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【寒冷気候と皮革ファッション、女性と針仕事】



昨日は石器時代の父子の黒曜石を巡っての技術伝承のテーマとしたけれど、そのジオラマ展示の相方には、当然、母娘のペアリングでのものがあった。こちらでは、捕獲してその肉を家族で食したあとの獲物動物の「皮革」から衣類を作って行く作業に母娘は一生懸命に取り組んでいた。
昨日紹介した東京大学文学部教授の佐藤浩幸先生の文章では「この時代は寒冷乾燥を基調としながらも気温は短周期で激しく変動する氷期であったため、人々は植物資源を当てにすることができず、移動を繰り返す中大型動物の狩猟を主要な生業としていた。」と記述がある。
さらに「(縄文時代になると)最後の激しい寒暖が繰り返された晩氷期が終了すると、日本列島を含め地球上は、一斉に安定した温暖期である完新世を迎えた。周囲に本格的な海流が流入したため、列島はこれまでの大陸性気候から海洋性気候に転換し、温暖湿潤な気候のもとで、森林が発達する。」
というように記されている。大ぐくりで見れば、気候変動は常に人類のライフスタイルに深く関わってその文化を規定してきていたことが明確にわかる。とくに日本列島の場合は温暖化に伴って海水面が上昇して完全に島嶼エリアになり、同時に温暖化で周囲の海からの水蒸気が豊富な雨量として降り注ぎ豊かな森林環境が生成された。

逆に言うとそれ以前は大陸的な「乾燥」気候であって、ひたすら動物狩猟だけが生活を支える資源環境であったことが明白。そういった環境で、人類は衣類について文化を発展させた。主に女性たちは動物の皮をなめして、それらを針と糸でつなぎ合わせて作る皮革ファッションに目覚めた。
針は人類の発明の中でももっとも重要なものであったことは間違いがない。寒冷気候の中で人類がほぼ全大陸に進出し得たのは針と衣服のおかげだった。女性こそがもっとも強い。
針のメーカーである萬国製針という会社のHPの紹介文「世界一古い針は、ロシア・アルタイ山脈のデニソワ洞窟で発見されました。この針には糸を通す針穴も開いており、放射性炭素年代測定によって5万年前に作られたことが判明しました。針の長さは7.6㎝で鳥の骨から作られています。この針は、極寒のシベリアで毛皮を縫って衣服を作ることに使われていたと思われます。針の形状も現在私たちが使っている針と全く変わっておりません。」
「キャ!お母さん、針ってすごい。革の服に羽毛も付けられたワ」
「そうね、それつけたらファッション的見栄えも素晴らしい、センスあるわね〜(笑)」
母から娘へ。人類の服への美感の進化は女性の感受性発展によってどんどん加速していったに違いない。

English version⬇

Cold Climate, Leather Fashion, Women and Needlework
The power that has evolved over the ice age is also in the women’s quest for beauty. The power of the human race’s evolution overcoming the glacial cold period is also the quest of women for beauty. …

While yesterday’s theme was about the passing down of skills between a Stone Age father and son over obsidian, the other side of the diorama exhibit was, naturally, a mother-daughter pairing. Here, the mother and daughter were hard at work making clothing from the “hides” of the animals they had captured and eaten as a family.
In the article by Professor Hiroyuki Sato of the University of Tokyo’s Faculty of Letters, which I introduced yesterday, he writes, “This was a glacial period with cold and dry weather, but temperatures fluctuated violently in short cycles, so people could not rely on plant resources and their main occupation was hunting medium and large animals that repeatedly moved. The description goes on to say.
The Jomon Period was the last period of intense cold and warming, and after the Late Glacial Period ended, the Holocene, a stable warm period, came to the Earth, including the Japanese archipelago. With the influx of ocean currents into the surrounding area, the archipelago shifted from a continental climate to an oceanic climate, and forests developed under the warm and humid climate.
This is how it is described in the text. In the big picture, it is clear that climate change has always been deeply related to human lifestyles and has defined their culture. In the case of the Japanese archipelago, in particular, global warming has caused sea level to rise and the islands to become completely island areas, and at the same time, global warming has brought abundant rainfall from the surrounding ocean, creating a rich forest environment.

Conversely, it is clear that before that time, the climate was continental and “arid,” and animal hunting was the only resource environment that supported life. In this environment, humans developed a culture of clothing. Women, in the main, tanned animal skins and joined them together with a needle and thread to create leather fashions.
The needle was undoubtedly the most important of human inventions. It was thanks to the needle and clothing that humans were able to expand to almost every continent in cold climates. Women are the strongest.
The website of a needle manufacturer, Bankoku Seihin, says: “The oldest needle in the world was found in the Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains of Russia. The needle also has a needle hole for thread, and radiocarbon dating has revealed that it was made 50,000 years ago. The needle is 7.6 cm long and made from bird bone. The needle is thought to have been used for sewing fur to make clothing in extremely cold Siberia. The shape of the needle is not at all different from the needles we use today.”
“Kya, Mom, needles are amazing! Mother, needles are amazing. They could even attach feathers to leather clothes.
Yes, it would look great fashion-wise if you put it on, you have good taste.
From mother to daughter. The evolution of humanity’s sense of beauty in clothing must have been accelerated by the development of women’s sensitivity.

【石器時代の技術伝承と有用資源探究】


写真は国立歴史民俗博物館(千葉県)でのジオラマ展示から。石器時代の生活のワンシーンを象徴的に切り取っていて、たいへんわかりやすく好ましい。石器時代は動物という移動する資源に対して人間の側で「遊動」しながら、狩猟採集するというライフスタイル。
そういったライフスタイルでは石器に対しての社会全体の有用性追求が広く行われたでしょう。このワンシーンではたぶん「黒曜石」と思われる石器が一部欠けた様子をしげしげと観察している男子と、そのわが子の様子を見守っている父親の視線が表現されていた。
「え、どうしてこういうふうに欠け割れるんだろう」
「お、こいつ、石道具に興味を持ったのかな、そろそろ黒曜石採取に一緒に行くか・・・」
みたいな父子間での技術伝承のきっかけを描いているように感じられた。


石器時代を象徴する「道具」の最たるものは黒曜石とされる。黒曜石は別名天然ガラスといわれ、旧石器時代から縄文時代を通じ、弥生時代に鉄が伝わるまでさまざまな道具の主要な材料として使われた。
以下、「総論 黒曜石原産地遺跡研究の地平〜東京大学人文社会系研究科・文学部教授 佐藤 宏之/2016 (考古学ジャーナル2014年8月号掲載)」から要旨引用。図はきのうも紹介した北海道遠軽町白滝の「白滝ジオパーク」展示からです。
〜黒曜石は火山噴火に伴い噴出したマグマなどが急速に冷却された際に生成された火山ガラスであり、主要火山帯を中心に世界中に産地が広がるが、火山ごとにマグマの成分が異なるため、鉱物や化学成分組成の微妙な差異によって、正確な産地同定が可能。〜

〜大規模原産地は大型火山噴火口付近で産出するため山地帯に所在する。一方旧石器時代から縄文時代(38,000~11,700年前) の列島での人類活動は、台地や丘陵緩斜面の平坦地で展開されていたため、黒曜石の採取は計画的に行われねばならなかった。この時代は気候に対応して移動を繰り返す中大型動物の狩猟を主要な生業とした。そのため旧石器時代人は、主として平坦地において広域にわたる計画的な移動を伴う狩猟によって生活を維持しながらも、必要に応じて道具の素材として必須の黒曜石を山地帯に採取に赴くといった行動戦略を採用していた。〜
上の父子の様子とは、このタイミング事情を伝えてくれているように思えるのですね。東大・佐藤先生の文章からは当時の気候変動と植生分布、動物たちの行動原理などへの総合的な解析が伝わってきて、まことにわかりやすい。有用資源と人類のライフスタイルの歴史的相関の様子が、活性的に捉えられると思います。
地学と歴史の境界的領域、その密接な関係性をそこに見る思いです。

English version⬇

The transmission of technology and the search for useful resources in the Stone Age.
Dad, this stone broke when it was spun vertically. That’s funny! Well, I guess we should go get the obsidian together. A scene of technology transmission between father and son in the Stone Age. A scene from the transmission of technology between father and son in the Stone Age.

The photo is from a diorama exhibit at the National Museum of Japanese History (Chiba Prefecture). It is a very clear and pleasing diorama that symbolically depicts a scene of life in the Stone Age. In the Stone Age, people lived a lifestyle of hunting and gathering while “playing” on the side of humans against mobile resources in the form of animals.
In such a lifestyle, the pursuit of usefulness of stone tools by society as a whole would have been widely pursued. In this scene, a boy is looking closely at a chipped piece of stone tool, probably obsidian, and his father is looking at his child.
The father looked at his son and said, “I wonder why it is chipped and broken like this.
“Oh, I wonder if he is interested in stone tools…” “Maybe it’s time for me to go with him to collect obsidian…”
It seemed to me that the film depicted an opportunity for the father and son to pass on their skills to each other.

Obsidian is considered to be the most symbolic “tool” of the Stone Age. Obsidian, also known as natural glass, was used as the main material for various tools throughout the Paleolithic and Jomon periods, until iron was introduced in the Yayoi period.
The following is an abstract quotation from “General Introduction: Horizon of Research on the Obsidian Site of Origin – Hiroyuki Sato, Professor, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, Faculty of Letters, the University of Tokyo/2016 (published in the August 2014 issue of the Archaeological Journal)”. The figure is from the “Shirataki Geopark” exhibit at Shirataki, Engaru Town, Hokkaido, which was introduced yesterday.
~Obsidian is a volcanic glass formed when magma ejected by volcanic eruptions cools rapidly, and its production areas are spread around the world, mainly in major volcanic belts. Since the composition of magma differs from one volcano to another, subtle differences in mineral and chemical compositions enable accurate identification of its production area. ~ (in Japanese)

〜The large source areas are located near large volcanic craters and are therefore located in mountainous regions. On the other hand, human activities in the archipelago from the Paleolithic to the Jomon period (38,000-11,700 years ago) were conducted on flat areas of plateaus and gentle slopes of hills, so the collection of obsidian had to be planned. In this period, hunting of medium to large-sized animals, which migrated repeatedly in response to the climate, was the main livelihood. Therefore, Paleolithic people maintained their livelihood by hunting, mainly on the plains, with systematic migration over large areas, while adopting a strategy of going to the mountains to collect obsidian, which was essential as a material for tools, when necessary. ~.
The above father and son situation seems to convey this timing situation, doesn’t it? Dr. Sato’s text conveys a comprehensive analysis of climate change, vegetation distribution, and the behavioral principles of the animals at that time, and is truly easy to understand. I believe that the historical correlation between useful resources and human lifestyles can be captured in an active manner.
I feel as if I could see the close relationship between geology and history in this borderline area.

【石造建築に吸い寄せられ「付加体」地学再学習(笑)】



先日「だんだん石に吸い寄せられている」というヘンテコな名前のブログ投稿をしたところ、予想に反してそこそこの反響があって、わたし自身も興味深かった。英国人建築家・ノーマンフォスターによる鎌倉市歴史資料館建築の石材のデザイン性、素材感レベルでの「創意」に面白みを感じていたという記事です。
そして木造文化圏を厚く形成している日本人とはいえ、わたしの自宅はコンクリートブロック造であることもあって、もう少し石系の素材、石造についても再学習したいなと考えているところ。まぁ高齢者のお勉強なので独断と偏見に満ちた路線で暴走することになるかもと不安ではありますが気をつけます。
一方で以前に探訪した熊野三社でいたく感動させられた地域景観美が実は大陸プレートと太平洋海洋プレートの境界域で発生する「付加体」地層の顕著にあらわれたものということを知ってから、その様子を再度、体験したいと探訪計画中であることが、そんな経緯とみごとにシンクロしてしまったのです。
さらに過去取材している北海道遠軽町白滝の「白滝ジオミュージアム」について、ふと気付いて写真整理をしていたら、同じ「付加体」というキーワードがピッタリ符合してしまったのであります。

どうも石の神さまの思し召しなのか(笑)、人類社会の初期のありようは石器であったこと、また、最初期の住宅は「洞窟」であっただろうことなど、探訪動機が膨らんできています。
熊野の独特の地形は2000万年前のころの地殻変動の結果できあがった「付加体」によって形成されたものだそうですが、同様の地殻変動の結果である北海道白滝では9000万年前の大陸プレートと太平洋海洋プレートの衝突の結果生成された付加体によって地殻構成されている。それが有数の「黒曜石」産地として10,000年以上前の石器時代当時から、有用鉱石として人類に利用され続けてきた、というのだそうなのです。
付加体というものの地学的説明は上の図をごらんください。そういえばわたしは進学校生であった高校時代、早々に難関校受験を諦めていたタイプだったのですが、ふだんの予習復習では敵わない一発型の地学のテストで最上位の成績を取って自慢しておりましたが(エヘン)、数学・物理を巨視的に考える地学は似合っていたのかも知れない(笑)。そんな遠い悔悟の念が強まってきて、このテーマ、可能な限り意識的に実際の見学機会を増やして知見を広めたいと念じております。ノーマンフォスターさんのお導き、生かしたい。

English version⬇

[Sucked in by stone architecture and re-learning “accretionary” geology (laughs)
Ever since I came in contact with Norman Foster’s works, my mind has been sucked in by materials and stones. I am even reviving my predisposition to geology, and it’s not good (laughs).

The other day, I posted a blog post with a weird name, “Gradually getting sucked into stone,” which, contrary to my expectations, received a fair amount of response, which was interesting to me as well. The article was about how the British architect Norman Foster’s design and “creativity” in the level of materiality of the stone materials used in the construction of the Kamakura City Museum of History was interesting to me.
And even though the Japanese have a strong wooden cultural sphere, my home is made of concrete blocks, and I would like to relearn more about stone materials and stone structures. Well, I am worried that I may go off on a tangent full of dogmatism and prejudice because I am studying as an elderly person, but I will be careful.
On the other hand, the beauty of the regional landscape that impressed me so much at the Kumano Sanja shrine that I visited before is actually a remarkable manifestation of “accretionary” strata that occur at the boundary between the continental plate and the Pacific Oceanic plate, and I am now planning to visit the area to experience it again. I am now planning to visit the area again to experience it again.
Furthermore, when I was sorting through the photos of the Shirataki Geomuseum in Shirataki, Engaru Town, Hokkaido, which I have covered in the past, the same keyword “accretionary body” fit perfectly with the description.
Perhaps it was the intention of the stone god (laugh), but my motivation to visit the museum has been growing, as I have learned that the earliest forms of human society were stone tools, and that the earliest houses were probably “caves”.
The unique topography of Kumano was formed by “accretionary complexes” created as a result of crustal movement around 20 million years ago, while the crust of Shirataki, Hokkaido, which is the result of similar crustal movement, is composed of accretionary complexes created by the collision of the continental plate and the Pacific Ocean plate 90 million years ago. This is one of the most famous sources of obsidian, which has been used by humans as a useful ore since the Stone Age, more than 10,000 years ago.
For a geological explanation of what an accretionary complex is, please refer to the figure above. I remember that when I was in high school, I was the type of person who gave up on entrance examinations for hard-to-enter schools as early as possible, but I was proud of getting the highest grade on a one-shot geology test, which I couldn’t compete with through my usual preparation and review (ahem), but geology, which considers mathematics and physics macroscopically, may have suited me (laugh). (laugh). I am now feeling such distant remorse, and I am determined to expand my knowledge on this topic by consciously increasing my opportunities to visit actual sites whenever possible. I would like to make use of Mr. Norman Foster’s guidance.

【肉体疲労からの軽い風邪だけど・・・】




札幌は昨日から降雪で、けさの様子は写真の通りであります。
先週末、東京ビッグサイトでのジャパンホームショーなど参観のために出張していましたが、どうしてもあちこちと歩きまわるので、毎日の歩数計を確認すると1日1万歩以上の行動。それも東京の公共交通機関は階段の上り下りが激しいので、足腰にも負担が掛かる。その一方で加齢は順調に進んでいる。のにもかかわらず、自己認識としては若いときのママの肉体感覚でいるので、つい疲労蓄積加速。
ということで出張終わり頃から筋肉疲労とか、のどの違和感などが出ていましたが、22日頃から軽い咳、喉の痛みを感じるようになり23日夜には熱も出てきた。しかし休日なので病院にも行けず、ようやく24日病院へ。感染症が広がって以来、久しぶりの「発熱外来」であります。
当然ながら不特定多数の参集するジャパンホームショー参観ということから「ひょっとして」という不安があり、最初にPCR検査を受けました。で、10分後くらいに「コロナでもインフルでもありません」というご託宣がおりまして、ひと安心。
いつもお世話になっているお医者さんからなんと漢方も含めた調剤をしていただきました。すごい、いろいろ臨床的な研究は進んでいるのだなぁと感動させられました。そういうご配慮に応えて、帰宅後はひたすら薬を飲んで横になる、寝る。と体力回復に勤めていました。で、夜半ころに目覚めたとき、「回復」感が突然、芽生えてきた。ちょっと劇的な回復感であります。

今回のチョー久しぶりの「風邪引き」ですが、反省点としてはやはり加齢による体力の衰えを顧みない行動は、かならずしっぺ返しを食らうこと。その出張時にはトラベラーズハイの心理状態がはたらいて「なんもさ」とつい行動範囲が過重になる。「せっかく来たから、ここもあそこも」と欲張ってしまう。
そんなこころに昨日以来の冬景色到来。
もう、しょがないから大人しくしていろ、と天気がご託宣してくれているようです。
しかし、喉元過ぎればと、あれこれ行動計画を考え始める。冬タイヤにも換えているし、クルマはきのうメーカーでメンテナンスもして貰ったし用意はバッチシなどと妄想を膨らませる。こういう行動派の性格の良さを生かしつつ、どうやったら落ち着いた人生ハンドリングできるか、思案投げ首中。

English version⬇

[I have a mild cold from physical exhaustion, but…]
I am a man of action, and I like to move from place to place. This leads to the accumulation of physical fatigue. Now, how do I control this personality? I…

It has been snowing in Sapporo since yesterday, and the picture shows what it looked like this morning.
Last weekend, I was on a business trip to visit the Japan Home Show at Tokyo Big Sight and other events, but since I had to walk from place to place, my daily pedometer showed that I took more than 10,000 steps a day. That also takes a toll on my legs and back, as Tokyo’s public transportation system is full of staircases going up and down. On the other hand, I am aging steadily. However, I am still aware of my physical condition as a young mother, and this has accelerated the accumulation of fatigue.
So, I had been experiencing muscle fatigue and throat discomfort since the end of my business trip, but around the 22nd, I began to feel a slight cough and sore throat, and by the night of the 23rd, I developed a fever. However, since it was a holiday, I could not go to the hospital, and finally went to the hospital on the 24th. This was my first “outpatient fever clinic” in a long time since the spread of infectious diseases.
Naturally, since I was going to attend the Japan Home Show, which was attended by an unspecified number of people, I was worried that I might have a fever, so I first took a PCR test. After about 10 minutes, I was assured that I had neither corona nor influenza, which was a relief.
The doctor who has always taken care of me gave me a prescription that included Chinese medicine. I was impressed by the progress of clinical research. In response to such consideration, after returning home, I just took the medicine, lay down, and went to sleep to recover my strength. I worked hard to recover my strength. When I woke up around midnight, I suddenly felt a sense of “recovery. It was a bit dramatic recovery.

It has been a long time since I had a cold, but as I reflected on this “cold,” I realized that any action that does not take into account the decline in my physical strength due to aging will surely result in repercussions. When I go on a business trip, my traveler’s high mentality comes into play, and I tend to overdo the scope of my activities, saying, “What the heck. I am always greedy, saying, “Since I’ve come all this way, I want to go here and there too.
Then, the winter scenery arrived for the first time since yesterday.
The weather seems to be telling me to stay quiet because there is nothing to do.
However, I start to think about my action plan. I have already changed my winter tires, my car was serviced by the manufacturer yesterday, and I am fully prepared for the trip. I’m still thinking about how I can handle my life in a relaxed manner while making the most of my action-oriented personality.

【だんだん石に吸い寄せられていく(笑)】



きのうは家形石棺について書きましたが、人間というのはさすがに「石器時代」という歴史発展を過ごしてきている生物種なので、石には独特の感受性があると思っています。
家形石棺は群集墳に葬られる一般のひとびとであり、特権階級は「注文住宅」的な大規模古墳に埋葬されたけれど、どちらかというと規格住宅的な埋葬方法だったと思えた。そういう階級差、身分差というものはあったのだろうけれど、死後、石の壁、床、天井に包まれて過ごすということでは本質的に差はない。
石を加工して使う、それも輪廻転生の願いを込めてその石造空間にいだかれて死後の世界と向き合う、というのは、人類普遍の願望憑依なのでしょう。強く納得感がある。
写真は建築家ノーマン・フォスターによる鎌倉歴史文化交流館です。
西欧人というのは石の建築文化のはるかな伝統を持続しているけれど、そういう空間性にはわたしも深く頷かされている。わが家はコンクリートブロックというアメリカから製法が輸入された建築材料で建てた。また、わたしの父もはじめて食品製造の蔵屋を建てたとき、このコンクリートブロックで建てた経緯がある。
自分の建てた家について話さなければならない竣工の時、父の建てた建物と同じ構造素材であることにあらためて気付かされたことがあった。
きっと少年時の建築体験が沈殿して、石造というものに好ましさを感じていたのだろう。
それ以来、わが家の壁面をみながら人生時間を過ごしてきた。素地のその風合いにずっと、
「こころが吸い取られている」ような感覚を抱いている。別にオカルト志向ではありませんが、石に囲まれて「終の住み処」に至った古代のひとびとにシンパシーを感じている。
そんな気分があって、ノーマンフォスターの建築素材へのこだわり、イタリア・ドイツという石造の建築文化が投影されたシルエット、壁面と向き合うのが好きです。これらの石材は自然そのものではなく、工場加工を施したものなのだという。写真の光沢のある部位などには硝子などの異素材も投入されている。それらが見る角度や場所によって表情を変えてくれる。
吸い取られる、という感覚とはまた別に反射してくるような感覚も抱かせられる。きっと、いつまでもこの建物には惹き付けられ続けるのではないだろうか。
やや諦念にも似た同意の感覚があります。しょがなく好きなのでしょう。

English version ⬇

[Gradually, I’m being drawn to the stones [laughs].
The walls of architect Norman Foster’s Kamakura History and Culture Exchange Center are drawing me in. I was surprised to see such a glittering stone. You can’t help but like it. …

Yesterday I wrote about house-shaped sarcophagi, and I believe that humans have a unique sensitivity to stone because we are a species that has lived through the historical development of the “Stone Age.
The house-shaped sarcophagi were for ordinary people buried in group burial mounds, while the privileged class was buried in large “custom-built” burial mounds, but I think the burial method was more like a standardized house. Although there may have been differences in class and status, there is no essential difference in the fact that after death, people spend their days wrapped in stone walls, floors, and ceilings.
The use of processed stone, and the desire to reincarnate and face the afterlife in this stone space, must be a universal desire possession of humankind. It is strongly convincing.
The photo shows the Kamakura Museum of History and Culture by architect Norman Foster.
Westerners have a long tradition of stone architecture, and I am deeply impressed by this spatiality. My house was built with concrete blocks, a building material imported from the United States. My father also built his first food manufacturing warehouse with concrete blocks.
When I had to talk about the house I had built, I was reminded of the fact that it was made of the same structural material as the building my father had built.
It must have been the precipitation of my architectural experiences as a boy that made me feel a fondness for masonry.
Since then, I have spent my life looking at the walls of my house. The texture of the bare stone has always been with me,
I feel as if my mind is being absorbed by the texture of the stone. I am not an occultist, but I feel sympathy with the people of ancient times who lived in their “final dwelling place” surrounded by stones.
With such a feeling, I like to face the silhouettes and wall surfaces that project Norman Foster’s attention to architectural materials and the stone architectural culture of Italy and Germany. These stone materials are not nature itself, but factory-processed. Different materials such as glass are also used for the glossy parts in the photo. These materials change their expressions depending on the angle and location of the viewer.
It gives us a sense of being absorbed, but also a sense of being reflected. I am sure that this building will continue to attract me forever.
There is a sense of agreement, somewhat like resignation. I guess I like it without a clue.

【家形石棺を見て、古代人と対話】



本日はやや風邪気味で、のんびりした話題。
写真は兵庫県福崎町を探訪していたときに見かけた「家形石棺」。
Wikipediaを引用すると以下の記述。〜家形石棺(いえがたせっかん)とは、古墳時代にみられる石棺の一種。蓋石が屋根形で、身は刳抜式または組合式の箱状の石棺である。蓋石の四方の傾斜部に断面長方形の縄掛突起がある。古墳時代中期後半~終末期まで長期間用いられた。末期には身に格狭間を施したり、縄掛突起に蓮華文を彫ったものもみられる。身の前面や側面に入り口を設けた横口式石棺もある。〜
人間ってだんだんと個人の嗜好とかの世界に「帰っていく」存在ではないかと思っています。わたしの場合、加齢とともに古民家とか、昔人と対話できる機縁のようなものに強く惹かれてきている。
最後は石だ、みたいに俗に言われますが、そういう志向性からすると石棺というものに目を奪われるのはそれなりに符合するなぁと思っています。
飛鳥の石舞台は古墳の中身が土で被覆する前の状態でそのまま放置されたもので、蘇我氏の古墳であって、血生臭い権力抗争の残滓だとも言われるけれど、遺跡としては非常に好きであります。こんな個人的嗜好性が、刺激されるのですね。
この写真のものは、古代での「工場生産」的なニオイが強く感じられる。強大な権力者とかの場合には大型の石棺が注文生産されて、埋葬現地近くで加工されたのだろうと想像できるのですが、それ以外の一般人たちは、このような「大量生産型」の石棺にふつうに入っていたのではないか。
説明の文章からも「群衆墓」と記載されているので、庶民階級のひとびとの「終の住み処」になったものなのでしょう。火葬の習慣化はまだ進んでいない時期なので、こういう石棺に死者は葬られた。その人数が積層するにつれて、墓域もより広大に必要になっていった。そういう「過密化」ということもなにごとか、歴史の必然のひとつの側面でしょうね。
こういった石棺に加工するのに適性のある石材は、たぶん生産地が限られただろうから、必要性の高い人口集積地域との間で、頻繁な情報と物流がやり取りもされたでしょう。電話やWEBのな時代、そういうことがどのように伝播したのか、興味深い。
「今度、●ムラの誰それが死んだので」「了解しました。何日に間に合うように届けます」
こういうコミュニケーションがどう成立していたのか、主に情報の世界で仕事してきた人間からすると、そういう臨場感が、この石棺を見ていて興味として立ち上ってきていました。ふむ。

English version⬇

A Dialogue with the Ancients
A quiet word. Traditionally, people are housed in stone houses at the end of their lives. A sarcophagus is a kind of “factory production” in ancient times. The information and logistics of this process is a source of fantasy for me. …

Today’s topic is a bit more leisurely, as I have a bit of a cold.
The photo is of a “house-shaped sarcophagus” I saw while exploring Fukusaki Town, Hyogo Prefecture.
To quote Wikipedia, the description is as follows 〜A house-shaped sarcophagus is a type of sarcophagus found in the Kofun period. The lid stone is roof-shaped, and the body is a box-shaped sarcophagus of the gouged-out or union type. The four sides of the lid stone are sloped with rectangular rope-hanging protrusions. It was used for a long period of time from the latter half of the Kofun period to the end of the Kofun period. In the later period, the body was decorated with a narrow space between the case and the body, and some of them were carved with a lotus flower design on the rope-hanging projection. There are also side-gate sarcophagi with entrances on the front and sides of the body. 〜The first two coffins were made in the late 19th and early 20th century.
I believe that human beings gradually “return” to the world of personal tastes and preferences. In my case, as I age, I am becoming more and more attracted to things like old houses and the opportunity to talk with people from the past.
It is commonly said that the last thing you need is a stone, and from this orientation, I think it is fitting that I am attracted to sarcophagi.
The Ishibutai in Asuka is a tomb of the Soga clan, and I like it very much as an archaeological site, even though it is said to be a remnant of a bloody power struggle. I like them very much as ruins, though they are said to be remnants of bloody power struggles.
The one in this photo has a strong “factory production” smell in ancient times. I can imagine that in the case of a powerful person, a large sarcophagus would have been made to order and processed near the burial site, but other ordinary people were usually placed in such a “mass-produced” sarcophagus.
The explanatory text also describes it as a “mass grave,” so it must have been the “final resting place” of the common people. Since cremation had not yet become a custom, the dead were buried in these sarcophagi. As the number of people buried there increased, the graveyards became more spacious. Such “overcrowding” must have been one of the inevitable aspects of history.
Since the production of stone suitable for processing into sarcophagi was probably limited, information and logistics would have been frequently exchanged between the populated areas where the need for such materials was high. In the age of telephones and websites, it would be interesting to know how such things were transmitted.
In the age of the telephone and the Internet, it would have been interesting to see how such information and logistics were transmitted. I will deliver it in time for what date.
As someone who has worked mainly in the world of information, I was interested to see this sarcophagus and feel the presence of such communication. Hmmm.

【戦後的ライフスタイルの起点・自動車文化】



さて3度目くらいの訪問になった「武相荘」参観。以前に全7回のシリーズ<第1回はこちら>で取り上げたので、まぁ基本的にはそれで完結しているのですが、訪問の度にちょっとずつ視点が変わっていることにも気付きます。
今回は住宅の住まい手のあるべき「自由度」と、それに対応できていた日本的「田の字型」間取りの奥行きについてまざまざと気付かされた次第。
なんですが、戦争の開始時期とほぼ同時期に東京での暮らしからこの地に移住した白洲さんの生き方にも強く惹かれている自分がいます。「金持ちのドラ息子」(笑)出自であって欧米留学からの人脈を持っていた白洲さんには敗戦は自然な成り行きだったことだろう。
そして吉田茂に請われて対米交渉の第一線でかれは活躍した。
日本国内での戦争推進派とは明確に道を分かって、敗戦必至と見ていたかれはなかば隠遁する。しかし敗戦後の総理をつとめた旧英国大使の吉田茂に請われ、戦後の立て直しに奔走する。吉田とは留学生時代からの旧知の仲だった。敗戦からの復興期に、かれのようなスタンスの人間は最適だっただろう。
現行憲法について「アメリカででも成立しない夢想的憲法」と占領軍の押しつけを批判的に語っている。占領軍のアメリカ側から「日本人で稀な原理原則を主張する硬骨漢」とみなされたという。アメリカ自身もこれが長く維持されるとは「夢想もしなかった」ものが70年以上も残っている。戦後日本は現実的に対応して冷静に復興の着地点を整理整頓していった。現実政治は一歩一歩でしか前進させられない。きれい事だけを言うのは非現実的であり民の暮らしにとって迷惑なのだ。

一方で生活環境としては、イマドキでいえば「テレワーク」最適の居住環境を求めたようにも思われる。そういう生き方の志向には廃・農家住宅は格好の住み処を提供した。
きのうも見たように暮らし方次第で融通無碍に千変万化する田の字間取りは「どうせ使い方はどんどん変わっていくし、手を加えていくのが自然だ」という住宅と暮らしへの透徹した達観を持っている人間からすれば、まことに環境としては最適だったのだろう。
そして今日ではWEB接続環境というカタチで「情報の自由」も加速してきているけれど、戦前戦後期の金持ちボンボンとしての高級外車は、ときどき東京都心を訪れなければならないときに、権力中枢への情報アクセスキーとして機能した。
たぶんこれから先の未来でも、この移動の自由は大きな領域を占めていくだろう。ビジネスはIT環境が整っていくことで居所に自由を与えたが、人類から「移動の自由」は決して奪えないだろう。たぶん始原期から人類の基本は「遊動」生活なのだと強く思う。

English version⬇

The automobile culture, the starting point of the postwar lifestyle.
People, information, labor, and mobility. These basic “freedoms” have been expanding rapidly. Both the development of telework from home and freedom of movement will continue to be aimed for in the future. The “origin of the postwar lifestyle,” the automobile culture, and the “freedom of movement.

Well, this is my third or so visit to Busoso. Since we have previously covered the subject in a series of seven articles, well, that basically completes the series, but we also notice that the perspective changes a little bit each time we visit.
This time, I was reminded of the “degree of freedom” that a homeowner should have and the depth of the Japanese “tano-shaped” floor plan that was able to accommodate this freedom.
However, I am also strongly attracted to the way of life of Mr. Shirasu, who moved to this area from Tokyo at about the same time the war started. For Mr. Shirasu, who was a “rich man’s son” (laugh) and had connections from his studies in Europe and the United States, the defeat in the war would have been a natural consequence.
At the request of Shigeru Yoshida, he was at the forefront of negotiations with the United States.
He had a clear path to follow with the war proponents in Japan, and he went into seclusion for a while, seeing the inevitability of defeat. However, he was befriended by Shigeru Yoshida, the former British ambassador to Japan, who served as prime minister after the defeat, and worked hard to rebuild the country after the war. Yoshida was an old acquaintance of Yoshida’s from his days as a foreign student. A man with a stance like Yoshida’s would have been ideal for the postwar reconstruction period.
He is critical of the current Constitution, calling it “a dreamlike constitution that could not have been enacted even in the U.S.” and saying that it was imposed by the occupying forces. The U.S. side of the occupation force regarded him as “a hard-nosed man who insisted on principles rare among Japanese. The U.S. itself “never dreamed” that this would be maintained for so long, and it has remained in place for more than 70 years. Postwar Japan responded pragmatically and calmly organized the landing site for reconstruction. Realpolitik can only move forward step by step. It is unrealistic to talk only about “pretty things,” and it is a nuisance to the people’s livelihood.

On the other hand, as a living environment, they seem to have sought an optimal living environment for “teleworking” in the modern sense. For this kind of lifestyle, abandoned farmhouses provided the perfect place to live.
As we saw yesterday, the “tano-ji” floor plan, which can be changed in any number of ways depending on the way of living, was the perfect environment for those who have a thoroughgoing and enlightened view of housing and living, saying, “The way of living changes rapidly anyway, and it is natural to make modifications to the house.
Today, “freedom of information” has been accelerated in the form of a web-connected environment, but the luxury foreign cars of the prewar and postwar rich bon vivants functioned as information access keys to the center of power when they had to visit central Tokyo from time to time.
This freedom of movement will probably continue to occupy a large area in the future. Business has given freedom of location through the development of the IT environment, but it will never be able to take “freedom of movement” away from humankind. I strongly believe that the basis of human life has been “mobility” since the primitive times.

【家についての「生活者」目線ということ】



〜綿密な計画を立てて、設計してみた所で、住んでみれば何かと不自由なことが出て来る。・・・作りすぎても、人間が建築に左右されることになり、生まれつきだらしのない私は、そういう窮屈な生活が嫌いなのである。田の字に作ってある農家は、その点都合がいい。いくらでも自由がきくし、いじくり廻せる。ひと口にいえば、自然の野山のように、無駄が多いのである。〜
きのうの続きであります。上の文章はきのうも紹介したのですが、きょうのブログのテーマに強く関わる部分だと思って再掲載。
あ、写真はこのちょっと前に書いた兵庫県福崎の「柳田國男生家」の様子の写真です。ご主人の白洲次郎さんは兵庫県出身者だということで、空間の空気感として共有性があるように思う。というか、東京とか京大阪という大都市圏に対しての兵庫県、神奈川県の対置性の共通感だろうか。この文章は白洲次郎・白洲正子のうちのどちらが書いたのかはわからない。
さて本題に戻ると、たぶん文章表現力としては白洲正子さんが書かれたように思うけれど、夫婦の住宅観が非常によく伝わってくる部分。そしてわたし自身も、自分の家とかたくさん取材してきた経験を踏まえても、共感がつよく感じられるのですね。
わたしも仕事上、設計者とか建築の「プロ」のみなさんと交流するのですが、そしてその使われる言語体系も一応は理解できるのですが、やはりホンネではこの白洲さんのコトバに共感する。
日本人的な暮らし方についての血肉になっている「自由度」をわかりやすく言語化していると思うのです。田の字型の間取り、いかにも融通無碍な規格性が日本人に無限の「自分ちなんだから、自由に使う」といういわば「内心の自由」にも似た原初性を感じさせられる。
どう使おうがこっちの勝手だという自由解放宣言のような気分を強く感じる。日本の伝統的家屋を見る度に、こういう規格性こそが日本の暮らし方の哲学を生んできたのではないかと思うのです。
家を木材で構成する様式が標準になる社会において、その規格寸法にすなおに準拠して作って行けば、おのずと田の字型という間取りの合理性に至る。日本人はながくそういう空間で「生まれ,育ち、死んで」いったのでしょう。そういう人間の叫び声がこだましてくる。
そういう日本的な住宅構造とそこで繰り返されてきたいとなみの奥行きが、つよく迫ってくる。

English version⬇

The “Sei-katsu-sha” Perspective on the House
If you construct a house with lumber of the planned dimensions, you will naturally end up with a “tano-ji” shape. This is a truly Japanese standard. This standardization gave freedom to the Japanese way of living. The Japanese way of living

〜Even after careful planning and designing, you will find that there will be some inconveniences when you live in the house. If you build too much, you are subject to the architecture, and I, who am not a sloppy person by nature, do not like such a cramped life. A farmhouse built in the shape of a rice paddy is convenient in this respect. I can have as much freedom as I want, and I can tinker around as much as I want. In a word, there is a lot of waste, just like a natural field. 〜The following is a continuation of yesterday’s article.
This is a continuation of yesterday’s article. The above text was written yesterday as well, but I thought it was strongly related to the theme of today’s blog, so I republished it again.
The photo is a picture of the “Yanagida Kunio Birthplace” in Fukusaki, Hyogo Prefecture, which I wrote about a little while ago. The owner, Jiro Shirasu, is a native of Hyogo Prefecture, and I think there is a commonality in the atmosphere of the space. Or perhaps it is the common sense of counterpoint of Hyogo and Kanagawa prefectures to the metropolitan areas of Tokyo and Kyoto-Osaka. I am not sure which of Jiro Shirasu or Masako Shirasu wrote this text.
Returning to the main topic, I think that Masako Shirasu probably wrote the text in terms of expressive power, but it is the part that conveys the couple’s views on housing very well. And, based on my own experience of having interviewed many people about their own houses, I can feel a great deal of empathy for them.
In my work, I interact with designers and architectural “professionals,” and I can understand the language system they use, but I really feel empathy for Mr. Shirasu’s words.
I think that he has clearly articulated the “degree of freedom” that is part of the Japanese way of life. The tano-shaped floor plan, with its flexible and unrestricted standardization, gives the Japanese a sense of primordial freedom, a kind of “inner freedom,” as if to say, “It’s my house, so I can use it as I please.
I feel a strong sense of a declaration of freedom and liberation, as if to say, “It’s my house, so I’m free to use it however I want. Whenever I see a traditional Japanese house, I think that this kind of standardization is what has given birth to the philosophy of the Japanese way of life.
In a society where the standard house style is to be made of wood, if one follows the standard dimensions, one will naturally arrive at the rationality of the tano-shaped floor plan. Japanese people were “born, raised, and died” in such spaces for a long time. Such cries of human beings echo in the house.
The depth of the Japanese residential structure and the repeated patterns of the house are very powerful.

【武相荘<ぶあいそう>再訪で気付く「生活者」目線】


 白洲次郎・白洲正子。2人が移り住み、生涯を通して愛した家「武相荘」。
 白洲次郎は吉田茂の側近として戦後焦土と化した日本の復興に辣腕を振るった。特筆すべきは通商産業省(現在の経済産業省)の創設。通産省が日本の経済大国化にとって原動力となったことはよく知られる。一方、白洲正子(しらす まさこ、1910〜1998年)は日本の随筆家。東奔西走する姿から「韋駄天お正」とあだ名された。〜以上引用「国際留学生協会のHPから」。
 ときどき、機会があればこちらの住宅は参観するようにしております。
 いまはこの夫婦の娘さんが館長となって一般に開放し住宅公開されている。このブログでも何回か記事として取り上げてきています。わたしも住宅周辺の関係の仕事をながく続けてきて、結局「住む人の立場」ということを基本スタンスにしてきたように思います。そうすると作家の家とか、その人物の情報が比較的に残っている住宅「体感」が伝わってくる建築にどんどん惹かれていくようになる。
この武相荘〜ぶあいそう〜(武蔵と相州の境界の場所という意味とダジャレ的感覚での命名)は、そういう住み手のホンネが明瞭に痕跡として残っていると感じます。以下はこの夫婦の述懐。
〜無駄のある家
鶴川の家を買ったのは昭和十五年で、移ったのは戦争がはじまって直ぐのことであった。別に疎開の意味はなく、かねてから静かな農村、それも東京からあまり遠くない所に住みたいと思っていた。
現在は町田市になっているが当時は鶴川村といいこの辺に(少なくともその頃は)ざらにあった極くふつうの農家である。
手放すくらいだからひどく荒れており、それから三十年かけて、少しずつ直し、今もまだ直しつづけている。
もともと住居はそうしたものなので、これでいい、と満足するときはない。
綿密な計画を立てて、設計してみた所で、住んでみれば何かと不自由なことが出て来る。さりとてあまり便利に、ぬけ目なく作りすぎても、人間が建築に左右されることになり、生まれつきだらしのない私は、そういう窮屈な生活が嫌いなのである。
俗にいわれるように、田の字に作ってある農家は、その点都合がいい。
いくらでも自由がきくし、いじくり廻せる。ひと口にいえば、自然の野山のように、無駄が多いのである。牛が住んでいた土間を、洋間に直して、居間兼応接間にした。床の間のある座敷が寝室に、悶居部屋が私の書斎に、赤室が子供部屋に変わった。
子供たちも大人になり、それぞれ家庭を持ったので、今では週末に来て、泊まる部屋になっている。
あくまでも、それは今この瞬間のことで、明日はまたどうなるかわからない。
そういうものが家であり、人間であり、人間の生活であるからだが、原始的な農家は、私の気ままな暮らしを許してくれる。
三十年近くの間、よく堪えてくれたと有りがたく思っている。〜引用以上。

北海道から全国へと高断熱高気密の技術の革新が進み、建築する側の手業の進展はよろこばしい限りですが、それを受け取る生活者のひとつの典型的なホンネとはこういうもの。
ときどき自分の中で反芻させていただいています。

English version⬇

A revisit to Busoso from the perspective of a “sei-katsu-sha” (living person)
〜The house was originally designed that way, so I am never satisfied with it. The residents are never satisfied with the house because it has always been that way. 〜The residents strongly agree with this statement.

Jiro Shirasu and Masako Shirasu moved to Busoso, the house they shaped and loved throughout their lives.
As a close associate of Shigeru Yoshida, Jiro Shirasu was instrumental in the reconstruction of postwar Japan from the ashes of war. Notably, he founded the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), now the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). It is well known that MITI was a powerful driving force in Japan’s transformation into an economic superpower. On the other hand, Masako Shirasu (1910-1998) was a Japanese essayist. She was nicknamed “Vikaten Omasa” (韋駄天お正) for her east-bound, west-bound style of writing.
Occasionally, I try to visit the museum when I have a chance.
Nowadays, the couple’s daughter is the director of the museum and the house is open to the public. I have written about it several times on this blog.
I have been working for a long time in the area of housing, and my basic stance has always been “from the standpoint of the people who live there. In doing so, I am increasingly attracted to houses built by artists, houses that retain a comparative amount of information about the person who built them, and architecture that conveys a “sense of experience” to the viewer.
I feel that this Busoso (named in the sense of a place on the border between Musashi and Soshu, or in the sense of a pun) clearly retains traces of the true feelings of the residents. The following are the couple’s recollections.
〜A house with a lot of waste
We bought a house in Tsurukawa in 1940, and moved to the house just after the war started. They had always wanted to live in a quiet rural village, not too far from Tokyo.
The village is now Machida City, but at the time it was called Tsurukawa Village, a very ordinary farmhouse that was common in this area (at least at that time).
It was in such bad shape that he had to give it up, and over the next 30 years, he gradually fixed it up, and is still fixing it up.
Since that is the way a house should be, he is never satisfied with the way it is.
Even after careful planning and designing, we find inconveniences when we live in a house. However, if the house is built too conveniently and without any slackness, the human being will be influenced by the architecture, and I, who am not a sloppy person by nature, do not like such a cramped life.
As is commonly said, farmhouses built in the shape of a rice paddy are convenient in this respect.
You have as much freedom as you want and can tinker around as much as you like. In a word, like a natural field, there is a lot of waste. The earthen floor where the cows used to live was converted into a Western-style living room and parlor. The tatami room with an alcove became a bedroom, the agonizing room became my study, and the red room became the children’s room.
The children have grown up and started their own families, so now it is a room where they come and stay on weekends.
But that is just for the present moment, and you never know what will happen again tomorrow.
I am not sure what will happen tomorrow, because such things are homes, people, and human life, but the primitive farmhouse allows me to live at my leisure.
I am grateful that they have tolerated me for nearly 30 years. 〜That’s all I have to say.

I am very happy to see the progress of the construction industry as innovations in highly insulated and airtight technology have progressed from Hokkaido to the rest of Japan, but this is one of the typical honest opinions of the people who receive these innovations.
I sometimes ruminate on this in my own mind.

【小さい家の英才たち 民俗と住文化のミッシングリンク-4】




本日は連載していた「柳田國男・生家」シリーズの4回目に復帰。
兵庫県福崎町のこの家からは「松岡家5兄弟」といわれるほどそれぞれの分野で功績を残した人材が輩出されたという。先般書いたように、柳田は「日本一小さい家」とこの家屋のことを表現していたけれど、同時に民俗学に目覚めていった原点であると告白している。人間の成長に於いて家という環境がどんな影響を与えるのかについて、きわめて興味深い事実のように思われる。
もちろん「功績を残した」こと自体の冷静な検証ということは必要だろう。人の価値というものはある特定のことがらだけで論じられるべきテーマとは思われない。しかしここでは世間の一般的理解ということに即して前提として考えてみる。
たしかに、医師・政治家、眼科医・歌人、高級軍人・言語学者、日本画家、そして柳田本人の民俗学の父という業績を併置してみれば、顕彰される事跡の人びととは思える。
DNA的な優秀さというものがベースにはあるだろうけれど、常人としては「家屋の間取り」とか「空間的環境要件」というようなものにごく自然に興味は向かう。とくに住宅文化を考えてきたわたしのような人間としては、興味を惹かれるのですね。
間取りとしては図のように整形4間取りと言われる田の字型が基本であり、木材を使って建てられる住文化としてはごく自然なスタイル。日本の伝統的住文化の基本の形式。

ただ、この間取りのなかで夫婦と成人したこどもたち5人、夭折したこどもたち3人の合計10人が住み暮らしていたという「狭い家」状況を考え、柳田が「原点」と捉えた民俗・暮らしという視点も重ねて見たら、いろいろな想像力が働いてくる。
わたし的には成人したこどもたちが全員男子であったことも考え合わせると、家族間コミュニケーションの濃厚さに気付かされる。わたし自身も姉が1人であとは男子が5人という環境で育ったけれど、とくに同性の兄たちからさまざまな「経験知」が積層してくる実感が大きかった。
わたしは末っ子だけれど、兄たちが経験したことの「知恵」が先験的なものとしてさまざまに利活用できるのだ。たとえば学校の先生についての子ども視点での人物評価などは、知らず知らずに知識が積み重なっていた。「あの先生、オモシロいんだよな」「あの先生はちょっとこういう面がある」みたいな情報がバンバン伝わってくるのだ。
柳田の「狭い家」という印象の仲に、どうもそういった家族間での情報交流の濃密さが言外に含まれていると思える。お互いに情報交換を重ねていくことで、社会的ノウハウの蓄積が加速化する部分というのがあったのではないだろうか。
田の字型の間取り図と、そのウチソト的関係性をながめながら、この空間での家族同士のコミュニケーションの日常生活という部分に思いが至る。

English version⬇

The Missing Link between Folklore and Housing Culture-4
The power of “family communication” is somewhat losing its richness today. Isn’t this a theme that should be examined more consciously? …

Today we return to the fourth installment of our serialized “Kunio Yanagida: Birthplace” series.
This house in Fukusaki-cho, Hyogo Prefecture, is said to have produced five brothers of the Matsuoka family, each of whom has made significant achievements in their respective fields. As I mentioned earlier, Yanagida described the house as “the smallest house in Japan,” but he also confessed that it was the starting point of his interest in folklore. It is an interesting fact about the influence of the environment of a house on human growth.
Of course, it is necessary to examine the “achievement” itself dispassionately. The value of a person is not a topic that should be discussed in isolation. However, as a premise here, I would like to consider it in the context of the general public’s understanding.
Indeed, Yanagida’s achievements as a physician, politician, ophthalmologist, poet, high-ranking military officer, linguist, Japanese painter, and father of folklore are all worthy of recognition.
Although DNA excellence may be the basis of his work, I believe that ordinary people are naturally interested in the “layout of a house” and “spatial environmental requirements. Especially for someone like me who has been thinking about housing culture, I am very interested in it.
As shown in the figure, the basic floor plan is the tano-ji (shaped like a rice paddy field), which is a very natural style of housing culture built with lumber. This is the basic form of traditional Japanese housing culture.

However, when we consider that a total of 10 people (the couple, their five adult children, and three children who died prematurely) lived in this house, and when we also look at it from the perspective of folk customs and lifestyles, which Yanagida considered to be the “starting point” of the house, various imaginative powers come into play.
I also think of the fact that all the adult children were boys, which makes me think of the richness of communication between the family members. I myself grew up with one older sister and five other boys, and I especially felt a great sense of “experiential knowledge” from my older brothers of the same sex.
Although I am the youngest, I was able to utilize the “wisdom” of my older brothers’ experiences in a variety of a priori ways. For example, my knowledge of how to evaluate a school teacher from a child’s point of view was accumulated without my knowing it. Information such as, “That teacher is interesting,” or “That teacher has a little bit of this side to him,” was transmitted to me in rapid succession.
Yanagida’s impression of the “small house” seems to include such a dense exchange of information among the family members. The accumulation of social know-how may have been accelerated by the mutual exchange of information.
While looking at the figure of a rice field floor plan and its uchisoto relationship, I was reminded of the daily life of communication among the family members in this space.