「四百年間のいのちの履歴書」シリーズ、昨日からの「竹原塩田」篇。
　わたしにこの家系史探究の承継を命じた次兄の取り組んでいたのは、やはり「系図」探査という日本人一般にある心的情動部分が大きい。しかし引き継いだわたしは社会的生き様に強く惹かれるタイプ。どんどん探究できる各時代相のなかで、大部分共通したDNAを持つ先祖が、どう生きたかという視点が強まってくる。
　江戸期は当初1800万石程度だった「GDP」が元禄期くらいまでに3000万石程度まで拡大して耕地面積も広がっていた。それと同時に、ひたすら「コメ経済」志向で増税を考えている武家と、拡張された田畑ではむしろ米以外の商品作物への期待感が高まる農家とで対立が生まれる。瀬戸内海海浜地域では農業土木技術のもっとも直接的な商品作物化として「塩業」というニュービジネスが勃興した。
　この瀬戸内海塩業の最先端地域が播州・赤穂で、その経済的富裕の評判を聞きつけた「高家」吉良上野介が露骨に賄賂をせびったのが忠臣蔵事件。縁戚の広島浅野家としてこの塩浜新技術は即、導入された。
　試験操業は大成功し、すぐに塩田の大型化が始められその「浜主」権を求め地元の豪農商は言うに及ばず、遠く広島城下の商家まで利権を競合したという。それに対して浅野藩はさらに積極的な「勧業政策」で応えた。経済最重視の秀吉政権以来の体質が、この浅野家には十分にあったと言えるのだろうか。
　米作農地に対しては増税対応なのに塩田に対しては「勧業的」ならば、民心は当然そうした事業領域に注目していく。
　そもそも新規に開発された「新開」田畑では、米以外の商品作物での現金収入志向が農民層に大きく広がっていった時代相。市場経済が進展していくのは趨勢。
　この竹原塩田からの現金収入は藩経済の主要産品だった。
　わが家系の「所務役」であった原平七は地域総体の管掌はしていたが、塩田の主要部は竹原市域で浅野藩の直轄だった。しかし近隣の吉名村・木谷村は所務役として管掌する塩田地帯。租税の状況について豪農層としてその経済構造については熟知していたことだろう。そして経済構造としては、尾道からの北前交易での「移出」が核心的利益だということはアタマに叩き込まれていた。　＜さらに竹原塩田シリーズ、続きへ＞

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【Takahara Salt Fields: A Regionally Managed “Edo Period New Business”】
The peasantry became strongly drawn to cash income from “cash crops” other than rice. Salt production was the most privileged commodity even within the samurai-dominated system. Its enormous profit rights…

　The “Four Hundred Years of Life’s Resume” series, continuing yesterday’s “Takahara Salt Fields” installment.
My second eldest brother, who entrusted me with continuing this family history research, was driven largely by the typical Japanese emotional attachment to genealogy exploration. But I, who took over, am strongly drawn to examining social ways of life. As I delve deeper into each era, my focus intensifies on how ancestors sharing largely common DNA lived their lives.
During the Edo period, the “GDP”—initially around 18 million koku—expanded to roughly 30 million koku by the Genroku era, accompanied by increased cultivated land. Simultaneously, conflict arose between the samurai class, fixated on a “rice economy” and seeking tax increases, and the farmers, who saw the expanded fields as opportunities for cash crops beyond rice. Along the Seto Inland Sea coast, a new business emerged: the salt industry. This represented the most direct application of agricultural engineering techniques to cash crop production.
　The forefront of this Setouchi salt industry was Banshu (present-day Hyogo Prefecture) and Akō. Hearing of its economic prosperity, the high-ranking court noble Kira Kozukenosuke blatantly demanded bribes, sparking the Chūshingura incident. As a related clan, the Hiroshima Asano family immediately adopted this new salt field technology.
　Trial operations proved highly successful, prompting immediate expansion of the salt fields. Local wealthy farmers and merchants, naturally, sought the rights to manage these “salt fields,” and even merchants from distant Hiroshima Castle town competed for these privileges. The Asano domain responded with an even more aggressive “promotion of industry policy.” One might say the Asano family fully embodied the economic-first mindset inherited from the Hideyoshi administration.
While imposing tax increases on rice-farming land, the domain adopted a “promotional” stance toward salt fields. Naturally, public attention shifted toward such ventures.
Moreover, newly developed “reclaimed” farmland fostered a widespread trend among peasants toward cash crops for income beyond rice. The advancement of a market economy was an inevitable trend.
　Cash income from the Takehara salt fields was a primary product of the domain’s economy.
Hara Heishichi, who served as the “Sokumyaku” (administrative officer) for our family branch, managed the overall region, but the main salt fields were located within Takehara City and were directly controlled by the Asano domain. However, the salt field areas in the neighboring villages of Yoshiina and Kitan were under his jurisdiction as Sokumyaku. As a wealthy farmer, he would have been thoroughly familiar with the economic structure and tax situation. And as for the economic structure, it was drummed into our heads that the core profit came from the “shipment” via the Kitamae trade from Onomichi.

●Notice
My book “Writers and Living Spaces” published as an e-book by Gentosha
Available on Amazon.

Posted on 2月 12th, 2026 by 三木 奎吾
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　選挙関連の時事ネタから「四百年間のいのちの履歴書」シリーズに復帰。
　先日来、百姓一揆で「打ち毀された」家系先祖の資料を探索して鬱勃とする思いが湧き上がっている。ブログ記事として書いたら自分自身1970年安保学生運動に高校生として参加していた当時のことが記憶復元してきていた。たまたま知人から反響・意見もいただいて、まざまざと当時の記憶がよみがえってきた。
　それは高校時代の政治的テーマでの「全校集会」でのこと。
　わたしの通った高校は自由な校風が謳われる環境。当時多感な高校生にとっても反安保闘争は大いに刺激される世の動き。わたしはそういう学生運動に共感した渦の中心にいた活動家。当時の佐藤首相が訪米してアメリカとの間で「安保条約」改訂の最終交渉に向かう直前。学内で朝の全校集会時にその問題を提起して多くの賛同を得て「学生集会」へと集会目的を切り替えさせていた。
　わたしは「新左翼系」の運動に参加していた。集会では共産党系の「民青」とおぼしき発言も出ていたが、それに対して反論を加えて多数からの支持を受けたりしていた。
　やがて集会が盛り上がってきたので、わたしはそれまで隠していた活動家の証明の「ヘルメット」をやおら被って「学内デモでみんなの意思表示をしよう！」と呼びかけた。空気が一変し、なんとたいへん多数の賛同を得ることが出来た。その瞬間の熱気はいまでも記憶の底にある。
　そして学生玄関先で高校生のデモ隊列を指揮していたとき、共産党系の活動家と認識していたわたしの担任の先生が脇に立ち現れ「三木、絶対に学外には出るなよ！オマエ以外はみんな無垢の高校生だ。かれらに違法行為（無届けデモ）をさせるのは、絶対にやめろよ！」と説得に来ていたのだ。
　それに対してわたしは「それは心配いりません。オレが処分されるのは甘受するけれど、参加してくれるみんなを違法行為に引き込んだりはしませんから」と返答していた。
　・・・わたしの家系先祖の百姓一揆「打ち毀し」受難体験を江戸期の浅野藩の「公式記録」で掘り起こしていて、自分自身のこのときの体験記憶がフラッシュバックした。さらに百姓一揆での倫理的な「掟」を学習させていただくなかで、その日本的な対応の近似性が血肉的に感じられたのだ。
　300年以上の時空を越えて、それも立場が反対と思えるようなフラッシュバック。
　江戸期のひとびとの高い精神性と、それがわたしたちにすら伝統意識として「つたわっている」かと。
　そしてさらに、こうした高校生運動を受け止めていた当時の高校校長が、PTA集会で親御さんたちから「どうしてデモを阻止しなかったのか」と糾弾されたとき「教育者としてこどもを信じないでどうするのですか」と答えていた事実を、恥ずかしながら56年の時間を経てブログ記事反応で、はじめて知らされた。
　血脈DNAの複層的な体験と周囲の反応、社会が見つめる「視線」それらが渾然一体となっての再生。歴史と人間というもののリアリティに沈殿させられている次第。・・・
＜写真は百姓一揆「打ち毀し」絵図と1969年学生運動記録＞

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【The DNA of the 1718 Peasant Uprising and the 1969 Student Movement: “Reviving Experiential Memory”】
From exploring records of uprising suppression, reviving “ethnic social memory” across 300 years of time and space. The enduring power of our ancestors’ ethical convictions. …

　Returning to the “Four Hundred Years of Life’s Resume” series from election-related current events.
Recently, exploring materials on ancestors from a family line “smashed to pieces” in a peasant uprising has stirred up a surge of pent-up emotions. Writing about it as a blog post triggered memories of my own participation in the 1970 Security Treaty student protests as a high schooler. Receiving reactions and opinions from acquaintances by chance vividly brought those memories back to life.
It was during a “school-wide assembly” on a political theme back in high school.
My high school boasted an environment celebrated for its liberal ethos. For sensitive high schoolers like us, the anti-Security Treaty struggle was a hugely stimulating social movement. I was an activist right in the thick of it, deeply sympathetic to that student movement. It was just before then-Prime Minister Sato visited the US to enter final negotiations with America on revising the Security Treaty. During a morning school-wide assembly, I raised the issue, gained significant support, and successfully shifted the assembly’s purpose to a “student assembly.”
I was involved in the “New Left” movement. At the assembly, statements likely from Communist Party-affiliated “Minsei” members were made, but I countered them and gained support from the majority.
As the assembly grew more heated, I suddenly put on the “helmet” I had been hiding—my activist’s badge—and called out, “Let’s express our will through an on-campus demonstration!” The atmosphere shifted instantly, and to my surprise, I gained overwhelming support. The fervor of that moment remains etched in my memory.
　Then, while directing the high school student demonstration line at the university entrance, my homeroom teacher—whom I recognized as a Communist Party activist—appeared beside me. He pleaded, “Miki, absolutely do not leave the campus! Everyone else here is innocent high school students. You must not lead them into illegal activity (an unregistered demonstration)!”
To this, I replied “Don’t worry about that. I’ll accept whatever punishment comes my way, but I won’t drag anyone else into illegal activity.”
…I was researching my family’s history of suffering during the peasant uprising “Uchikudashi” through the Edo-period Asano domain’s “official records,” and my own memory of this experience flashed back. Furthermore, as I learned the ethical “code” of the peasant uprising, I felt its Japanese-style response resonate deeply within me.
A flashback spanning over 300 years of time and space, and one where the positions seemed reversed.
The high spirituality of the Edo period people, and how it might still be “transmitted” to us as a sense of tradition.
　Moreover, I was ashamed to learn only now, 56 years later through a blog comment, that the high school principal who had supported these student movements was once confronted by parents at a PTA meeting: “Why didn’t you stop the demonstrations?” To which he replied, “As an educator, how can I not believe in the children?”
　The multi-layered experience of bloodline DNA, the reactions of those around us, and the “gaze” society casts upon us—all these blend into a single, regenerative whole. I find myself immersed in the reality of history and humanity. …

●Notice
My book “Writers and Living Spaces” published as an e-book by Gentosha
Available on Amazon.
　

Posted on 2月 10th, 2026 by 三木 奎吾
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　昨日、育児支援で大忙しのカミさんと久しぶり息抜きに夫婦水入らずで、クルマを走らせて海辺の温泉へ。
　やはり北海道の自然は季節の微妙なうつろいを感じさせて、癒してくれる。つい先日までの大雪では高速道路もしばらく不通だったのですが、除雪も完璧にされていて、みなさんの努力に頭が下がりますね。
　この時期の北海道は雪がたっぷり降り積もっていますが、太陽光は徐々に明るさが増してくる。一種の「季語」として光の春というコトバが北海道にはあるのですが、そんな季節感。
　たしかに雪は多く寒冷は最高潮に達してくるのですが、この光の春の陽光が、白い雪原に反射して視界の明度が格段に上がってくるのですね。それでトンネルの暗転で眼の調節機能が「びっくり」してしまう（笑）。
　そういうことも含めて「季語感」が迫ってきますね。
　写真は、北海道神宮本殿から300mほどの森の中でいつも出会うリス。
　久しぶりに顔を覗きに行ったのですが、かれもこっちを凝視してくる。「お、なんかコイツ見たことあるな。なんだよ、エサでオレを自由に操ろうとするのか？」みたいな波動を伝えてくる（笑）。
　「いやいや、動物虐待である餌やりなどは絶対しないよ。」
　「なんだ、写真撮るだけかよ。オレにも肖像権はあるからな」。
　「いや、ブログでだけくらいだから許してくれよ」
　「う〜む、ワルげはなさそうだから許してやるか、ふむ」
　・・・みたいな妄想対話が楽しい。
　さて本日は投票日。わたしたち夫婦は高齢者らしく天候悪化での危険を避けて期日前投票を済ませていますが、親族の投票の支援のために「留守番」役をしてきます。札幌はいまのところはそう荒天にはならないようですので、未来へのきちんとした意思表示を。

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When winter comes, spring cannot be far behind—toward the light of spring.
“The light of spring”—perhaps a seasonal phrase unique to Hokkaido.
Snow stretches as far as the eye can see, and the sun sparkles brightly upon it.
I pray for fine weather today.

　Yesterday, my wife, who’s been swamped with childcare duties, and I took a rare break for some couple time alone. We drove to a seaside hot spring.
Hokkaido’s nature truly makes you feel the subtle shifts of the seasons and heals you. Just the other day, heavy snow closed the expressway for a while, but the snow removal was perfect. I’m truly impressed by everyone’s efforts.
　Hokkaido at this time of year is blanketed in deep snow, yet the sunlight gradually grows brighter. There’s a term in Hokkaido, a sort of seasonal word, called “light spring” (hikari no haru) – that’s the feeling of the season.
True, the snow is deep and the cold reaches its peak, but the sunlight of this light spring reflects off the white snowfields, dramatically increasing the brightness of the landscape. That’s why when you enter a tunnel, your eyes get a real shock adjusting to the darkness (laugh).
　That sensation, along with everything else, really brings home the feeling of a seasonal word.
The photo shows a squirrel I always encounter in the woods about 300 meters from the main hall of Hokkaido Jingu Shrine.
I went to peek at him after a long time, and he stared right back at me. He seemed to be sending off vibes like, “Oh, I’ve seen this guy before. What’s up? Trying to manipulate me with food?” (laughs).
　“No, no, I’d never do something cruel like feeding animals.”
“Oh, you just want a picture? I’ve got portrait rights too, you know.”
“Come on, it’s just for my blog. Cut me some slack.”
“Hmm… You don’t seem too shady. I guess I’ll let you off. Hmm.”
…That kind of imaginary dialogue is fun.
　Today is election day. Being the responsible seniors we are, my wife and I already voted early to avoid the dangers of worsening weather. But now we’re heading out to “hold down the fort” while helping relatives cast their votes. Sapporo doesn’t seem to be getting hit too hard by the storm just yet, so let’s make sure our voices are heard for the future.

●Notice
My book “Writers and Living Spaces” is now available as an e-book from Gentosha.
Available on Amazon.

Posted on 2月 8th, 2026 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 未分類 | No Comments »

　昨日に引き続き1718年の広島浅野藩領での「亨保の百姓一揆」について。
　江戸時代も中頃になると各藩財政が苦境に至っていた。幕府は将軍吉宗が享保の改革を打ち出し財政再建を図るけれど、数年前から広島藩も農民に対して倹約令を出し貢租の増徴を計っていた。五代藩主浅野吉長は正徳２年（1712年）に徴税強化のため「正徳新格」を発布し財政改革に着手した。従来の「郡奉行ー代官ー大割庄屋ー庄屋ー組頭」という徴税組織を「郡奉行ー郡支配ー所務役人ー頭庄屋ー庄屋ー組頭」に改編。従来形では庄屋や農民の抵抗で財政改革が進まないので、有力庄屋から所務役人を抜擢して苗字帯刀を許し俸給も与え徴税強化推進役にして改革を推進しようというもの。
　この改革によって貢租が強化され、藩全体に農民の不満が当然溜まった。
　上の写真は現在の広島県山県郡北広島町有田に残されている一揆首謀者のひとり吉左衛門さんの「顕彰碑」クローズアップ。義民という尊称。一揆は1718年に勃発し藩全体で30万人が立ち上がった。藩は一揆側の要求を丸呑みし、課税強化策として導入した「所務役」制度をすぐに制度撤回し旧来に戻し行政対応のまずさを是認した。一揆側の政治的勝利。
　しかし一方で騒動のほとぼりが冷めた１ヶ月後、一揆首謀者は藩全体で49名が斬首・獄門の極刑に処せられ入牢などが129名、その他逐電逃亡したもの多数に及んだとされる。２枚目の古文書翻刻文は藩の一揆首謀者への処分対応記録文。「即刻死罪」と武家独裁らしい残獄さ。現代世界まで残る「独裁」の無能・無惨。
・・・わが家系の原平七さんはこの渦中のど真ん中にいた。それも藩と百姓一揆側のど真ん中（泣）。
　「有力庄屋から所務役人を抜擢」され俸給も受けていた以上、封建制社会の中での「最適解」として生きてきたことが社会的に認証されたに等しい。その境遇に対し謙虚であるのは、子孫として理解できる。
　しかし結果、理不尽という言葉の前で、現代のわたしでも立ち止まってしまう。
　まさか所務役という抜擢指名を拒否することは、それ自体が反逆行為で「即刻死罪」だろう。
　日本社会ではやむを得ない「流れ」と言えるだろうか。一方で一揆後５−６年で首謀者は「義民」として尊称される。一時期高校生の少年期、新左翼運動に関わった自分自身としても、DNAの不思議な邂逅に驚かされざるを得ない。・・・

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【The “School Administrator” Who Was Beaten to Death: The Rebels’ Call to “From the Gallows to Commemoration”】
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, as I became deeply involved in the New Left movement in high school, I was forced to confront the DNA of ancestors caught between the cracks of social systems. An encounter with injustice. …

　Continuing from yesterday, regarding the “Kyōhō Peasants’ Uprising” in the Hiroshima Asano domain in 1718.
By the mid-Edo period, the finances of various domains had reached a critical state. Although the shogunate, under Shōgun Yoshimune, implemented the Kyōhō Reforms to rebuild the finances, the Hiroshima domain had also been issuing austerity decrees to its peasants and attempting to increase tribute taxes for several years. The fifth domain lord, Asano Yoshichō, initiated fiscal reforms in 1712 (Shōtoku 2) by enacting the “Shōtoku New Regulations” to strengthen tax collection. He reorganized the traditional tax collection hierarchy—“District Magistrate → Deputy Magistrate → Major Tax Collector → Village Headman → Group Leader”—into “District Magistrate → District Administrator → Office Clerk → Chief Village Headman → Village Headman → Group Leader.” The previous system stalled fiscal reforms due to resistance from village headmen and peasants. Therefore, influential village headmen were promoted to office clerks, granted the privilege of wearing surnames and swords, and given stipends to serve as tax collection enforcers and drive the reforms forward.
This reform strengthened tribute and tax collection, naturally causing discontent among peasants throughout the domain.
　The photo above shows a close-up of the “Commemorative Monument” for Kichizaemon, one of the leaders of the uprising, preserved in Arita, Kitahiroshima Town, Yamagata District, Hiroshima Prefecture. Honored as righteous citizens. The uprising erupted in 1718, mobilizing 300,000 people across the entire domain. The domain government fully accepted the rebels’ demands, immediately repealing the “administrative officer” system introduced as a tax-strengthening measure and reverting to the old system, thereby acknowledging its poor administrative handling. A political victory for the rebels.
　However, one month later, once the turmoil had subsided, 49 uprising leaders across the domain were executed by beheading or impalement. Another 129 were imprisoned, and many others fled into exile. The second ancient document is a transcript of the domain’s record of punishments for the uprising leaders. The phrase “immediate death penalty” reflects the ruthless cruelty typical of samurai autocracy. The incompetence and cruelty of “dictatorship” that lingers into the modern world.
…My ancestor, Genpei Shichi, was right in the thick of this turmoil. Right in the thick of it for both the domain and the peasant rebels (weeps).
Having been “promoted from influential village headman to official” and receiving a stipend, his life as the “optimal solution” within feudal society was effectively socially validated. As his descendant, I can understand his humility in that situation.
Yet the outcome, faced with sheer injustice, makes even me today pause.
Refusing such an appointment as a feudal official would surely have been an act of rebellion itself, warranting “immediate death penalty.”
　Could this be called an unavoidable “flow” within Japanese society? On the other hand, within five or six years after the uprising, the ringleaders were honored as “righteous citizens.” As someone who was involved in the new leftist movement during my own teenage years in high school, I cannot help but be astonished by this strange encounter within my DNA. …

●Notice
My book “Writers and Living Spaces” published as an e-book by Gentosha
Available on Amazon.

Posted on 2月 6th, 2026 by 三木 奎吾
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　ときどき雪かきなど苦行をしつつ、基本は「広島県史」の丹念な読解作業に沈殿する日々。当然「古語」を読み進めることで、古人と対話する気分。
　わたしの家系に繋がる文書を探すなかで、ときどきよく知られた歴史事象記事も発見する。上の２点の短文記録は、江戸初期に福山藩を支配していた徳川譜代大名・水野家の記録文書より。歴史の大スター織田信長と水野家の主君である徳川家との関係を記録した文書。水野家は徳川（当時は松平）の親戚だけれど桶狭間合戦当時は、織田信長の臣下だった時期に相当している記録。
　上は桶狭間合戦当時の軍勢進退についての記述。「織田信長は諸城に警衛の士を入れ置いていた事」というタイトル。永禄３（1560）年、今川義元の軍勢45,000余騎が5月12日に駿河を発って尾張に向かった。先鋒はこれも後に徳川氏に臣従する井伊真盛ならびに三河岡崎城主・徳川蔵人元康。（略）信長は・・・
　〜という軍記。徳川期になって書いたのでこの年代本来の松平ではなくて徳川になっている。「忖度」は修飾語など各所に示される。次の文書では水野氏が当時信長に臣従していたので、信長と元康との和睦をとりあつかったと誇らしげに書かれている。これを契機に元康は家康と名をあらためた、という記述。
　・・・まぁ日本史のなかでも有数のポピュラーな史実箇所なので、読み込むこちらもすっかり「お馴染み」感に満たされる。古文書の「入口」として非常に心強く感じさせられる。さらに「言葉遣い・漢字表現」についての時代感覚に慣れるのにはうってつけの読感と思われた。
　現代日本語とはたしかに表記スタイルが違うし、文書毎に「クセ」はあるけれど、民族文化の同質性を強く感じさせら楽しくなってくる。この古文書を書いた人物が生きていた時代背景も「伝わってくる」。
　ほとんど漢字ばかりで現代語のようなカナ使いではないけれどわかりやすい。
　こういうポピュラリティのある記事をときどき目にすることで時代の「空気感」までもが伝播して、いろいろな符合を発見しやすくなってくるものですね。

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English version⬇

【The Accessibility of Ancient Documents Written by Japanese People】
A “breather” article for reading ancient documents tracing the footsteps of close relatives and blood ties. Super famous figures like Nobunaga and Ieyasu appear, making the sense of era come alive. …

　Days spent occasionally enduring hardships like shoveling snow, but fundamentally immersed in the painstaking task of reading the “History of Hiroshima Prefecture.” Naturally, reading the “old language” gives me the feeling of conversing with people of the past.
While searching for documents connected to my family lineage, I occasionally discover well-known historical events. The two short records above are from the documents of the Mizuno family, a hereditary Tokugawa daimyo who ruled the Fukuyama domain in the early Edo period. These documents record the relationship between the historical superstar Oda Nobunaga and the Tokugawa clan, the lords of the Mizuno family. Though the Mizunos were relatives of the Tokugawa (then Matsudaira), this record corresponds to a period when they were vassals of Oda Nobunaga during the Battle of Okehazama.
The first describes the movements of armies during the Battle of Okehazama, titled “Oda Nobunaga had placed guards in various castles.” In the 3rd year of Eiroku (1560), Imagawa Yoshimoto’s army of over 45,000 horsemen departed Suruga on May 12th and headed for Owari. The vanguard was led by Ii Masamori, who would later also become a vassal of the Tokugawa clan, along with Tokugawa Motoyasu, lord of Okazaki Castle in Mikawa. (…) Nobunaga…
~ This military chronicle. Written during the Tokugawa period, it uses “Tokugawa” instead of the original Matsudaira of that era. “Consideration” is indicated by modifiers throughout. The next document proudly states that the Mizuno clan, then vassals to Nobunaga, mediated the reconciliation between Nobunaga and Motoyasu. It describes how Motoyasu changed his name to Ieyasu following this event.
　…Well, this is one of the most popular historical events in Japanese history, so even as a reader delving into it, I’m completely filled with a sense of familiarity. It feels incredibly reassuring as an “entry point” into ancient documents. Furthermore, it seemed like the perfect reading experience for getting accustomed to the period sensibilities regarding “word choice and kanji expressions.”
　The writing style certainly differs from modern Japanese, and each document has its own quirks, but it strongly conveys the homogeneity of the ethnic culture, which becomes quite enjoyable. The historical context of the era in which the person who wrote this ancient document lived also “comes through.”
It’s almost entirely kanji, not using kana like modern Japanese, but it’s easy to understand.
Occasionally encountering such popular articles allows the “atmosphere” of the era to permeate, making it easier to discover various connections.

●Notice
My book “Writers and Living Spaces” published as an e-book by Gentosha
Available on Amazon.

Posted on 2月 4th, 2026 by 三木 奎吾
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