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【住宅と人間生活の一体感】


 昨日までで今回のリフォーム工事、第1期の木工事関係は終了。引き続き、駐車場拡張のための土木関係工事と、室内の床研磨工事・電気関係の工事が続きます。
 ということで前から一度は、と思っていた近隣への訪問もさせていただいた。外部工事ではどうしても隣接する土地との絡みが生まれるので、ご挨拶の必要が生じる。結果として、ごく自然に対話することが出来て良かった。なんといっても相方は全国企業の北海道支店なので、通常「隣近所」的なお付き合いが難しいのですね。よかった、といったところ。
 人間が生きるというのには当然、住まいの条件が関わってくる。ただ単に「住むだけ」というのであればそれなりのことで済むけれど、わたしの場合は、生まれた頃から農家であったり商家であったりしたので、いわば生き様がそのまま家の表情に表れていると感じる。
 写真はわたしが3歳の時に、父が一生の決断で岩見沢市近郊での農家をやめて、札幌市中央区の北大植物園に東側が道路を挟んで向かい合っていた角地の建物を購入して、移転してきた住まい。
 2歳まで住んでいた農家住宅はあんまり記憶がないけれど、いまでもときどきクルマで近くに行くことがあり、そのときにはやはり「郷愁」のような感覚がある。しかし体験記憶とともに暮らしぶりなどが蘇ってくるのは、やはりこの古写真の家。
 父親は札幌での生業として、農家出身らしく「食品製造業」を志向していた。最初は納豆製造に取り組んでいたけれど、当時の取引先から別の食品の将来性を教えられて、そちらに転進を図っていった。そんな時期の記憶が再生されてくる住宅写真。
 当時の住宅入手方法は、おおむね建売一択だったそうで、そういった不動産業者が開発した「角地」用の商家向け物件だったようです。商品配送のためにすぐに購入した「オート三輪」の後ろ姿が記録されています。家の前にはたくさんの「配送用の木箱」が集積されている。建物内部に入りやすそうな、店舗向けと思われる玄関開口。硝子主体の引き戸。その右手にはこれも硝子主体のショーウィンドウ風のコーナーが角まで回っている。
 こういう住まいが、自分を育ててくれたという独特の感情が籠もっていて、ときどき見入っては、振り返る一枚の住宅写真です。たぶん、多くのみなさんにもそういう写真があるに違いない。

English version⬇

The unity of housing and human life.
Photographs of houses provide us with a lot of “way of life” information. I think the range of such experiences expands with life experience. I think that the range of such reliving will expand with life experience.

As of yesterday, the first phase of the woodwork-related work for this renovation project was completed. Civil engineering-related work to expand the parking lot and interior floor polishing and electrical work will continue.
 So, I visited the neighborhood, which I had wanted to do at least once before. Since the outside construction work inevitably involves the adjacent land, it is necessary to greet the neighbors. As a result, we were happy to be able to have a very natural dialogue with them. After all, my partner is a Hokkaido branch of a nationwide company, so it is usually difficult to have a “neighborly” relationship with him. It was a good thing.
 Naturally, the condition of a residence is a part of human life. If you are simply “living” in a house, you can get away with a lot, but in my case, I was born into a farming family and a merchant family, so I feel that my way of life is directly reflected in the expression of my house.
 In the photo, I am three years old, and my father made a lifelong decision to quit farming near Iwamizawa City, and bought a corner house across the street on the east side from the Hokkaido University Botanical Garden in Chuo-ku, Sapporo City, and moved us to the new house.
 I don’t remember much about the farmhouse where I lived until I was two years old, but even now I sometimes drive by the house, and when I do, I still feel a sense of “nostalgia. However, it is the house in the old photo that brings back memories of the experience and the lifestyle of the family.
 His father, who came from a farming family, wanted to be a “food manufacturer” in Sapporo. At first, he was involved in natto (fermented soybeans) production, but when a business partner at the time told him about the potential of other food products, he decided to move in that direction. This photo of a house replayed the memories of such a period.
 It seems that the only way to obtain housing at that time was generally by building for sale, and the property was for a merchant family for a “corner lot” developed by such a real estate agent. The back view of the “auto tricycle,” which was immediately purchased for product delivery, is recorded. Many “shipping crates” are accumulated in front of the house. The front door opening, which appears to be for a store, which seems to provide easy access to the interior of the building. A sliding glass door. To the right of the sliding glass door is a show-window-like corner, also made mainly of glass.
 This is a photograph of a house that I sometimes look back on, filled with the unique feeling that this kind of house brought me up. Perhaps many of you must have such a photograph as well.

 

【空間変容が生み出すよろこび・改修工事現場から】




 さてきのうの続き。
 わたしは生きている時間で、ずっと建築営為との付き合いが長い。もちろん住宅雑誌を創刊したということはいちばん大きなことだろうけれど、しかし自分自身の環境が、変容してきたことも多く遭遇した。
1番目は、ものごころもついていない3歳の時点での北海道栗沢町の農家住宅から、札幌市中心部への移転。そこでの毎年のような増改築の連続。10歳ころにはまったくの建て替えに遭遇して一時は仮住まい先への移転〜新築への住み替え。そして15歳時点でのまったくの新築移転。と、ここまでは父親のイニシアチブでの子としてのやむを得ない環境変容。
 一方、札幌里帰り後の自分自身の建築による環境変化も8回くらい経験している。
 今回はそういうなかでは非常に小規模の変化だけれど、しかし建築の環境変容はほんとうに面白い。
 もちろんそういうリクエストは施主として自分から発注するのだけれど、工事が始まって実際に変容がはじまるとその変化ぶりに率直に感動する(笑)。
 今回は小さなリフォームだけれど、玄関先にコート掛けを造作し、仕切りを作ってその反対側に書斎スペースを作るという内容。関連していろいろな玉突き変容もあるけれど、実際に解体していくとそのプロセスでの風景もまた楽し、で、つい「あ、このまんまがいいかなぁ」みたいな不埒な妄想もしてしまう。とんでもない施主である(笑)。
 しかし冷徹に妄想をシャットアウトして、無言で工事進行をウォッチする。
 やはり事務所使いもするとなると玄関部分の拡張というのはたとえ小規模でもやはり貴重。ほんの1畳分だけだけれど、床面積が広がると玄関の表情が一変する。
「おお、これは入ってきてちょっと安心感があるなぁ」「そうだねぇ」
 パブリックな空間が充実するというのは、その住空間の公明性に直接関わってくる。

 人間はだいたい足下の感覚で面積把握するのだろうけれど、その床面が拡大すると、ほんのちょっとでも有効性は大きい。内部についてはこの部位だけだけれど、引き続きDIY的な家具造作・配置変更などで空間の用途変更を進めていく。
 この他、外部についての変更も、木工事は2日間で終了。今後は土木的な改変も加えていくことになります。工事は楽しく続きます(笑)。

English version⬇

The Joy of Spatial Transformation, from the Renovation Construction Site
Residential construction allows you to create your own environment. Renovation is especially enjoyable in terms of spatial transformation. During the process, irresponsible fantasies such as, “Oh, it would be nice to leave it as it is. From the renovation work site

Let me continue where I left off yesterday.
 In the time I have been alive, I have been involved in the building industry for a long time. Of course, the launch of a housing magazine is probably the most significant event, but I have also encountered many changes in my own environment.
The first was the relocation from a farmhouse in Kurisawa-cho, Hokkaido to the center of Sapporo City at the age of three, before I even knew what I was doing. By the time he was 10 years old, the house was completely rebuilt, and he had to move to a temporary residence and then to a new house. Then, at the age of 15, the family moved to a completely new building. Up to this point, the change of environment was unavoidable as a child under his father’s initiative.
 On the other hand, after returning to Sapporo, I have experienced environmental changes due to my own construction about eight times.
 This time, however, the environmental changes caused by architecture are really interesting.
 Of course, as the client, I place the order for such requests myself, but when the construction work starts and the transformation actually begins, I am frankly impressed by the changes (laughs).
 This time, it was a small remodeling project, but it consisted of building a coat rack at the entrance and creating a partition to create a study space on the opposite side of the room. There are many related transformations, but the process of dismantling the building is also enjoyable, and I find myself thinking, “Oh, I’d like it just the way it is” in an offensive fantasy. I am a terrible owner (laughs).
 However, I shut out my fantasy coolly and watched the construction progress silently.
 After all, if it is to be used as an office, the expansion of the entrance area, even if it is small, is still very valuable. It may only be one tatami mat, but when the floor space is expanded, the look of the entrance area is completely transformed.
The entrance area is a very important part of the office space, but it is also very important for the office space.
 The enhancement of public space is directly related to the public nature of the living space.

Although human beings can usually grasp the area of a space by feeling it under their feet, even a slight expansion of the floor surface will have a significant effect. Although this is the only part of the interior, we will continue to change the use of the space through DIY-style furniture construction and rearrangement.
 Woodwork for the exterior was also completed in two days. From now on, civil engineering modifications will be added. Construction continues to be fun (laughs).

 

【事務所活用予定の清田区里塚の家・一部改修工事】


 最近、空き家などが大きな社会問題化してきています。調査では900万戸を超えるということですが、フルで活用されず、一時利用などのケースも合算されることから実際には本物の「放置物件」というのは350万戸程度とも言われる。
 しかし少子化と人口減少局面では、無視できない問題として浮かび上がってくることでしょう。
 わが家の場合は、そういう空き家問題ということではありません。より有効活用して家族の絆を強めたいというのが狙いでの既存住宅のメンテナンス型、有効活用型の「手入れ」であります。
 新会社・略称「ミキ住宅ジャーナル」の事務所として有効活用することで、室内外の各所を改修する工事に入ってもらったのであります。これまでは戸建て住宅としての利用だけで、クルマの駐車スペースは屋根付きのカーポート1台分だけだったのですが、やはりクルマ駐車スペースを3台分くらいは確保したいことと、室内に事務所スペースを作るのに若干のリフォームをすることに。
 事務所スペース自体は、いまの札幌市西区山の手にもあるのですが、まぁセカンドオフィス的に活用することでよりアクティブな使い方が出来ると考えている次第。ここからは北広島と札幌南のICが近いという立地条件。これからは高速アクセスはきわめて重要でしょう。
 最近は「執筆活動」が大きな部分になって来ているので、菜園もあって「晴耕雨読」も可能な敷地条件は、活用するのになかなか面白そうなのであります。
 こっちの方は敷地面積にゆとりがあり、将来的にもいろいろと活用することも考えられる。周辺にはCOSTCOの大型店舗もあって、市内有数の交通量の36号線の角地から2軒目という立地。家の前には新札幌方面に向かう幹線道路も交差するように走っている。駐車場3台分程度を確保しておけば、いろいろな活用方法が出てくるものと考えています。
 建物自体は新築時、施主として建築会社といっしょになって木造での合理的建築、省エネで優れたコストパフォーマンスを実現できた建物。築後20年近くですが、基本性能的には満足できるレベル。
 作家の谷崎潤一郎は引っ越し魔として有名だったようで、その住宅環境とかれの「作風」とは非常に強い関連性があったと言われます。もちろんそれとはレベルがまったく違いますが、環境にはしっかり配慮して、質のいい仕事に取り組みたいと思っております。

English version⬇

[House in Satozuka, Kiyota-ku to be used as an office, partial renovation work
Excited about “building construction” after a long absence (laughs). In an era when the number of vacant houses is increasing, effective use of buildings will become an important factor. …

Recently, vacant houses have become a major social problem. Although surveys indicate that there are more than 9 million units, it is said that the actual number of genuine “abandoned properties” is about 3.5 million units, since the number is not fully utilized and cases of temporary use, etc., are also added up.
 However, with the declining birthrate and population decline, this will emerge as a problem that cannot be ignored.
 In the case of our house, it is not that kind of vacant house problem. It is a maintenance-type, effective utilization-type “care” of existing houses with the aim of making more effective use of them and strengthening family ties.
 The new company, abbreviated as “Miki Jutaku Journal,” will make effective use of the house as an office, and we have asked them to begin work on renovating various parts of the house, both inside and out. The house had previously been used only as a detached house, with only one covered carport for car parking, but we wanted to secure at least three car parking spaces, and decided to remodel the house slightly to create an office space inside.
 The office space itself is located in Yamanote, Nishi-ku, Sapporo, but we think we can use it more actively by using it as a second office. The location is close to the Kita Hiroshima and Sapporo Minami interchanges. I think that highway access will be important from now on.
 Writing” is becoming a big part of my life these days, so the site conditions, which also have a vegetable garden and allow for “sunny days,” seem quite interesting to utilize.
 This one has a more spacious site area and could be utilized in various ways in the future. There is a large COSTCO store nearby, and the location is the second house from the corner lot on Route 36, one of the busiest roads in the city. In front of the house, an arterial road running toward Shin-Sapporo also intersects. We believe that if we can secure about three parking spaces, there will be a variety of ways to utilize the property.
 When the building itself was newly constructed, we, as the owner, worked together with the construction company to achieve rational construction with wood construction, energy conservation, and excellent cost performance. Although it is nearly 20 years old, the basic performance is satisfactory.
 The writer Junichiro Tanizaki was famous for his penchant for moving from one place to another, and it is said that there was a very strong relationship between his housing environment and his “style. Of course, the level of performance is completely different from that of Tanizaki, but we would like to work on high-quality work while paying close attention to the environment.
 
 

【空中からの眺望、地上への想像力】



 さてすっかり原稿書きが佳境になって来て、それぞれのテーマでアタマが一杯になって来ている。そうでなくても容量が多くないことは十分以上に自覚しているので、多少、クラクラ気味。
 こういうときはボーッとしているのが一番、ということで最近の飛行機搭乗時の空の上からの眺望写真であります。
 わたしたち年代はスカイメイトという「若者割り」全盛期世代でして、とくに札幌の少年達は隣県が青森県であるという意識はとくになく、北海道から本州に行くのにはほとんど航空機を利用する一択世代。北海道の「隣」はやはり羽田経由−東京というのが常識的なのですね。
 で、移動の搭乗時間には最初期は空からの眺望が見たい!最優先でしたが、徐々に飽きてきて、そのうちに「いちばん早く飛行機から降りる」のが最優先になっていった。とにかくなるべく前方席で通路側一択、という選択が永く続いてきたのであります。ビジネス感覚最優先時間。
 ところが人間、気分の変化というのも起こってきて、ふたたび空中からの視界という方にふたたびリターンしてきています。飛行機の時間って、パソコンを準備して作業して、それを再度保存して、パソコンを順序だててキチンとしまう、というプロセスで考えると時間的に、準備と片付けの方が時間を取られて、メンドくなってくるので、やっぱり普段の自分通り「ボーッとしている」のがいちばん「効率的」と思うように変化してきたのですね。
 なんか、単なるめんどくさがりにリターンしてきただけのようでもある。
 しかし空中からしか目にすることが出来ない景色というのは、発想の充実にも、多少は意味があると無理矢理,思ってきているのであります。
 加齢してきて、空の上からの眺めの場所にも、全国各地での地上体験が増えてきて、記憶復元ポイントが増えてきていることもあるようです。
 「お、あそこではこんなことがあったよなぁ」「お、こないだの風景、上から見るとこう見えるんだ」みたいな反芻記憶再生の時間。
 でも飛行機の航路って、いつも微妙に違いがあるようにも思う。とくに「関空」へのアプローチはどうも進入方向自体が都度、変化しているように思えます。そういう意味では一期一会みたいな景色との出会いもあるのでしょうね。ほぼ月イチみたいな頻度ですが、ボーッとしての空旅、今後も楽しんでいきたいと思います。

English version⬇

[Aerial view, imagination on the ground.
An old man clinging to a window in the sky. He is taking pictures here and there with his smartphone. It must be a strange sight from the other side (laughs) …

I am now at the climax of my manuscript writing, and my mind is filling up with each topic. I am more than aware that I don’t have much capacity for writing, so I am feeling a bit dizzy.
 In times like this, it is best to be in a daze, so here is a photo of the view from the sky when I recently boarded an airplane.
 We are from the generation when the “youth discount” called “Skymate” was in its heyday, and the boys in Sapporo in particular were not particularly aware that the neighboring prefecture was Aomori Prefecture, and they almost exclusively used airplanes to go from Hokkaido to Honshu. The “next” prefecture to Hokkaido is Tokyo via Haneda, as is common sense.
 So, during the boarding time of travel, I wanted to see the view from the sky in the first period! It was my first priority, but gradually I got tired of it, and soon it became my first priority to “get off the plane as soon as possible. Anyway, I have been choosing the aisle seat in the front as much as possible for a long time. Business sense is the top priority.
 However, as people’s moods change, they are once again returning to the view from the air. When I think about the process of preparing the computer, working on it, saving it again, and putting it away neatly and in order, the preparation and cleaning up take up more time, and it becomes a hassle. So, I have changed to think that it is the most “efficient” way to be “idle” as I usually am.
 It seems that I have just returned to being a mere hassle.
 However, I have forced myself to think that the view that can only be seen from the sky has some meaning in the enrichment of ideas.
 As I get older, I have more and more experiences on the ground in various places in Japan, and I seem to have more and more points to restore my memory of the places I have seen from the sky.
 It’s a time for ruminating and memory replay, like, “Oh, there was something like this there,” or “Oh, the scenery from the other day looks like this from up there.”
 But I think that airplane routes are always slightly different from each other. Especially in the approach to “Kansai International Airport,” the direction of approach itself seems to change each time. In that sense, I suppose there are once-in-a-lifetime encounters with the scenery. I would like to continue to enjoy air travel in a daze, although it is almost once a month.

【木目の美感に誘われて〜木組み篇】


 このブログでは、だいたい連載型テーマものがひとつの「路線」なんですが、どうも最近たくさんの執筆作業が重なっていて、ブログでまでそういうテーマものに取り組むと、完全にキャパオーバー。
 住宅写真はそれこそ全国各地に探訪しているので山ほどあるのですが、そういった「出力」面での圧力があって、どうも単発的なテーマになってきています。
 なんですが、きのうも書いたように段々と「空間の好み」のようなものが絞り込まれてきているようで、木質の木肌、その表情に深く癒されるようになってきている。象徴的には日常もっとも触れる「家具」などがその対象になるのですが、写真のような「木組み」がある断面でお互いが出会ったような雰囲気に接すると、その新鮮さに驚かされる。
 いろいろな構造材が偶然、ある建築の接点で出会って、お互いの素肌の表情が露わになっている。
 この写真はある木造住宅の吹き抜けに面した部屋中央部での木組みの様子。工事中。
 現場で工務店の方に「この梁材の断面、切り落とし方が上の方がやや幅広で、下の方がやや狭い断面になっているのは、どういう根拠なんですか?」と聞いた。
 答えは「たぶん、木組みの大工さんの現場的な感覚の世界なのではないか」とのこと。
 おお、であります。
 タテに直角に切り落とすのであれば、あんまり考える必要がないけれど、こういう風に意識的な断面にするということで、より「木肌」「木目」にひとの意識は向かっていくのではないか。
 作り手側の大工さんとしては、ちょっとした断面のアクセントをつけることで、「なんでだろう」という日常的な「木との対話」を仕掛けているように思われた。
 家の使い手としては、ほんの一断面だけれど正直に切り口を見せている木組みに、どうしても意識が向かっていくものではないだろうか。そして大黒柱の木肌と、この梁材の木肌・木目が一種のハーモニーになって、木の家の楽しみ方を伝えてくれているように思う。
 この家で住み暮らす長い時間の中で、こんなふうに木と対話し続けているというのは、絶対に「飽きない」のではないだろうか。なぜなら、その木肌・木目とも自然そのものの表出なのだから。
 家の真ん中にこういう「仕掛け」がある家、いいなぁと思っていた。

English version⬇

The beauty of the wood grain invites us to join the woodwork.
The junction point between the Daikobashira (main pillar) and the large beam timber. The way the beams are cut down shows a chance encounter between the honest grain and bark of each piece of wood. A way to set up a “dialogue” with the wood.

In this blog, a serialized theme is usually one of the “lines”, but recently I have been working on a lot of writing projects, and if I try to work on such a theme on the blog, it will completely overload my capacity.
 I have a lot of photos of houses that I have visited all over the country, but due to the pressure of such “output,” it has become a one-shot theme.
 However, as I wrote yesterday, my “taste for space” seems to be gradually narrowing down, and I am becoming more and more deeply healed by the bark of wood and its expression. Symbolically, “furniture,” etc., which we touch the most in our daily lives, are such objects, but when we come in contact with an atmosphere in which “wooden structures” like the one in the photo seem to have met each other in a certain cross-section, we are surprised at how fresh they are.
 Various structural materials meet by chance at a certain architectural contact point, exposing each other’s bare expressions.
 This photo shows the woodwork in the center of a room facing the stairwell of a wooden house. Under construction.
 I asked a construction worker on site, “What is the rationale for the slightly wider cross section of this beam material at the top and the slightly narrower cross section at the bottom?” I asked.
 The answer was, “Perhaps it is the world of the on-site sense of the carpenter of wood framing.
 Oh, yes.
 If the wood is cut off vertically at right angles, there is no need to think much about it, but by making a conscious cross-section like this, people’s attention will be drawn more to the “bark” and “grain” of the wood.
 For the carpenters on the production side, it seemed to me that by accentuating the cross section a little, they set up an everyday “dialogue with the wood” that makes us wonder “why?
 As a user of the house, I think that one’s attention is inevitably drawn to the woodwork, which shows an honest cut, even if it is only a small section. The wood surface of the Daikoku-bashira (main pillar) and the wood surface and grain of the beams create a kind of harmony that conveys the enjoyment of a wooden house.
 I am sure that the owner will never get tired of the dialogue with the wood over the long time he lives in this house. This is because the bark and grain of the wood are the expression of nature itself.
 I thought it would be nice to have a house with this kind of “device” in the middle of the house.

【高速道路パーキングの長大な木の長椅子】


 わが家には芦別の木工場に自然乾燥させられていたナラ無垢材から長い時間を掛けて造作してもらったテーブルがある。わが家にその木が来てからもう25年以上経過している。四半世紀。
 はじめはとにかく「暴れ者」で参っていた。一応、切りだしてから数年間はその木工場で自然乾燥されていたので、ある程度は「ねじれ」「反り」などは緩和されているものと思っていた。そして軽く200kgくらいはあるので5人がかりで家の中に搬入した。
 そこから数年間、ブロックの足をかませて「その家の空気に馴染ませて乾燥させる」という忠告通りにしていたのだけれど、材の各所からねじれ・反りが大暴走していた。それがようやく一段落した頃にようやくテーブル家具として「仕上げて」もらったけれど、なかなか素直にはなってくれなかった。
 いまも多少「いびつ」な部分も遺しながら、壁のブロックや外壁の煉瓦などとともに、わが家の空気感の重要部分を担ってくれている。居間にたどりついたとき、その木目や質感が「おう、よく帰ってきたな」みたいな様子で、馴染ませてくれる。
 そんなことで外を歩いているときにも、木の表情を見せている家具類にはちょっと深入りするような心理が働いて、じっと様子を観察していたりする。もちろんわが家のテーブルのように自己主張は強くなく、それなりに「馴致」されている様子が伝わってくるけれど、やはり木の本然として「生きている」という様子は伝わってくる。
 こちらの写真のベンチは、表情についてはその木目をごらんください、ということで機能性一択に特化して足も確認することができなかった。たぶん背面の木部に対して金物接続させているのだろうが、人間と木目だけの「対話の仕掛け」として好もしかった。
 毎日、木目と話しているタイプの人間としては、共感が湧いてくるのだ。
 「まぁちょっと、坐っていけや」「ああ、でも道を急ぐし」「安全運転には休養第一だぞ」
 みたいな会話を勝手に脳内で通わせている。結局数分間、木目に抱かれている。スマホチェックの一時だけれど、句読点にはなってくれる。ありがとよ、と別れるけれど、家に戻ってくるとそういう写真に強く惹かれている自分を再発見する。

English version⬇

A long wooden couch in a highway parking lot.
Wooden furniture has a psychological “dialogue” with the user. The wooden furniture relaxes the mind when it says, “Well, sit down,” or “But I’m in a bit of a hurry. It also interacts with a photograph. The photograph also interacts with it.

We have a table in our house, which was built over a long period of time from solid oak that was left to dry naturally at a woodworking shop in Ashibetsu. It has been more than 25 years since the wood came to our house. A quarter of a century.
 In the beginning, it was a “rambunctious” tree. I thought that the wood had been dried naturally for a few years after it was cut, so I thought that the “twisting” and “warping” had been mitigated to some extent. And since it weighed about 200 kg lightly, it took five people to carry it into the house.
 For a few years, we followed the advice to let the wood air-dry in the house by putting block feet over it, but the twisting and warping was rampant from all parts of the timber. When that finally came to an end, I finally had it “finished” as table furniture, but it didn’t quite straighten out.
 Even now, it still retains some “distorted” parts, but together with the blocks on the walls and the bricks on the exterior walls, it plays an important part in the atmosphere of our house. When you arrive at the living room, the grain and texture of the wood make you feel at home, as if to say, “Hey, you’ve come home.
 When I am walking around outside, I tend to look closely at the furniture that shows the expression of wood, and I feel as if I am getting a little bit deeper into it. Of course, it is not as assertive as the table in my home, and you can tell that it has “adjusted” to its surroundings in its own way, but you can still feel that the wood is “alive” in its own right.
 As for the bench in the photo here, I could not check the legs because I was focused on the functionality of the bench, so please look at the grain of the wood. The bench is probably connected to the wood on the back with metal hardware, but I liked it as a “device for dialogue” between human beings and the grain of the wood.
 As someone who talks with the grain of the wood every day, I felt a sense of empathy.
 I could hear conversations like, “Well, you should sit down for a while,” “Yeah, but I’m in a hurry,” or “You need to rest first for safe driving.
 I let my brain go through conversations like these on its own. In the end, I am held by the grain of the tree for a few minutes. It’s just a moment to check my phone, but it serves as a punctuation mark. I say, “Thanks,” and we part ways, but when I return home, I rediscover that I am strongly attracted to such pictures.

 

【おお、札幌円山で赤いハナミズキかなぁ?】


 昨日、ある方からの「住宅についての相談」を伺っていて同道した札幌市中央区のある一角。ほぼ自然状態が放置されていたなかに一本の見覚えのある花の姿。北海道では「ヤマボウシ」という名前の方が一般的で、それも花が白いほうが圧倒的なのですが、本州、つくば市の国の住宅研究所「国総研」を訪問した際に、その玄関前に満開の赤いはなびらを見せてくれていて「これがウワサに聞くハナミズキか」と聞いたところ、そんなの当たり前じゃないか、みたいな表情で上の空の返答をいただいた樹種。
 わたしの個人的な体験で言うと、北海道ではこうしたピンクの花びらの花はほとんど見たことがなかった。本州地域のみなさんからは、なかば「置いて行かれる」花常識の世界。
 でも、そういうのにも最近は開き直ってきている。「いいじゃないか、なんと言おうとハナミズキは北海道人には他界の花だ」と。
 有名な歌も、北海道では体感しようもない架空現実の世界のようだった。
 北海道の「夏場」は一気に全部の植生が一斉に百花繚乱するので、いちいちの個別種には気がつかないとも言えるし、そもそも本州とは「季語」自体に共通性があまりない。
 花鳥風月についての会話には、北海道人はただ、ニコニコとスルーさせていただくしかない。内心はそういう小さな世界での「決まり事」みたいな決めつけは遠慮したいと思っているけれど、さりとて日本人であり、共通理解を妨げるのも申し訳ない。そういうときは沈黙一択なのですね。
 でもこうしてほぼ自然状態の中で、自立的に花開いている様子を見ると、うれしい。
 やっと北海道でも季語がやや遅れてとはいえ、同期できることがうれしい。なんかいじましいけど(笑)。ということで本日はややひがみも感じられる樹木の話題でした。狭い心、もうすこし拡張させていきたいと肝に銘じております。

English version⬇

[Oh, is that a red dogwood in Maruyama, Sapporo?
In the midst of various activities, I encountered a tree at a site where I was responding to a housing consultation brought to me. In the history of personal encounters with trees, I was reunited with a distinctive one. …….

Yesterday, I visited a corner of Chuo Ward, Sapporo City, where I was visiting to consult with a client about housing. In the midst of the almost natural state of the flowers, I saw a familiar flower. When I visited the National Institute of Housing Research in Tsukuba City, Honshu, the red petals were in full bloom in front of the entrance of the institute. When I asked him if this was the dogwood that I had heard so much about, he replied with a blank expression on his face, “Of course it is.
 From my personal experience, I have rarely seen such pink petals in Hokkaido. It is a world of common knowledge that people in the Honshu area are “left behind” in terms of flowers.
 However, I have recently become more open to such things. I don’t care what they say, the dogwood is a flower of other worlds to the people of Hokkaido.
 Even the famous song seemed to be an imaginary reality that we cannot experience in Hokkaido.
 In Hokkaido, all the vegetation blooms at once in the summer, so it can be said that we do not notice each individual species, and in the first place, “seasonal words” themselves have little in common with those of Honshu.
 Hokkaido people can only smile and let the conversation about “Kacho Fu Fugetsu” pass them by. Deep down inside, I would like to refrain from making such “rules” in our small world, but I am Japanese, and I am sorry to interfere with our common understanding. In such a case, silence is the only choice.
 However, I am happy to see the independent flowering in this way, almost in a natural state.
 I am glad that we can finally synchronize the seasonal words in Hokkaido, albeit a little late. It’s kind of a tease, though (laughs). So, today’s topic was about trees, which I feel a bit cynical about. I am determined to expand my narrow mind a little more.
 

【やっぱり好きです、高鴨神社】



 先日の関西〜信州飯田往復の旅の最終日、結局、帰りは奈良県の橿原に宿泊して前述のように「重要伝統的建造物群保存地区」のなかの旅宿で体を休めていた。
 翌日、札幌に帰還するのだけれど、レンタカー道中でもあり、やはり大和盆地のなかでいまや「郷愁」を感じている飛鳥大仏と、もう1箇所、高鴨神社に詣でることにした。明日香から適当にクルマを走らせていたら、途中からはなにかが導いてくれているように、よんどころなく高鴨神社に到着することが出来た。きっと数寄のこころが体内で喜び勇んで、こここっち、そこはこっちとわたしのハンドル捌きを教習してくれているかのようだった(笑)。
たぶんはじめて訪れてからは4度目くらいの訪問・参詣。
以下は、神域手前に建てられた案内掲示からの要旨。
〜当神社は全国鴨(加茂)社の総本宮で弥生中期より祭祀を行う日本最古の神社の一つです。
主祭神
阿遅志貴高日子根命
(迦毛之大御神)
事代主命
阿治須岐速雄命
下照姫命・天稚彦命〜
 さらに「当地は少なくとも縄文晩期より集落が形成され祭祀が行われていたことが近年の考古学調査であきらかになっております。」という記述。北海道からの遠来の人間としては、やや気の遠くなる「縁起譚」であります。
 人間は自分の知らないことで、そして強く惹かれることにこだわりを持つ存在。
 そういう意味ではこの高鴨の神さまは、とても敵わない深遠さでこころを満たされてしまう。そういう圧倒されることが、心地よく感じてしまう。
 いつも訪れると、地図の左下側の駐車場に駐めて、池越しに社殿を拝ませていただく。
 この地は葛城山の中腹のような位置関係で、比較的高地であるのに、このような水面越の景観が見られるのです。
はるかな古代、この水が周辺の田んぼに水を供給して人びとのいのちを支えていたのではないか。その後、稲作の統率者として神武以降の王権が成立して、やがて水田は川の流域で行った方が、列島の地形的に合理的であり、その方が圧倒的な「人口増殖」に効率的だった。
 この「鴨」の一族もやがてそうした盆地の河川流域に本拠を移して発展していって、たくさんの「鴨」社が全国に広がっていくことになる。
 ただ、このような高地で奇跡的な水辺が現出したことが、さまざまな「霊力」の源泉とされ、「気」がこの地に満ちていたように、古代の人びとは強く感じていたことだろう。水面に日が当たって複雑な乱反射を見せているのですが、そのなかには地中の鉱物が働いている部分もあるとされている。
 神武帝の足跡の時期の「歴史」の重要地域であることは間違いがない。
 これからも折に触れて、神妙にお伺いしたいと思っております。合掌。

English version⬇

I still love Takagamo Shrine.
The shrine is located in the middle of Mt. Katsuragi in the Yamato Basin and is a soulful experience every time I go there. I’m a lost lamb, but I’m honest enough (laughs) to ask for your help. I am a lost lamb, but I am honest (laugh) there, so please do not hesitate to contact me.

On the last day of my recent trip from Kansai to Iida, Shinshu, I stayed in Kashihara, Nara Prefecture, and rested at an inn in the “Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings,” as mentioned above.
 The next day, I was returning to Sapporo, but as I was on my way to rent a car, I decided to pay a visit to the Asuka Great Buddha and another Takagamo Shrine in the Yamato Basin, where I was feeling nostalgic now. Driving from Asuka to Takagamo-jinja Shrine, I arrived there without any trouble as if something was guiding me along the way. It was as if Sukiyoko’s heart was joyfully instructing me on how to drive here, there, and there (laugh).
This was probably my fourth visit to the shrine since my first visit.
The following is the gist of the information posted in front of the shrine.
〜This shrine is the head shrine of Kamo shrines throughout Japan, and is one of the oldest shrines in Japan, with rituals conducted since the middle of the Yayoi period.
Main Deity
Atashiki Takahikone-no-Mikoto
(Shakamo no Mikami)
Kotoshironomikoto
Kotoshironushi no Mikoto
Shimoteruhime-no-Mikoto and Amatsukihiko-no-Mikoto
 Furthermore, “Recent archaeological research has revealed that villages were established and rituals were performed in this area at least as early as the late Jomon period. This is a description of a distant visitor from Hokkaido. As a person from Hokkaido, this is a rather sobering “tale of karma.
 Human beings are obsessed with what they do not know and are strongly attracted to.
 In that sense, this Takagamo no Kami-sama fills my heart with a profundity that is very hard to compete with. I find it comforting to be overwhelmed in this way.
 Whenever I visit, I park in the parking lot on the lower left side of the map and look over the pond to see the shrine.
 The location of this site is like the middle of Mt. Katsuragi, and even though it is at a relatively high altitude, such a view over the water can be seen.
In far ancient times, this water must have supplied water to the surrounding rice fields and supported the lives of people. Later, the kingship after Jinmu was established as the leader of rice cultivation, and eventually it was more reasonable for the topography of the archipelago to have paddy fields in the river basin, which was more efficient for overwhelming “population growth”.
 The “Kamo” clan eventually shifted their headquarters to such basin river valleys and developed, and many “Kamo” companies spread throughout the country.
 However, the miraculous appearance of the waterside at such a high altitude must have been strongly felt by the ancient people as a source of various “spiritual powers” and as if the land was filled with “chi” (energy). The sun shines on the surface of the water and shows complex diffuse reflections, some of which are believed to be areas where minerals in the ground are at work.
 There is no doubt that this is an important area of “history” during the period of the footsteps of Emperor Jinmu.
 I hope to continue to visit the Shinmu from time to time. Gassho.

 

【北海道の自然美と日本的「作庭」美】


 写真はきのう久しぶりにちょっとだけの「散歩」をしたら、さっそく路傍から目を楽しませてくれたルピナス(昇り藤)。この花は北海道自生の品種ではなく明治以降の開拓の過程で、ヨーロッパから導入された花。っていうか、それが目的ではなく付随的に入ってきたとされる。どんなところにも咲く、旺盛な繁殖力で知られて、北海道から本州地域にも広がっているとされる。
 こういう品種の扱い方というのは「園芸」の世界とか「作庭・造園」など管理された美感の世界からは、いわば邪魔者扱いされるのではないか。一方ではわたしのような北海道ネイティブの人間からすると、こういった「野の美感」の代表のような存在で、ちょうどすべての草花が一斉に咲きほころび始める北海道らしい春を代表するようなものと受け止めている。
 で、日本庭園美の様式的「作庭」という文化からは、いちばん遠い「北の自然美」にも通じているかなぁと改めて目を見張らされた。
 健康面でのアラートがいろいろ出てきて、思うように散歩に行けないのだけれど、わたしの場合、家のまわりに庭をつくって緑を楽しむというよりも、ちょっと散歩に出掛ければ、明治期にアメリカ人都市計画家たちが北海道らしい自然をそのままに保存させてくれた円山公園緑地などが、広大に広がっていて、そこでアイヌの人たちのソウルフードをその球根部分に生成させる「オオウバユリ」の発芽からみごとな開花までを毎年のように楽しんでいる。イキモノとしてその生成変容していく様子は、まことに植物の「叙事詩」をリアルタイムで感応させてくれるのだ。
 さらにこのようなルピナスはまことにゲリラ的にあらゆる路傍に突然出現して、美を主張している。
 そういう自然との対話をしている人間からすれば、いかにも審美眼の極地のような造園・作庭に極限的価値感を求めたいという心理・気分にはなれない。
 そういう美感世界を否定はしないし、それはそれで素晴らしいと思うけれど、さりとて、やはり必死に北海道の自然の野の中で、いのちをつないでいるその美を祝福したくなるのが人情。
 ルピナスはこの地に来て以来、たとえば道東のオホーツク人遺跡という鄙の地でも、路傍を彩っている。このようなあるがままの自然の美が、ちょっと目を転じたらあらゆる場所で生き延びているのが北海道なのだと思う。だから塀で囲って「自分だけの」鑑賞世界に閉じ込めて究極の美を誇る、というような作庭の「匠」技のようなものに同意しにくいのかも知れない。
 一昨日も北海道的な自然林と対話するような外部環境を整えている事例を見ていた。そういう「作庭」としては自然なままの植生を受け入れて、枝の下の方を払って眺望性を確保したり、自然のままの芝のなかに徐々に生成される苔を丹念に保護したりというような「作庭」をされていた。
 納得と同意の気分を強く持っていた。

English version⬇

The Natural Beauty of Hokkaido and the Beauty of Japanese “Sakutei” Gardens
A continuation of the garden culture theory. It is not “bloom in the field, evening primrose,” but a variety of species are blooming in Hokkaido. The intensity of life and self-assertion of this natural beauty is intoxicating. The garden is a place of beauty and beauty.

The photo is of a lupine (Ascending Wisteria) that immediately delighted my eyes from the roadside when I took a short “walk” for the first time in a while yesterday. This flower is not native to Hokkaido, but was introduced from Europe in the process of cultivation after the Meiji period. It is said to have been introduced incidentally, rather than for that purpose. Known for its vigorous fertility, which allows it to bloom anywhere, it is said to have spread from Hokkaido to the Honshu region.
 This kind of treatment is considered an obstacle in the world of “horticulture,” “gardening,” and “landscaping,” where the beauty of the plants is controlled. On the other hand, to a native of Hokkaido like myself, they are representative of the “beauty of the wild,” and I see them as representing the spring season in Hokkaido, when all the plants and flowers begin to bloom and bloom at once.
 I was struck once again by the fact that the stylistic “Sakutei” culture of Japanese garden beauty is also connected to the “natural beauty of the north,” which is the furthest thing from the culture of Japanese garden beauty.
 I have a number of health alerts that prevent me from going for walks as much as I would like, but in my case, rather than creating a garden around my house to enjoy the greenery, I just go for a short walk and find the Maruyama Park green space, where American urban planners in the Meiji period preserved the natural beauty that is typical of Hokkaido, There, I enjoy watching the “Oubayuri,” which produces the bulbous part of the Ainu people’s soul food, from germination to beautiful blooming, as I do every year. The way the plant is formed and transformed as an inanimate object is truly an “epic poem” of plants in real time.
 In addition, lupines like this one appear suddenly and guerrilla-like on every roadside, asserting their beauty.
 For those of us who interact with nature in this way, it is impossible for us to feel the urge to seek extreme values in landscaping and gardens that seem to be the ultimate in aesthetics.
 I do not deny the beauty of such a world, and I think it is wonderful in its own way, but I still want to celebrate the beauty that is desperately holding on to life in the wilds of nature in Hokkaido.
 Since its arrival here, lupine has been gracing the roadsides of remote Okhotsk sites in the east of Hokkaido, for example. I believe that this kind of natural beauty survives in Hokkaido in all kinds of places. Perhaps that is why it is difficult to agree with the “artisanal” techniques of garden design, such as enclosing the garden with a fence and confining it to one’s own “private” world of appreciation and pride in its ultimate beauty.
 The day before yesterday, I was looking at an example of an external environment that interacts with a natural forest in a Hokkaido-like setting. In this kind of “garden design,” they accepted the vegetation in its natural state, removed the lower part of the branches to secure the view, and carefully protected the moss that gradually formed in the natural grass.
 I was in a strong mood of acceptance and agreement.

 
 

【大阪-長野県飯田の往復クルマ移動 ふ〜っ】


 寄る年波のさなか、大阪市中央公会堂周辺から、一気に中部地方・長野県飯田市まで長躯移動。
 ある個人的な探究テーマを深掘りすることに没頭しております。これまでの住宅領域での経験に立脚しながら、自分自身の興味分野が拡大して、という状況にいるのですが、そうすると取材対象がいろいろに展開していくことになる。
 先日は関西地域にいくつかの訪問先があったところに南信州・飯田市に行く要件が持ち上がってしまった。片道では300kmで往復では600kmを超えることになる。北海道で言うと札幌から釧路までの往復と同距離ということ。まぁ北海道ではそこそこあり得る行動半径ではある。っていうか、住宅取材などでそれくらいの行動半径では動き続けていた。
 しかし年齢的にはもうそのころとは20年近い隔絶もある。そもそも大阪発時間は夕方5時ころなので、途中、岐阜県のあたりで宿泊して翌朝早くに出発して飯田市入りを目指した。
 でも今度は引き返しの長距離移動もある。普通は公共交通手段を利用してと考えるところでしょうが、この目的地間には適当な移動交通手段がなかった。一方でモータリゼーション世代ではあり、生まれた頃から自動車の移動感覚がネイティブのようなわたしなので、こういう移動交通に数寄もあるようですね。
 すっかり日没時間も午後7時くらいにまで長くなっているので、180kmほどの宿泊地点には余裕で到着。さっさと寝るのは得意なので、若干の用務を片付けてすぐに就寝。あ、晩ごはんは途中の大津の琵琶湖あたりPAで済ましてしまう。
 で、翌朝、早くに出発して山道の「中央道」を約120kmひたすら東上。
 写真は目的地・飯田市の「長野県天然記念物・長姫(おさひめ)のエドヒガン」樹。別名「安富桜」。
 〜幹と根張りが雄々しく、均整の取れた樹形は古木の風格をもち、エドヒガンの特性が良く現れた県下の名木である。飯田城主・堀氏の家老「安富」氏の邸宅近くにあったため、俗に安富桜と称される。〜
 来て見て、飯田市とわたし自身の「未遂の関係性」ということもアタマのなかにたくさん群がり興ってきていた。地域と言うよりもこの地が出身地域である多くの人たちとの「関係性」が、想起されてしまったのですね。ちょっと早めに到着したので、この安富桜にしばし見とれながら、そんなことに気持ちが奪われる時間を過ごしていた。
 ひょっとすると、少し人生選択が違っていたら、自分はこの街と深く根がらみの人生時間を過ごしていたかも知れない、そんな不思議な余韻に浸っておりました。たまたま要件が発生しての大往復だけれど、なにかの人生時間「因果」がそこに絡んでいたのかも知れません。

English version⬇

Traveling by car from Osaka to Iida, Nagano Prefecture and back.
An old tree in the area that soothes the fatigue of an elderly person traveling 300 km. Its majestic and powerful appearance encourages us to keep going strong. ….

In the midst of the passing of the years, I moved from the Osaka Central Public Hall area to Iida City, Nagano Prefecture, in the Chubu region of Japan, in one fell swoop.
 I have been immersed in digging deeper into a personal theme of exploration. I am in a situation where my own field of interest is expanding while building on my past experience in the housing area, and in doing so, the subject of my coverage is developing in various ways.
 The other day, when I had several places to visit in the Kansai region, the requirement to go to Iida City, Minami-Shinshu was brought up. The one-way trip would be 300 km, and the round trip would be over 600 km. In Hokkaido, this is the same distance as a round trip from Sapporo to Kushiro. Well, that’s a reasonable radius of travel in Hokkaido. In fact, I have been moving around within that radius for housing coverage and so on.
 However, it has been almost 20 years since then. Since the departure time from Osaka was around 5:00 p.m., we stayed overnight in Gifu Prefecture on the way to Iida City, and left early the next morning.
 But this time, there was also a long-distance trip back. Normally, one would think of using public transportation, but there was no suitable means of transportation between these destinations. On the other hand, I am of the motorized generation, and since I was born, I have a native sense of automobile transportation.
 Since the sunset time has completely lengthened to about 7:00 p.m., we arrived at the lodging point, about 180 km away, with plenty of time to spare. Since I am good at going to bed quickly, I took care of some errands and went to bed right away. Oh, and dinner is served at a PA around Lake Biwa in Otsu on the way.
 The next morning, we left early and headed east on the mountainous “Chuo Road” for about 120 km.
 The photo shows the “Nagano Prefecture Natural Monument Osahime no Edohigan” tree in Iida City, our destination. It is also known as the “Yasutomi cherry tree.
 〜The tree is a famous tree in the prefecture with a magnificent trunk and root system, and its well-proportioned form gives it the appearance of an old tree, and the characteristics of the edohigan are well represented. It is commonly called “Yasutomi Cherry Blossom” because it was located near the residence of “Yasutomi,” a retainer of the Hori family, lords of Iida Castle. ~.
 After visiting Iida City, my own “attempted relationship” with Iida City also began to crowd my mind. I was reminded of the “relationship” I have with many people who are from this area, rather than the region itself. Since I arrived a little early, I spent a lot of time admiring these Yasutomi cherry blossoms, and my mind was taken by such things.
 Perhaps, if my life choices had been a little different, I might have spent my life time deeply rooted in this town, and I was immersed in such a mysterious afterglow. Although it was a big round-trip due to an accidental requirement, there might have been some kind of life time “cause and effect” involved in it.