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.

Posted on 11月 22nd, 2023 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 住宅マーケティング | No Comments »

　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.

Posted on 11月 20th, 2023 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 住宅マーケティング | No Comments »

ブログ記事の連載として今現在は兵庫県福崎の民俗学の創始者「柳田國男」シリーズを続けてきていますが、きのうはブログの執筆環境がトラブルに見舞われてしまった。辛うじてFacebookでの読者のみなさん向けにはその「休止のお知らせ」は行いましたが、ブログ本文掲載としてはついに一時停止。
2005年8月9日にブログ掲載を開始して以来、6,600日以上と年中無休だけをこころの支えとして継続してきたものが非常に残念なことになってしまいました。
しかしこればっかりは自助を超える事態と諦観。　やむを得ませんね。
出張中だったのでその後も直接的には状況をハンドリングできず、担当スタッフからそのトラブルは回避できた旨の連絡を受けながら、今度はなんと通信のトラブルまでもが発生。
通常使っている移動先でのポケットWi-Fiが不具合を起こし、その回避策としてのホテルのWi-Fiまでもがなぜか接続不適合。この段階でこうした二重苦、三重苦状況への判断として、もっと根底的な原因と疑ってみることは自然。わたしの判断としてはMacbookPro本体の通信機能の障害を疑わざるを得なかった。まぁ、究極的だけれど、あり得る可能性としてはふつうの判断だろうと思います。
ところが本体のMac再起動後、ためしにと思ってiPhoneのWi-Fi接続機能に切り替えてみたら、あらま、スムーズに接続できるではありませんか。オイオイ。
通常のWi-Fi接続の一般的方法が２つもダメだったものが、最後の手段で繋がったということになる。まことに狐につままれたような事態。
こんなアクシデントが３重にまで偶然重なるということもあるのですね。ちょっと信じられません。ここまでくれば、これは天の声、思し召しと深く頷くしかありません。そういうことで淡々と受け入れて参りたい。
まぁ18年間、ずっと続けられたことが逆に実に多くの方のご助力の賜物だったということ。

そういった状況なので本格的なブログ連載シリーズへの復帰には、もうすこし自分の気分を整理整頓してから取り組みたいと思います。本日は取り急ぎ、ブログ環境についてのご報告までとさせていただきます。

English version⬇

Double trouble in blog writing environment and WiFi connection environment
Communication and connection troubles attacked during a business trip. Unable to overcome the problem on my own, I had to pause the blog for a while. However, I will accept it without hesitation and restart. We hope to see you again in the future. Thank you for your continued support.

I have been writing a series of blog posts on Kunio Yanagida, the founder of folklore in Fukusaki, Hyogo Prefecture, but yesterday my blog writing environment ran into trouble. We barely made a “notice of suspension” of the series for our readers on Facebook, but as for the blog text publication, it has finally been suspended.
It is very unfortunate, because since we started posting the blog on August 9, 2005, we have continued to do so for more than 6,600 days and 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
However, we have resigned ourselves to the fact that the situation is beyond our ability to help ourselves.　It is unavoidable.
I was on a business trip, so I could not directly handle the situation after that, and while I was informed by the staff in charge that the trouble had been avoided, this time, to my surprise, even a communication problem occurred.
The pocket Wi-Fi that we normally use at our destination malfunctioned, and even the Wi-Fi at the hotel, which was a workaround for the problem, somehow failed to connect. At this stage, it is natural to suspect a more fundamental cause for the double or triple woes. In my judgment, I had to suspect a communication failure in the MacbookPro itself. Well, it is an ultimate decision, but I think it is a common judgment as a possible possibility.
However, after rebooting my Mac, I switched to the iPhone’s Wi-Fi connection function just to see if it would work, and lo and behold, the connection went smoothly. Oui, oui.
After two common methods of connecting to Wi-Fi had failed, I was able to connect as a last resort. It was like being stuck in a fox’s claws.
It is possible for such an accident to happen by chance up to three times. It is a little unbelievable. I can only nod my head and say, “This is the voice of heaven, this is the will of God. I would like to accept it without hesitation.
The fact that we have been able to continue for 18 years is, on the contrary, the result of the help of many people.

I would like to get my mood a little more organized before returning to a full-fledged series of blog posts. I would like to take this opportunity to report on the blogging environment today.

Posted on 11月 18th, 2023 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: Mac.PC＆DTP | No Comments »

1875年（明治8年）に生まれ1962年（昭和37年）に87年の生涯を閉じた日本民俗学の父・柳田國男さん。その生家を探訪しての「取材」シリーズであります。幼少期に近隣の地域の「知的情報センター」であった、江戸期以来の大庄屋家である三木家住宅の蔵書を耽読したことがエピソードとして知られる。
この播州の英賀をルーツに持つ三木家一族は戦国期の地域武力勢力であった「三木氏」の末裔という伝承を共有している存在。英賀の三木城籠城当時の武家の中には司馬遼太郎さんのご先祖さまもいたという。
どうもこの家系の周辺には歴史とか民俗とかに深い造詣を持たれた人物が発掘される。
こちらの柳田國男さん生家は県の重要文化財指定を受けている。そういうことで公開されているので、その空気感を味わうことができる。柳田國男さんはとくに「小さい家」と生家での暮らしを表象されて民俗学研究の基盤となっていたと告白されている。そしてその出発点は、家の小ささから来る、日本人の暮らしようへの強い思いだったのだろうと思われる。
日本人と住まい、という意味ではその後のわたしたち北海道人はまさにその点で、好むと好まざるに関わらず、直接的に向き合わさざるを得ず、結果として「高断熱高気密」という住宅技術の開発・摂取に向き合って行った。民族の北方展開フロンティアとして「すみごこち」に向き合って、住宅性能向上という大テーマに立ち向かって行った。そのときに日本の伝統的住宅工法に「解」を求めたけれど、残念ながらその道は開かれず、やむなく北欧や北米に知見を求めた。高断熱高気密という工法の道筋は開けたけれど、建築工法は日本独特の木組み、柱・梁で構造を作る「在来工法」。必然的に出来上がる「部材間のスキマ」は活発な空気流動を必然化させて、あたたかい家という目的には、基本的に合致しない。むしろ、その空隙は材の乾燥を維持させる家の長命化根拠ともされていた。そういうなかから地域の官民学総体で工法発展に全力を挙げてきた。
たぶん柳田さんのような方が北海道に生を受けていれば、また違った民俗学に集大成したのかも知れないという想像を抱いている次第です。

図は柳田國男の民俗学の解明領域をあらわしたもの。その研究の基盤領域として大きく「民家」が示されて、その素材、工法の研究が挙げられている。
たぶん、このスタートラインが北海道民にとっては決定的にこだわらざるを得なかった部分。播州と、当時はまだ人口進出の進んでいなかった「新開地」北海道の相違になったのでしょう。人生を決定づけたであろう青春期に柳田さんが多少なりとも北海道と縁を持てば、日本の住文化は違う展開だったかも知れない。そのあたりが、ミッシングリンクという思い。
同じく住宅への強い興味を出発点としながら、一方は民俗学の創始に至り、かたや北海道民は非文学的・非情緒的な理性的透明性に向かったと言えるのでしょうか。文学と科学か。

English version⬇

The Missing Link Between Smallness and Coldness of Houses – Folklore and Highly Insulated Houses – 2
From the mid-Meiji period to the mid-Showa period, there was a difference in the direction of housing culture development. One was toward emotionality, the other toward rational transparency. …

Kunio Yanagida, the father of Japanese folklore, was born in 1875 and passed away in 1962 after 87 years of life. This is a series of “interviews” exploring his birthplace. He is known for an episode in his childhood when he indulged in reading books in the collection of the Miki family residence, a large headman’s family since the Edo period, which was an “intellectual information center” for the neighboring community.
The Miki family, which has its roots in Eiga, Banshu, shares the tradition of being descended from the Miki clan, a local military force during the Warring States period. It is said that Ryotaro Shiba’s ancestors were among the samurai families at the time of the siege of Miki Castle in Eiga.
Apparently, people with a deep knowledge of history and folklore have been discovered in the vicinity of this family.
Kunio Yanagida’s birthplace has been designated an important cultural property by the prefecture. As such, it is open to the public so that visitors can experience the atmosphere of the house. Kunio Yanagida confessed that the “small house” and the life in his birthplace were the basis of his folklore research. The starting point of his research was probably his strong desire for the Japanese way of life, which comes from the smallness of the house.
In terms of the Japanese and housing, we in Hokkaido were forced to directly confront this very point, whether we liked it or not, and as a result, we faced the development and consumption of “highly insulated and airtight” housing technology. Facing “Sumigokoshiki” as the frontier of the northern development of the people, they confronted the major theme of improving housing performance. At that time, I sought a “solution” in traditional Japanese housing construction methods, but unfortunately that path was not open, and I was forced to seek knowledge in Northern Europe and North America. Although a path was opened for a highly insulated and airtight construction method, the construction method was the “conventional construction method,” which is based on the unique Japanese wooden structure of posts and beams. The “gaps between members” that inevitably form between members inevitably lead to active air flow, which is fundamentally incompatible with the goal of a warm house. Rather, the voids were considered to be the basis for maintaining the dryness of the wood and thus prolonging the life of the house. It was against this backdrop that the local government, private sector, and academia all made efforts to develop the construction method.
I imagine that if a person like Mr. Yanagida had been born in Hokkaido, he might have compiled a different kind of folklore.

The figure shows the areas of Yanagida Kunio’s ethnography. As the basic area of his research, “minka” is shown as a large area, and the study of its materials and construction methods is mentioned.
Perhaps, this starting point is the area that Hokkai-do people had no choice but to stick to. It probably became the difference between Banshu and the “newly developed” Hokkaido, which at that time had not yet advanced in population. If Mr. Yanagida had had some connection with Hokkaido in his youth, which would have determined the course of his life, Japan’s residential culture might have developed differently. This is the missing link in my mind.
While both share the same strong interest in housing as their starting point, one has led to the creation of folklore, while the people of Hokkaido have moved toward a non-literary and non-emotional rational transparency?

Posted on 11月 15th, 2023 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 住宅性能・設備, 日本社会・文化研究 | No Comments »

絵というのは人間にとって、コトバ以上に本然的なコミュニケーションツール。アルタミラとかラスコーとかの洞窟絵画は低酸素状態になりやすい洞窟で絵を描くことで、意識混濁、もうろうとした心的状態になることを、むしろ意図的に自らを追い込んで、よりスピリチュアルな表現を目指したと言われている。また、その目的として天体の運行などの自然科学的探究を表現したとも言われている。美術の歴史とはそういう精神の結界、宗教的な空間にごく自然に蓄積されてきたことは自明。
北海道島でも積丹半島の手宮などで洞窟絵画が人類痕跡として遺されている。見学するときにはそういう空気感がオーラとして自分を包んでくれているように感じられる。そういう体感が好きです。
本州でも各所にそういった絵画空間はあるけれど、建築空間に宗教が集約されていって、奉納画というようなジャンル形式が成立していったのでしょう。きのう紹介したアマテラスの絵なども画題としてけっこう多いそうで、最近建てられた神社では、アニメ顔のカワイイ系のアマテラス画像なども奉納されているという。まことに「世に連れ」というごく身近な表現形式といえるのでしょう。
撮影してきた英賀神社の掲額画の表現テーマは比較的に武者絵の類が数としては多い。日本史がはじまって以来、継続してきた戦争は民人の人生・生き様に直接的にかかわり、そのぶん強い興味が働いてきたに相違ない。現代でこそ「政経」は分離しているけれど、歴史的には一体のものであって、現世でのひとの運命に大きな影響をもたらせてきたことを表しているのでしょう。
上に挙げた絵は、年代不詳だけれど、画題を見ているとどうも天皇の行幸風景かと。屋根の上に皇位を示す鳳凰の像が立っている鳳輦（ほうれん）と呼ばれる乗り物が画面中央に描かれている。白衣を着た多くの人間によって「神輿」のように持ち上げられている。
その後方には「関白」という文字も見えるので、天皇に供奉していることを表現したのか。さらに先導するように武家が描かれているので、年代的には江戸期の典型的な社会権威体系を表していると思える。この姫路市英賀の周辺に天皇の行幸があった記録であるのか、単なる創作であったのか不明。
その下の２枚に分けた絵は、「縣社英賀神社祭典の図」と題された画題。縣社というのは神社の社格を表していて、官・国幣社より下、郷社(ごうしゃ)より上で、県から奉幣した神社とされるけれど、神輿をたくさんの裸形の人びとが威勢よく担ぎ上げている勇壮な図柄。角村ごとの名前が神輿に付けられているので、この英賀神社周辺の人びとがムラ同士の競争意識に駆り立てられるという日本的な民俗をよく伝えてくれている。
願主としては「付城村」で明治31年という年代。ちなみに付城という地名はいまの「英賀保」駅のすぐ近くに確認できる。英賀神社にもほど近い。
民俗のありようがさまざまに想像されてくる。時間を超えて民人と対話できる機縁ですね。

English version⬇

Aga Shrine -4- “Folk” Consciousness Revealed in Dedication Painting
The emperor’s visit and the competitive festivals held by each mura (village) for local deities. The kitschy expression of the votive picture is fragrant with the base of Japanese sentiment. ・・・・.

Painting is a more natural communication tool for human beings than words. It is said that cave paintings such as those in Altamira and Lascaux were created in caves where people were prone to hypoxic conditions, and that the painters intentionally pushed themselves into a state of mental confusion and stupor in order to achieve a more spiritual expression. It is also said that the artist’s goal was to express natural scientific explorations such as the operation of the heavenly bodies. It is obvious that the history of art has accumulated quite naturally in such spiritual and religious spaces.
On the island of Hokkaido, cave paintings have been left behind as traces of mankind in places such as Temiya on the Shakotan Peninsula. When I visit, I feel as if such atmosphere surrounds me as an aura. I like that kind of experience.
In Honshu, too, there are such paintings in various places, but it is likely that religion was concentrated in architectural spaces and a genre form such as votive paintings was established. The picture of Amaterasu introduced yesterday is said to be one of the most common subjects of votive pictures, and at a recently built shrine, a kawaii image of Amaterasu with an anime face is also dedicated. It is truly a very familiar form of expression that “brings us into the world.
The themes of expression in the Eiga Shrine’s hanging paintings that I have photographed are comparatively numerous in the form of warrior paintings. Since the beginning of Japanese history, wars have been directly related to the lives and lifestyles of the people, which must have been the reason for their strong interest in war. Although “politics and economics” are separated today, historically they are one and the same and have had a great influence on people’s destiny in this world.
The above painting is undated, but the title suggests that it is a scene of an emperor on his way to the capital. In the center of the painting is a palanquin with a phoenix on its roof, signifying the imperial throne. It is being lifted up like a “portable shrine” by many people dressed in white.
The word “Kanpaku” can be seen in the back of the palanquin, perhaps representing the fact that the palanquin is being offered to the emperor. Furthermore, since a samurai family is depicted leading the way, it seems to represent a typical social authority system of the Edo period in terms of chronology. It is unclear whether this is a record of an emperor’s visit to the area around Eiga, Himeji, or whether it was simply a creation.
The painting below it, divided into two sheets, is titled “Agata-sha Eiga Shrine Ritual. The picture is a gallant depiction of a portable shrine being carried by a large number of naked people in a vigorous manner. The name of each Kakumura (village) is attached to the mikoshi, which conveys the Japanese folklore that the people around the Eiga Shrine are driven by a sense of competition among the villages.
The name of the petitioner is “Tsukijo Village” and it dates from the 31st year of Meiji. The name “Tsukishiro” can be found near the current “Eikaho” station. It is also close to Eiga Shrine.
The presence of folk customs can be imagined in a variety of ways. It is an opportunity to communicate with the people beyond time.

Posted on 11月 13th, 2023 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 日本社会・文化研究 | No Comments »