iPhoneの写真機能がどんどん高度化してきて、専用カメラをあんまり使わなくなってきた。画像解像度もそこそこ高度化してきているので、一般的な「説明」用写真としてのレベルは確保される。
　わざわざ専用用途としての機器、デジカメを持参しなくてもスマホで十分になってきて、わたしの場合には「取材行動範囲」設定が非常に自由になってきている。撮影専用のカメラを意識しなくてもいいというのは、たぶん多くの人にも意識変化をもたらしてきているでしょうね。やはり現代のデジタル革命の中心に、スマホとその出撃基地としてのパソコンという強い「連携」があるのでしょう。
　ただし、恥ずかしながら上の写真はひとつの「限界」を示してもくれている（泣）。
　やはりこういう自然の美の一瞬には十分に対応できていない。
　こういった高精細が要求される画面ショットを狙うのであれば、やはり専用のカメラが絶対に必要なのでしょうね。ただし、それはそれで「一瞬の美」に対して、設定チャンスを逃さないという事前準備が不可欠になってくる。まぁ、一般人としてはこの写真程度の表現力でやむを得ないのでしょうね。
　最近カミさんと自然のなかを歩く機会が増えてきて、っていうか、わたしは毎朝の散歩を始め、とにかく歩きまわって興味分野の「取材」行脚が、習い性になっているのだけれど、ようやく彼女も仕事の強い束縛からすこし自由になってきて、外出できる機会が増えてきたということかと。
　で、「最近、すごく奇妙な鳴き声の鳥たちとたくさん出会うんだけど、どうよ？」みたいに問いかけられています。わたしにはそういう自然探究型の興味はまったくなく、「あ、いい声の鳥だなぁ」くらいしか感想がありません。まったく「ぼーっ」と過ごしている（笑）。
　しかしいろいろな地域で、その土地の森や林のなかを歩くと、さまざまな鳥たちがまるで交響曲のようにさえずりを聞かせてくれる。北海道では花見が過ぎたら、一気に春から初夏の季節感がやってきて、その交響楽がすばらしくパワーアップしてくる。
　そういうなかで散歩していると双眼鏡を持った方と遭遇して「あの鳥はなんでしょうね？」とよく聞かれるように思う。人からなんとなく「もの問いたげ」に思われるのはありがたいのですが、あいにくそういう知識はきれいサッパリない。「申し訳ありません、いい鳴き声ですね」くらいしか返答できないのですね。う〜む、日本野鳥の会にでも入会しなければならないか（笑）。
　さていろいろな新分野の準備作業が本格化してきて、目はやや充血っぽくなってくる。きょうもまた、そういう目のメンテナンスの意味で散歩を楽しんで参ります。

English version⬇

Kaoru Wakaba’s Eye Candy and Exploration of “New Fields” in a Few Months
I often work with photographs because of my job, and when I get tense, my eyes become bloodshot. Birds heal me when I am in nature. I am a bird lover.

The iPhone’s photo functionality is becoming more and more advanced, and I don’t use the dedicated camera as much as I used to. The resolution of images is also becoming more advanced, so the level of photos for general “explanatory” purposes can be ensured.
　I don’t have to bring a digital camera, but a smartphone is sufficient, and I can set my “coverage area” very freely. Not having to be aware of the need for a dedicated camera for photography has probably brought about a change in consciousness among many people. After all, at the center of the modern digital revolution is the “linkage” of the smartphone and the computer as its launching pad.
　However, I am ashamed to admit that the above photo also shows one of the “limitations” of the digital revolution.
　After all, it does not adequately respond to these moments of natural beauty.
　If you are aiming for screen shots that require this kind of high definition, then I guess a dedicated camera is absolutely necessary. However, that would make it essential to prepare in advance for the “beauty of the moment” by not missing the chance to set it up. Well, as an ordinary person, I guess I have no choice but to use this level of photographic expression.
　Recently, my wife and I have been having more and more opportunities to walk in nature, or rather, I have been taking a walk every morning and walking around to “cover” areas of interest, which has become a habit of mine.
　She asked me, “Lately, I’ve been encountering a lot of birds with very strange sounds. I am being asked questions like that. I have no interest in this type of exploration of nature, and all I can say is, “Oh, that’s a nice-sounding bird. I am totally “absentminded” (laughs).
　However, when I walk through the forests and woodlands of various regions, I hear a variety of birds chirping like a symphony. In Hokkaido, after the cherry-blossom viewing season has passed, spring and early summer arrive at once, and the symphony is wonderfully enhanced.
　When I take a walk in such a situation, I often encounter people with binoculars and ask them, “What is that bird? I am often asked, “What is that bird? I appreciate the fact that people look at me as if I am asking a question, but I have no such knowledge at all. I can only reply, “I’m sorry, but it’s a nice sound. I should join the Wild Bird Society of Japan (laugh).
　Now the various preparatory work is in full swing, and my eyes are starting to look a little bloodshot. I will enjoy my walk again today in the sense of such eye maintenance.

Posted on 5月 15th, 2024 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 日本社会・文化研究 | No Comments »

　さて事業承継に関わるいろいろな案件なども一段落して、わたし自身は新しい目標分野に軸足を移してきています。しかし人間のやることなので、これまでの経験知などを基礎にして、その発展領域ということになっていくことは自明。
　わたしは住宅建築の領域でメディアを作ってきたのが基本生態だったので、そういった流れからのNEXTということになっていくものと思っています。
　そういう心理の向かう先として写真のような廃屋に強く惹かれるようになる。
　あ、廃屋フリーク建築写真家がいるようですが、そういうフェッチ心理ではありません（笑）。そうではなく、その建物とそこで暮らした人間の相関関係という領域に、興味が向かってきているということなのですね。こういった廃屋から立ち上ってくる叫び声のようなものがあり、それにも大きな興味は持つのです。
　この廃屋は先日、十勝に夫婦で弾丸ツアーしたときに、カミさんは近くの農協店舗で買いたいものがあって、わたしはそのことになんの興味もなかったので、周辺を放浪していて惹き付けられていたものです。廃屋らしく、建築各部が時間経過による劣化を正直に語ってくれていて、くたびれ果てているとも言えるけれど、ちょっと傲然と、まだまだやれるぜ、と咆哮でもしているかのようでもあった。
　建築用途としては物置小屋としていまもまだ十分に機能しているのでしょう。しかしそれ以上にこの建築がたどってきた人間のくらし模様、それとの関係の中でいわば「物語ってくれる」ものに強く想像力を刺激される。一般的な物置小屋が建築当時からの目的だったのかどうかも、その開口部の多さから考えてやや疑問に感じる。
　構造力学的な劣化は、この開口部の脆弱性からへしゃげたような外観に陥ってしまったことを証言しているかのようだ。この開口部を考えれば、一時期、居住用として利用されていたのかも知れない。戦後直後には北海道はいっとき全国一の人口規模だったことがある。言うまでもなく首都圏・東京の空襲焼け野原ぶりから、焼け出された人びとが、希望の新天地としてとりあえず土地があって、食糧を得られると考えたからに違いない。
　そういった人びとは、多少の縁者を求めてその家屋に隣接する小屋を建てたか、求めたということが十分に想像される。
　・・・みたいな、より「人間」に寄った建築模様という領域が、意識されるようになって来たのですね。住宅建築を「伝える」ことを永年続けてきた人間として、ある意味では必然的な「転身」と言えるかもしれない。体調を考えながら、ゆっくりと、こんな領域を考えて行きたいと念願しております。廃屋さんたち、いっしょに頑張ろうね（笑）。

English version⬇

The cry of an “abandoned house” that still illuminates the human way of life.
The field of interest shifts and transforms from “conveying” the dwelling to the relationship with the inner world of people. The non-verbal spatiality of people and space. The non-verbal spatiality of people and space.

Now that I have completed my various business succession projects, I am shifting my focus to a new area of interest. However, since this is a human activity, it is obvious that it will be based on my past experience and knowledge, and that it will be an area of development.
　My basic ecology has been to create media in the field of residential architecture, so I believe that this will be the next step in that direction.
　As the destination of such psychology, I am strongly attracted to abandoned houses like the one in the photo.
　There seem to be architectural photographers who are “abandoned house freaks,” but this is not a fetishistic mentality (laughs). (laugh) Rather, my interest is moving toward the realm of the correlation between the building and the people who lived there. There is a kind of scream that rises from these abandoned buildings, and I have a great interest in that as well.
　This abandoned house attracted my attention when we were on a tour of Tokachi the other day, wandering around the area because my wife wanted to buy something at a nearby agricultural cooperative store, and I had no interest in that. It was a house that had been abandoned, and each part of the building honestly told the story of its deterioration over time, and although it could be described as tired and worn out, it also seemed to be arrogantly bellowing, “I can still do it.
　As a building, it is probably still fully functional as a storage shed. However, more than that, I was strongly stimulated by the story that this building tells us about the patterns of human life that it has followed and its relationship with them. The number of openings in the building makes it somewhat questionable whether a typical storage shed was the purpose of the building at the time of its construction.
　The deterioration of the structural mechanics seems to testify to the fact that the vulnerability of these openings has resulted in a hewn appearance. Considering this opening, it may have been used for residential purposes at one time. Immediately after the war, Hokkaido once had the largest population in the country for a while. Needless to say, this must have been because people who had been burned out in the air raids on the Tokyo metropolitan area thought that they could find land and food as a new place of hope.
　It is quite imaginable that those people built or sought huts adjacent to their houses in order to have some connections.
　I think that people have come to be aware of architectural patterns that are more “human” in nature, like this. As someone who has been “communicating” residential architecture for many years, in a sense, this could be called an inevitable “shift. I hope to slowly consider such an area, while keeping my physical condition in mind. Abandoned houses, let’s work together (laughs).
　

Posted on 5月 13th, 2024 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 住宅マーケティング | No Comments »

　写真は奈良県橿原市の「橿原考古学研究所附属博物館」の玄関に展示されている一木（いちぼく）製の井戸。展示は３枚目の写真のように横たえられているのですが、わたしの個人的趣味で、この井戸が働き続けていたその「状態」を再現したくて、タテの視線に変えてみました。
　この井戸は大和郡山市の横田堂垣内遺跡にあったもので、飛鳥・奈良時代の刳り貫き井戸とされています。奈良盆地は全体として「水利」が継続的に課題とされる地域だったとの説明を伺ったことがありますが、河川の管理や、飛鳥の王宮に隣接して設けられた「苑池」に象徴的に置かれたという「人工噴水装置」など、並々ならぬ「治水管理」への王権の意思を感じます。
　博物館側の説明を聞いたことはありませんが、苑池の噴水装置とこの「井戸」が同じ玄関のモニュメントとして展示されているのには、そういう意図を感じています。
　以下にこの井戸についての説明文（要旨）。
　〜横田堂垣内遺跡の「一本刳り抜き井戸」　大和郡山市の横田堂垣内遺跡で奈良時代の大きな井戸が確認されました。堀り方の規模は長径6.2m、短径5.7m、深さ3.3mでその中央にこのヒノキの一木を刳り抜いた井戸枠が据えられていました。長さは3.1m、直系は1.0m。これまでに奈良県内で確認された奈良時代の刳り抜き井戸のなかで、斑鳩町法起寺７次調査で発見のものに次ぐきわめて大きなものです。井戸枠の外面側には手斧（ちょうな）による加工痕跡が明瞭に残っています。＜中世の大工技術の参考図参照＞
　一方内面は比較的平滑に仕上げられています。
　井戸枠下方２箇所には方形の孔が穿たれており、そこには外面から別材が嵌め込まれています。この別材には「下」の墨書が認められました。位置は井戸枠の上下と一致しており、井戸設置時、あるいは加工時に必要とされたものと考えられます。〜引用以上。
　少なくとも1000年を超えて残ってきた「職人の仕事」痕跡に、深く思いが募ってくる。

　対照参考として、東北青森県地方の「浪岡城遺跡」での井戸枠復元の痕跡写真。こちら浪岡城は、青森県青森市浪岡にあった日本の城。1460年代に浪岡北畠氏によって築城され、1578年に大浦為信に攻められ落城ということなので、1000年近い時間差、そして遠隔地域ではありますが、こちらでは四角く木組み構造が構成されている。説明書きでは、まず広く深い大きな穴を掘って、そこにこの「構造」を据え付けて、その外周に土を戻して固定させるという段取りと言うこと。上の奈良県内の刳り抜き井戸とほぼ同様の作業段取りの様子がわかる。
　水の確保というもっとも始原的な人間痕跡からは、なにか崇高な部分が感じられて、ずっとこころに沈殿していく気がします。

English version⬇

The technology of wells has supported human life.
Traces of “water utilization” in the Asuka and Nara periods. Traces of civil engineering and woodworking techniques used to “gouge out” giant cypress trees and set them in the ground. I also contrasted the traces of medieval Tsugaru-Namioka in the Tohoku region. The traces of the

The photo shows a well made of ichiboku (one tree), displayed at the entrance of the Museum of the Archaeological Institute of Kashihara in Kashihara City, Nara Prefecture. The exhibit is laid out as shown in the third photo, but for my own personal taste, I wanted to reproduce the “state” in which this well was working continuously, so I changed the view to a vertical perspective.
　This well was located at the Yokota-Dogaki-Uchi site in Yamatokoriyama City and is believed to be a gouged well from the Asuka and Nara periods. I have heard it explained that the Nara Basin as a whole was a region where “water conservation” was a continuous issue, and I feel the extraordinary will of the royal authority for “water control management” through the management of rivers and the “artificial fountain device” that was symbolically placed in the “garden pond” adjacent to the royal palace in Asuka.
　Although I have not heard the museum’s explanation, I sense such an intention in the fact that the fountain device of the Garden Pond and this “well” are exhibited as monuments at the same entrance.
　Below is a description (abstract) of this well.
　〜A large well from the Nara period was found at the Yokotadodogakuchi site in Yamato Koriyama City. The well was 6.2 m long, 5.7 m short, and 3.3 m deep, with a well frame made of a single gouged out cypress tree placed in the center. The well frame is 3.1 m long and 1.0 m straight, making it the second largest gouged well of the Nara period found so far in Nara Prefecture, after the one discovered in the seventh survey at Hokiji, Ikaruga-cho. The outer surface of the well frame shows clear traces of hand-axe work. ＜(See the reference figure on medieval carpentry techniques.
　The inner surface is relatively smooth.
　Two square holes were drilled in the lower part of the well frame, into which another piece of wood was fitted from the outside. The “下” (under) was written in black ink on this separate piece of wood. The position is consistent with the top and bottom of the well frame, and it is thought to have been required at the time of well installation or processing. ~Citation above.
　I am deeply moved by the traces of “craftsmanship” that have remained for at least a thousand years.

As a contrasting reference, here is a photo of the trace of a well frame reconstruction at the Namioka Castle site in the Aomori region of Tohoku. This Namioka Castle was located in Namioka, Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. the castle was built in the 1460s by the Namioka Kitabatake clan, and was attacked by Oura Tamenobu in 1578 and fell, so there is a time difference of almost 1000 years, and in a remote area, a square wooden frame structure was constructed here. According to the description, a large, deep, wide hole was first dug, and then this “structure” was installed in it, and the earth was put back around the perimeter to fix it in place. This is almost the same process as that used for the gouged-out wells in Nara Prefecture.
　The most primitive of human traces, the securing of water, has a sublime quality to it that will remain with us for a long time.

Posted on 5月 11th, 2024 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 日本社会・文化研究 | No Comments »

　道南十二館という北海道島の歴史の中で、どうも縁遠いなぁと感じ続けていたテーマについてたまたま探訪の機会が得られたことで、いろいろな側面を見て来られた。
　このコシャマインの戦い以降、有名なシャクシャインの乱などへと、北海道南部に蟠踞する中世以来の武家権力への交易の民アイヌ民族の抵抗・反乱行動は続いていく。この軋轢、政治・治安上の不安定要因は残念なことにながく継続した。最終的に明治維新による北海道島の日本領土確定からの国防的大量殖民・開拓事業の成功的実現によって、いわば歴史的には「止揚」された。
　このことの解釈についてはいろいろな立場があり得ると思う。
　わたし的に縄文の世から弥生農耕を開始し中央権力を確立して「国家」としての発展を遂げていった「日本社会」とアイヌ社会とが対比的に思われてならない。
　日本社会は中国大陸で律令国家という、当時の感覚で言えば「世界標準」的政治システムが誕生して社会発展の中核として機能していくことに対応して、必然的に自主独立の気風が芽生えたと思う。さらに文字を持たない段階から漢字という文字を導入してその以前から存在していた「やまとことば」との整合性担保作業に、古事記編纂事業など国家権力そのものが強い使命感に燃えて取り組んでいった。
　そういう作業は平安期に至ってまったく独自に「ひらがな・カタカナ」の発明までに達した。その間で「政治・軍事」という領域でも国家国民としての発展を遂げ、聖徳太子の政治外交姿勢「日出ずる国、日沈む国」を国際的に認定させるまでに至っている。
　現代の研究では縄文まで遡れば、日本社会とアイヌ社会にそう大きな違いはなかった。しかし後方羊蹄に郡領を置いた阿倍比羅夫遠征などから始まったと思える日本社会の進出のなかで、この志苔館をめぐる戦闘局面に至っても、アイヌ社会側の「戦略」姿勢というのはよくみえない。
　たしかにコシャマインの戦いは非道で不当な交易条件で虐げ続けられた側が「正義の名の下に」起こした戦役であったのだと思う。しかしたとえばコシャマイン側が戦闘で勝利したとして、その後の発展の方向性、政治の目指すべき未来構想はあったのだろうか、と疑問を感じさせられる。
　道南十二館側は「一所懸命」思想による「御恩と奉公」原則によって主従関係・信用保証されるリアリズムの論理に基づいている。一方非道・不当の対手に対する「怒り」だけでは、戦争後の未来展望も開けていかないのではないだろうか。もちろん結果としてのコシャマイン側の敗走という歴史事実からだけ見た見方だろうことは承知の上。交易の民として、戦役の勝利後、どのような未来社会構想があったのか、あるいはなかったのか、知りたいと思っている。
　探索した範囲では、アイヌ社会の「政治」構造についてすらあまり研究がされていないようだ。今後こうした研究領域が進展することを期待したい。

English version⬇

[Unknown “political warfare” strategy of Ainu society, Battle of Koshamain-4
Moshitora” is the current theme. It can also be translated as “If Kosha”. What kind of future could the Koshamain have offered if they had won this battle? …

I happened to have the opportunity to visit the Twelve Stations of Southern Hokkaido, a theme that I have always felt somewhat remote from the history of the island, and I was able to see various aspects of it.
　After the Battle of Koshamain, the resistance and rebellion of the Ainu people, a trading people, against the samurai power coiled in southern Hokkaido since the Middle Ages, continued, including the famous Shakushain Rebellion. Unfortunately, this friction and political and security instability continued for a long time. Finally, the situation was “resolved” historically with the successful realization of the mass colonization and development of Hokkaido Island as a national defense project following the establishment of Japanese territory on the island by the Meiji Restoration.
　There are many possible interpretations of this.
　I cannot help but think of the contrast between the Ainu society and Japanese society, which developed as a “nation” by starting Yayoi agriculture from the Jomon period and establishing a central authority.
　I believe that Japanese society inevitably developed a spirit of independence in response to the birth of the Ritsuryo state in mainland China, a political system that was the “global standard” in the sense of the time, and functioned as the core of social development. In addition, the state power itself, with a strong sense of mission, worked to ensure consistency with the “Yamato language,” which had existed before the introduction of Chinese characters from the stage of having no written language, through the compilation of the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters) and other projects.
　This process culminated in the invention of hiragana and katakana in the Heian period. During this period, the nation also developed as a nation in the political and military spheres, leading to the international recognition of Prince Shotoku’s political and diplomatic stance, “Land of the rising sun, land of the setting sun.
　Modern research shows that there were no significant differences between Japanese society and Ainu society as far back as the Jomon period. However, even in the midst of the advance of Japanese society, which seems to have begun with the Abenohirau expedition that established a county fiefdom in Yotei in the rear, the “strategic” stance of the Ainu society is not clear when it comes to the battle phase surrounding Shikokan.
　It is true that the Battle of Koshamain was a battle fought “in the name of justice” by the side that had been oppressed by inhumane and unfair terms of trade. However, even if the Koshamain side had won the battle, one wonders if they would have had a direction for their subsequent development and a vision for their political future.
　The Twelve Provinces side is based on the logic of realism, with the principle of “gratitude and dedication” based on the “single-mindedness” philosophy, which guarantees the relationship of master and servant and trustworthiness. On the other hand, “anger” alone against the inhumane and unjust hands will not be enough to open up the future prospects after the war. Of course, I am aware that this view is based only on the historical fact that the Kosher people lost the war as a result. As a trading people, we would like to know what kind of vision of future society they had or did not have after the victory in the war.
　As far as I have explored, it seems that not much research has been done even on the “political” structure of Ainu society. We hope to see progress in this area of research in the future.

Posted on 5月 9th, 2024 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 歴史探訪 | No Comments »

　北海道島の歴史でアイヌ民族と道南十二館という鎌倉〜江戸期の日本社会由来の「武家勢力」の確執、騒乱は繰り返し勃発する。はるかな後世人である北海道人にとっては、避けては通れない歴史の局面だけれど、明治以降の近現代が深く直接的で歴史認識の大部分を占めているので、どうしても縁遠さを感じる。日本史でも北海道は本格的には明治以降の開拓史が中心。
　松前藩というのは北海道島の最南西端の海岸線にしがみついている、という認識。しかし今回探訪してみると、やはり先人達のこの地での息づかいは強く伝わってくる。
　この「コシャマインの戦い」が本格的なアイヌの人びとと和人社会の戦端の嚆矢だけれど、勃発した1457年という時代相が、日本全体にとってどういった背景になっていたのか、連関を確認してみる。

●1455年
　享徳の乱　第5代「鎌倉公方」足利成氏が関東管領・上杉憲忠を暗殺したことから開始。現代の歴史研究において享徳の乱は、関東地方における戦国時代の始まりと位置付けられている。室町「幕府将軍家」と結んだ山内上杉家、扇谷上杉家が鎌倉公方の足利成氏と争い関東地方一円に戦乱拡大。

●1457年
　太田道灌江戸城築城。
「コシャマインの乱」蝦夷南部で勃発し後の松前家始祖・武田信広がこれを鎮圧。


●1467年
　応仁の乱　8代将軍足利義政の継嗣争いなどで発生した内乱。全国「戦国時代」突入。
　このように地理関係と歴史事実の時間関係を関連させると、大きな背景がみえてくる。この志苔館・小林氏は前にみたように1300年代後期に北海道島に流れてきている。群馬県・上野国の地場勢力が南北朝騒乱期に南朝方として活動した後、新天地北海道島に活路を求めた武士団。
　戦国は各地域の一所懸命が進んで経済力が上がって、その経済力を武力で争奪する時代であり、その経済力が北海道島ではアイヌ社会との「交易」による利得だった。コンブは京都などでも日本の味覚文化の基礎を形成し遠く沖縄島までも「コンブ文化圏」に大きく包含されていった。さらに鮭食文化も本州地域に広がっていって、北海道島の「原料出荷地域」としての価値が飛躍的に高まっていった。
　こういう背景事情の中で、アイヌ社会自身も大きく日本社会の貨幣経済に影響され、現地では道南十二館勢力の「搾取」を日常的に受けるようになっていたのだろう。志苔館周辺のアイヌ少年の殺害は、当時のアイヌの人びとの戦闘力の強化、軍事的対抗という方向に向かわせた。
　総数１万というアイヌの軍団が長万部の族長コシャマインに率いられて、焦点の志苔館（防衛軍300人）に襲いかかり、一気に落城させる。武家はアイヌ社会の軍事力を侮っていたか。
　北海道島でも「戦国乱世」が出来したというように言えるのだろうか。
　しかしこういう対決状況について、それをどう処理するか、あるいはそういう軋轢を極力避けるような努力は、和人勢力側になかったのか。交易を経済基盤とするかれら和人武家と、本州以南の農地を基盤とする武家勢力との、体質の違いのようなものを感じさせられる。・・・＜つづく＞

English version⬇

Japan’s “Warring States” and Hokkaido Island: The Battle of Koshamain-2
Ten years before the Onin War. The Kanto region had already entered the Warring States period, and on the island of Hokkaido, Japanese warriors and the Ainu community were engaged in an armed struggle. The Warring States of the North. …

In the history of the island of Hokkaido, feuds and uprisings between the Ainu people and the Donan Junkan, a group of warrior clans that originated in Japanese society from the Kamakura period to the Edo period, have broken out repeatedly. For those of us in Hokkaido, who live far back in history, this is an unavoidable aspect of our history, but since modern history since the Meiji period has been deeply and directly related to our understanding of history, we cannot help but feel a sense of estrangement from the island. Even in Japanese history, Hokkaido’s history has been dominated by the history of development since the Meiji period.
　The Matsumae Clan was thought to be clinging to the southwesternmost coastline of the island of Hokkaido. However, when I visited the area this time, I could still strongly feel the breath of our predecessors in this region.
　The Battle of Koshamain was the first full-scale war between the Ainu people and Japanese society, but let us examine the background of the war in 1457.

The Kyoutoku Rebellion of 1455 began with the assassination of Kanto governor Uesugi Kentsada by Ashikaga Naruke, the fifth “Lord of Kamakura. In modern historical research, the Kyoutoku Rebellion is regarded as the beginning of the Warring States Period in the Kanto region. The Yamauchi Uesugi and Ougitani Uesugi families, who were tied to the Muromachi shogunate, fought against Ashikaga Shigeyoshi, the lord of Kamakura, and the war spread throughout the Kanto region.

1457: Ota Dokan builds Edo Castle.
The Koshamain Rebellion broke out in southern Yezo, which was suppressed by Nobuhiro Takeda, the founder of the Matsumae family.


1467: Onin War (1467-1467): A civil war broke out over the succession of Ashikaga Yoshimasa, the 8th Shogun. The whole country entered the “Warring States Period.
　When we relate the geographical relationship to the time period of the historical facts, we can see a large background. As mentioned earlier, the Shikokan and Kobayashi clans drifted to Hokkaido Island in the late 1300s. After the local power in Ueno Province, Gunma Prefecture, had been active on the Southern Court during the period of upheaval in the Northern and Southern Courts, a group of warriors sought a way of life in the new land of Hokkaido Island.
　The Warring States period was a time when each region worked hard to increase its economic power, which was then contested by military force, and on Hokkaido Island, this economic power was gained through “trade” with the Ainu community. Kelp formed the basis of Japan’s taste culture in Kyoto and elsewhere, and even the distant island of Okinawa was included in the “kelp cultural sphere. Furthermore, the salmon eating culture spread to the Honshu region, and the value of Hokkaido Island as a “raw material shipping area” increased dramatically.
　Against this background, Ainu society itself was greatly influenced by the monetary economy of Japanese society, and the local Ainu community was probably subjected to daily “exploitation” by the Twelve Provinces of Southern Hokkaido. The killing of the Ainu boys in the Shikokan area strengthened the fighting power of the Ainu people at that time and pushed them in the direction of military confrontation.
　The Ainu army, numbering 10,000 in all, led by Choumangu Chief Koshamain, attacked Shikokan (with a defensive force of 300 men), the focal point of the attack, and felled it in one fell swoop. Did the warriors underestimate the military power of the Ainu community?
　Can we say that a “warring age” was also created on the island of Hokkaido?
　However, did the Japanese forces have any ideas on how to handle such confrontation situations, or did they make any efforts to avoid such conflicts as much as possible? It seems to me that there is a difference in the constitution between the Japanese warrior clans, whose economic base is trade, and the warrior clans based on agricultural land south of Honshu. … …
　
　

Posted on 5月 7th, 2024 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 歴史探訪 | No Comments »