを得ないユニットバスが今後、どのようなマーケット推移を見せるか、注意してきている。単純にコスパを考えれば、週末２日間を「外風呂」で済ませることになると、５日間の就業時間の「身支度」用だけということになるけれど、であれば、欧米並みにシャワーブースで十分ではないか、どうせ週末は温浴施設利用で家風呂にはない開放感を楽しめるのであれば、というムードとのにらみ合い。
思い切って家風呂をキャンセルしてシャワーブースだけの設備にしてしまえば、コストダウンの余地が生まれてくる。今後のマーケット動向として興味深い。
おっと、本題からズレている（笑）。
ご多分に漏れずわたしも週末には温浴施設に通ってきている。で、こういう楽しみをより高めてくれるのが、ときどきの「環境変換」。普段とは違う温浴施設にドライブする楽しみ。わたしのような年代はクルマ社会の第１次世代。人類進化の結果としての「移動の自由」の最大化を実現させてくれたクルマとともに生きてきた。そろそろ免許更新時の教習では「高齢者」へキビしい対応をされてきていますが、従順にしていてできるかぎり移動の自由は確保していたい。
きのうはカミさんが超忙しということで、ふらっと単独ドライブ。数年ぶりくらいの石狩市浜益の日帰り温容施設まで往復。行き帰りとも大好きな北海道らしい風景が和ませてくれた。
上の写真は札幌から国道231号線、日本海オロロンラインの開始点とも思える石狩市望来（もうらい）の遠望。ひさしぶりの景色との出会いに一瞬でカムバック感が襲ってくる（笑）。


きのうのような雲行きの初冬の日というのも、なかなかに奥行きが深い。スピルバーグ監督の「未知との遭遇」でも同じような姿の山が、宇宙人とのインスピレーション型コミュニケーションで地球人に「目印」場所として指定されていたけれど、まるでそっくりな浜益の「黄金山」。
帰りは石狩湾に面した厚田から遠くに積丹半島側を遠望する景観。

なんですが、温泉施設の方に聞いたら、ことしはヒグマ情報が超頻発しているとの情報。さらにエゾシカの群による突然の襲来など相次いでいるとのこと。自然は生々流転、いろいろに様相を変えてきている。つねに最適な距離感を心がけて行かねばなりませんね。

English version⬇

Ishikari Hamamasu round trip
A relaxing weekend at a one-day hot spring spa. The natural scenery healed me after a long absence, and my mood was liberated. However, brown bears have also expanded their range of activity. I reconfirm my sense of distance from the natural world. The day trip

Today, I’d like to take a quiet moment to talk about house-hunting.
In modern life, a day spa is an established punctuation mark of life. The Japanese are bath-loving people, and perhaps the most significant feature of this is their public bathhouse culture. The large bathtubs and open environment are unbearable for bath lovers.
For this reason, various bathing facilities in metropolitan areas are providing elaborate bathing environments for holiday visitors. Building equipment manufacturers are also paying attention to how the market for unit baths will evolve in the future, given the trend toward higher costs for detached houses, which will inevitably lead to higher prices. If we simply consider the cost performance, if we have to take a “bath outside” for two days on weekends, we will only be using it for “getting ready” during our five-day working hours. The mood of the room was a standoff with “Why not use a hot-spring bath on weekends?
If the house baths are cancelled and only shower booths are used, there will be room for cost reductions. This is an interesting future market trend.
Oops, I’m getting off topic (laugh).
As you may have guessed, I too have been going to hot bath facilities on weekends. What makes my enjoyment even greater is the occasional “environmental change. Driving to a different bathing facility than usual is a pleasure. People my age are the first generation of the car society. We have lived with the car, which has maximized “freedom of movement” as a result of human evolution. Although the “elderly” are now being harshly treated in the lessons for license renewal, I would like to remain obedient and maintain my freedom of movement as much as possible.
Yesterday, my wife was extremely busy, so I took a drive alone. It had been several years since I had been to a day spa in Hamamasu, Ishikari City, and back. On the way there and back, I was comforted by the scenery typical of Hokkaido, which I love.
The photo above is a distant view of Mourai in Ishikari City, which is the starting point of the Sea of Japan Oloron Line on Route 231 from Sapporo. The encounter with the scenery for the first time in a long time instantly brought back a sense of comeback (laugh).

An early winter day with clouds like yesterday’s is also quite profound. In Spielberg’s “Encounter with the Unknown,” a mountain with a similar shape was designated as a “landmark” for the earthlings in their inspirational communication with the aliens.
On the way back, the view from Atsuta facing Ishikari Bay with the Shakotan Peninsula side in the distance.

However, when I asked the staff at the warming facility, they informed me that brown bears have been reported very frequently this year. In addition, there has been a series of sudden attacks by groups of Ezo sika deer. Nature is a dynamic and ever-changing place, and its aspects are changing in various ways. We must always keep in mind the optimum distance from nature.

Posted on 12月 4th, 2023 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 日本社会・文化研究 | No Comments »

さて房総の武射（むさ）の国造（くにのみやっこ）の権威象徴として造営されたことが想定される殿塚・姫塚古墳について考えてきましたが、どうしても不可思議なのが、この古墳独特のはにわ造形表現であります。
前述の東北大学・田中英道先生の主張の根拠とされているわけですが、いまのところ、形状的な同一性が認められるという以上には明白な根拠は示されていないようです。ただ、古代の日本列島社会は多様なフロンティア移住民を受け入れてきた社会だっただろうことはあきらかなので、まったく荒唐無稽な論だと決めつけることもできない。ある特定の衣装文化を持った人びとが、この地に入植して自分たちの文化習慣をはにわに形状化したということはあり得る。ただし、そのような事実があったとして、ではどうしてその後の歴史過程で、そういう事実の継承性の確認が認められないのか。また、そういった先祖伝承について有為な事実痕跡が見られないのか、そういった疑問点が大きい。他地域ではそういう事実は神社などで継承されるようなことが多く見られる。そういうことで先生の説については、たいへん刺激的で想像力は揺さぶられるけれど、今後の実証的な事実の検証結果が待たれるというのが自然でしょう。
その上で、上の写真のように「殿塚」と「姫塚」で出土したはにわの種類が違うように思われる。
姫塚には、それを守護するように男性と思われるはにわ像が多く、いかにも女性を護るという男性的な愛情表現とも思える。一方で「殿塚」ではやさしげな女性像や、大刀や鞍、家、動物類、そして男の子などがあったとされている。
被葬者は殿塚には王権の主、姫塚はその配偶者が擬定されるけれど、それぞれにある種の「思い」が感じられる。人間の営為なのでそういった行為への仮託はあったに違いない。

そうしたはにわ群が、古墳の周囲に立て並べられていた。それらは古墳本体に向くのではなく、この古墳を見る視線に対して正面向きに据え付けられていた。被葬者、あるいはその後裔者としては、それを見る人びとに対して、権力の正統性をアピールしたかったのだろうと想像できる。
有為な伝達手段のない時代、民にこういう形而上的な価値感、尊崇の念を抱かせるについてはいろいろな手段手法を考えたに違いない。古墳という葬送形式自体が大規模土木事業であると同時に、後の世の城郭建築・天守閣のような建築装置でもあったのだと思われますね。
芝山町はこうした古墳について、その文化的な側面を非常によく掘り起こして、現代人にもわかりやすく伝える努力を継続していると感じさせられました。

English version⬇

Unique “Jewish” Haniwa Formation Chiba Shibayama Kofun Exploration-4
It is possible that a variety of ethnic groups settled in the Kanto region in ancient times. The haniwa sculpture is reminiscent of the Jewish people, but it is inconsistent with the fact that no other historical traces are found. …

We have been thinking about the Tonozuka and Himezuka burial mounds, which are assumed to have been constructed as symbols of the authority of the Kuninoyakko of Musa in Boso, but what is inevitably puzzling is the unique expression of haniwa (straw hatchet) modeling unique to these burial mounds.
This is the basis for the aforementioned assertion by Professor Hidemichi Tanaka of Tohoku University, but so far, there seems to be no more obvious evidence than the recognition of a shape identity. However, it is clear that the ancient Japanese society must have been a society that accepted a variety of frontier immigrants, so we cannot assume that this is a completely ridiculous theory. It is possible that people of a certain costume culture settled in the region and quickly shaped their own cultural customs. However, if such a fact existed, then why is there no confirmation of the inheritance of such a fact in the subsequent historical process? Also, why are there no significant traces of such ancestral traditions? In other regions, such facts are often handed down at shrines. Therefore, although the professor’s theory is very exciting and stimulates the imagination, we must wait for the results of further empirical verification of the facts.
On top of that, as shown in the photo above, the types of haniwa excavated at Tono-mizuka and Hime-mizuka seem to be different.
In Himezuka, there are many haniwa statues that seem to be male, as if to protect them, which seems to be a masculine expression of affection to protect women. On the other hand, the Tono mound is said to contain statues of gentle women, large swords, saddles, houses, animals, and boys.
Although the interred person in Tono-mizuka is the lord of the kingdom and in Hime-mizuka the spouse of the lord, we can sense a certain “feeling” in each of them. Since this is a human activity, there must have been some kind of temporary commitment to such an act.

A group of such haniwa were lined up around the tomb. They were not facing the main body of the tomb, but were set up in front of the viewers looking at the tomb. It can be imagined that the person who was buried here, or his descendants, wanted to appeal to the legitimacy of their power to the people who looked at them.
In a time when there were no effective means of communication, they must have thought of various ways to make the people feel a sense of metaphysical value and reverence for the burial mound. The burial mound itself was not only a large-scale civil engineering project, but also an architectural device similar to the castle towers of later times.
I was made to feel that Shibayama Town is continuing its efforts to excavate the cultural aspects of these burial mounds very well and convey them in an easy-to-understand manner to people today.

Posted on 12月 2nd, 2023 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 日本社会・文化研究, 歴史探訪 | No Comments »

　仕事上の立場に大きな変化があって、ある程度の自由な環境を意識するようになってくると、自分の本然としての数寄の部分にこだわりが強まってきますね。わたしの場合には全国の古民家とか、古建築とか、もっと言えば昔人との対話のようなものが中心領域。どんな家で暮らしていたか、どういう思いを抱いて日々の暮らしを過ごしていたか、という部分に興味が集中する。わたしの場合、日本人の歴史。
古墳は仏教導入によってその大きな役割が「寺院」に転換させられていったというのが定説になってきている。ある時期まで全国でさかんに造営されたものが一斉に文化継承されなくなったことが、そのことをあきらかにしているのでしょう。
イラスト群は千葉県芝山の「芝山古墳・はにわ博物館」展示から。古墳の造営がなぜ、どのように行われていったのかについて非常にわかりやすく解説されていた。
日本列島では長い縄文的ライフスタイルの伝統的社会があって、そこに稲作というあらたな生産手段革命が導入された。そのとき農業土木というまったく新規な産業革命要素が同時並行した。それまでの狩猟採集という食糧獲得手段に対して、植物管理型の食糧資源でありその生産装置として、数学的土木改造技術、水を管理する必要からの土木工事に、労働力の集中投入が不可欠だったことでしょう。

そういった土木事業には当然、その全体を構想し企画立案して人工（にんく）を指揮命令して動員する体制というものが必要だった。そういうことで東アジア全域からニューフロンティアとして移住してきた集団は、ここ関東地域にも土地を得て入植していった。そういった集団の首長には、全体を統御する「権力」が自然に備えられていった。
古墳というものには、そういう集団的土木事業と「権力」構造の生成が表現されている。
その後、中国大陸で強大な中央集権的国家が出現することで、それへの国際的対応としてこれら各地域権力を統合する必要が生まれていった。ヤマト王権は、こうした国内の有力層をまとめあげていく必要性から、威信材文化を付与させる必要性に迫られ、さまざまな下賜品を下していった。
けれど、最終的には地域権力自身の「正統性」を民人に認定させる目に見える行為規範が求められて、前方後円墳のような「権力交代儀礼装置」を各地の地域権力に波及させていった。
そんなふうに思える。古墳の造営の労働力とは、結局、田んぼを作って行く土木労働を基盤とした権力交代儀礼であり、その形象化のように思える。

埴輪は古墳の周りに並べられていったけれど、その向きは外から古墳を見る人の視線に向けられていたというのは、そういった事情を色濃く映し出しているのでしょうか。

English version⬇

Chiba Shibayama Kofun Tumulus Exploration -1
Kofun tumuli were constructed actively until a certain period, and then they were replaced by Buddhist temples at once. I would like to take a macroscopic look at the background circumstances. The following is the background of the construction of the tombs.

As my work position undergoes major changes and I become more conscious of a certain degree of freedom in my environment, I am becoming more and more focused on the sukiya part of my nature. In my case, my main areas of interest are old private homes and old architecture from all over Japan, or more specifically, dialogue with people from the past. My interest is focused on what kind of houses they lived in and what kind of thoughts they had as they lived their daily lives. In my case, the history of the Japanese people.
It is becoming a common theory that the introduction of Buddhism converted kofun tombs into “temples” that played a major role in the history of Japan. The fact that the cultural inheritance of what had been actively built throughout the country until a certain period of time has ceased all together is probably revealing this fact.
The illustrations are from an exhibition at the Shibayama Kofun Tumulus and Haniwa Museum in Shibayama, Chiba Prefecture. The exhibition provided a very clear explanation of why and how the construction of kofun tumuli took place.
The Japanese archipelago had a long tradition of Jomon lifestyle, to which a new revolutionary means of production, rice cultivation, was introduced. At the same time, a completely new industrial revolutionary element, agricultural engineering, was introduced at the same time. In contrast to the hunter-gatherer means of acquiring food, which had been used until then as a plant-managed food resource and production device, it was essential to invest a concentrated amount of labor in mathematical civil engineering modification techniques and in civil engineering work that was necessary to manage water.

Such civil engineering projects naturally required a system to envision and plan the entire project, and to command and mobilize manpower. Therefore, groups of people from all over East Asia migrated to the Kanto region as the new frontier, and they acquired land and settled here as well. The leaders of these groups were naturally equipped with the “power” to control the entire region.
Kofun tumuli express such collective civil engineering projects and the creation of a “power” structure.
Later, with the emergence of a powerful centralized state on the Chinese mainland, it became necessary to integrate these regional powers as an international response. The Yamato kingdom was compelled by the need to unite these powerful domestic powers and to grant them prestige and culture, and it bestowed a variety of gifts upon them.
Ultimately, however, the need for a visible code of conduct that would allow the people to recognize the “legitimacy” of the regional power itself led to the spread of “ceremonial devices for changing power,” such as the anterior-rectangular mounds, to regional powers in various regions.
That is how it seems to me. The labor power of building the tombs was, after all, a ritual of power-shifting based on civil engineering labor to build rice paddies, and it seems to be a figuration of such a ritual.

The fact that the haniwa were arranged around the burial mound but oriented to the gaze of those looking at the burial mound from the outside is a strong reflection of this situation.

Posted on 11月 30th, 2023 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 日本社会・文化研究, 歴史探訪 | No Comments »