最近の東京・関東出張では東京ビッグサイトを訪問することがメッチャ多い。わたしが関係する住宅などのイベントの常打ち会場であることが多いワケなのですが、それ以外の興味領域でも使用される割合が多く実感的にはほぼ毎回顔を出している状況です。正面外観は毎度、こんな顔で迎えてくれる。
なんとなく馴染みになってくる感覚があってキライではない。
東京湾の埋め立て地に立地していて、新橋からゆりかもめで大体30分程度。広大な敷地と室内空間面積の「展示場施設」としての利便性は高い。いま考えれば合理性もあるけれど、沿革を見ると以下。
「延床面積は約25ヘクタール総展示面積は約9.5ヘクタール。 建築総工費は1985億円。 東京都が1995年に世界都市博覧会（都市博）の会場として建設したが、青島幸男都知事の判断で都市博が中止になったため、中央区晴海（はるみ）にあった東京国際見本市会場を移転する形で開業した。」
で、見ているうちに、形態について深層心理みたいなことを想起するようになって、日本の宗教建築の屋根の張り出し、せり上がりがこの三角プロポーションとアナロジーさせられるようになって来た。４つ足の立柱と三角錐とのバランスが腑に落ちるようになってくる。下の写真は鹿島神宮桜門。
設計は（株）佐藤総合計画という現在所員数324名という組織設計事務所。

設計当初のプロポーザル案はこちらのような形態で、どうも「天空の城ラピュタ」がイメージとしてあったのだそうです。東京都のプロポーザル案件だったので、審査員には「多様な見方」を反映する意味で建築専門家以外のひとも多いことを見越して「わかりやすい」点を重視したモノでしょう。
ただその後、実施段階になってドンドン脚部が膨らみ、ズングリムックリ型になっていったとのこと。そして当初のイメージとは変容して日本的宗教建築のプロポーションに近づいていったのか。
埋め立て地域なのでとくに外観意匠にはチタン素材などの錆びない建材が多用されている。形態がどんどん宗教建築に近づいていったのに、そう感じさせずにモダンデザイン風に受け取ってきていたのには、そういった素材感からの「パッと」見の要素が大きいでしょうね。
ちょうどガウディの宗教建築・サグラダファミリアの設計趣旨展示会も東京近代美術館で開かれていて、建築デザインの趣旨説明をいろいろな側面からひもといていたので、それとの対比での「日本建築」としての見方をこのビッグサイト外観に当てはめてみた次第です。
まぁ、建築は出来上がってしまえばだれからも公平に端的に、見られる存在になるので、思った感じたことは、自由に論じあうべきものだと思います。わたしはこういう建物、悪くないと思う。

English version⬇

Tokyo Big Sight and Religious Architectural Design
Gaudi created the Sagrada Familia from the historical design of Christian and Islamic architecture in a unique way. What is the sense of form that is common to modern Japan? ……

On my recent business trips to Tokyo and the Kanto region, I have been visiting Tokyo Big Sight quite often. The site is often a regular venue for housing and other events that I am involved with, but it is also used for many other areas of interest as well, so I feel that I am visiting the site almost every time I am there. The front exterior greets us with a face like this every time.
It is not bad, as it has a sense of familiarity.
Located on a reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay, it takes about 30 minutes from Shimbashi by Yurikamome. It is highly convenient as an “exhibition facility” with its vast site and indoor space. The history of the building is as follows.
The total floor space is approximately 25 hectares, and the total exhibition area is approximately 9.5 hectares. The total construction cost was 198.5 billion yen. It was built by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in 1995 as the venue for the World Urban Exposition (Urban Expo), but when Governor Yukio Aoshima decided to cancel the Expo, the Tokyo International Trade Fair Center was relocated to Harumi, Chuo-ku, and opened.
As I looked at the building, I began to think about the deep psychology of form, and began to make analogies between the triangular proportions of the overhanging and overhanging roofs of Japanese religious buildings and the balance between the four-legged standing columns and the triangular pyramid. The photo below shows the Kashima Jingu Shrine.
The design is by Sato Sogo Keikaku, an organizational design firm with 324 members.

The initial design proposal was based on the image of “Laputa: Castle in the Sky. Since this was a Tokyo Metropolitan Government proposal project, the jury members included many non-architectural specialists in order to reflect “diverse views,” and the emphasis was probably placed on “easy-to-understand” points.
However, the legs of the building swelled and became larger and larger as the project progressed to the implementation stage. The proportions of the building were transformed from the original image and became closer to the proportions of a temple building.
Because this is a reclaimed area, titanium and other rustproof construction materials were used extensively, especially for the exterior design. The fact that the form of the building was getting closer and closer to religious architecture, yet it was received in the style of modern design without giving that impression, must have been largely due to the “poof” factor from the texture of such materials.
The exhibition of the purpose of Gaudi’s religious building, Sagrada Familia, was also being held at the Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, and I was looking into the design of the building from various aspects, so I tried to apply my view of “Japanese architecture” to the exterior of the Big Sight in comparison with the exhibition.
Well, once the architecture is completed, it will be seen fairly and straightforwardly by everyone, so I think we should freely discuss what we think and feel about it. I think this kind of building is not bad.

Posted on 7月 25th, 2023 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 「都市の快適」研究, 住宅マーケティング | No Comments »

この蓮見家住宅は江戸中期の農家住宅の典型的な仕様だと言われる。広間型三間取、寄棟造、茅葺。桁行七間（16.8m）梁間三間半（5.5m）。江戸市中では庶民は長屋に住み住み暮らしていた時代。一般的にはこういった農家の次男三男層は、この生家を離れて江戸に向かい、そこで職を見つけて長屋に住み、立身することを夢見ていたが、その多くは夢破れて帰る故郷もないまま、刹那的な人生を生きた時代。
広島県東部で暮らしていたわが家の江戸期の過去帳などを見てみても、身分制固定化社会での生きにくい現実の断片を証立てる現実に突き当たって、胸苦しさを覚えたりもする。夢見がちな幼少年期を過ぎてくれば、こういった現実に早々に放り出されただろう。そうであっても盆暮れなどには帰省することもあり、いっとき親子兄弟、幼なじみたちと屈託のない時間を過ごせただろうか。
しかし生家を継ぐ長男層としても厳しい年貢取り立て圧力のなかで苦しい生き様だったことはあきらか。そういうなかで、なんとか自作地を工夫して商品作物、この地域では幕末期などには輸出産業として活性化した養蚕業のためのクワを栽培して生き延びてきたのだろう。開国して経済的に自立できることへの期待感というのは民の側に大きかったに違いない。幕末期に自然発生した社会運動「ええじゃないか」の真実か。
住宅内部は間取り図の向かって右に間口の半分以上の土間を取り、土間に沿って梁間いっぱいに板の間のヘヤ、その上手にオクと、その裏側にナンドを配した、いわゆる三室広間型の間取り。ヘヤには囲炉裏を設け、囲炉裏に接し土間側に板敷きの床を張り出していて、このヘヤ後方には戸棚を造りつけている。だいたい計算してみるとこの「板敷きの間」は収納のナンドを含めて10坪程度20-22畳程度だろう。日本人の生活空間とは基本的にこのような形式であって、戦後普遍化した「個人主義」的な個室間取りというものとは無縁。
よく見てみるとこの板敷きのヘヤにだけ天井が張られている。やはり主要な生活空間では「断熱」の切実な工夫として密閉化を図った痕跡だろう。仕上げ的には竹簀子天井になっており、囲炉裏には火天がある。

唯一の畳敷きのオクには天井が張られておらず、屋根の裏側を直接見ることになる。座敷飾りとして床の間と仏壇、戸棚が設けられている。どのように使われたかの記録はないが、基本的には冠婚葬祭的なハレの場として利用されて、普段は寝室的な利用をされたものだろうか。
面積103㎡（約31坪）。正面から見て右側が馬屋の入口、左側が土間の入口となっている。土間と馬屋の間は柱が１本立っているだけで、馬屋に柵が設けられておらず、床も土間と一体となっている。
具体的な江戸期の庶民の暮らしようが立ち上ってくるたたずまい。

English version⬇

Edo Period Farmhouse / Floor Plan and People’s Lives: Development Farmhouse in Urawa-5
The state of the common farmhouse in the middle Edo period. The division of how the eldest son and the second and third sons stand. The severe way of life of each can be seen. ・・・・.

This Hasumi family residence is said to have typical specifications of a mid-Edo period farmhouse. It is a three-room, wide-plan house with a hipped roof and thatched roof. It has a girigakukan of 7 ken (16.8 m) and a beam span of 3.5 ken (5.5 m). In the Edo period, common people lived in row houses. Generally, the second and third sons of these farmers left their birthplace and headed for Edo, where they found jobs and lived in tenements, dreaming of a successful life, but many of them lived a transitory life without a home to return to.
When I look at the Edo period ledgers of my family, who lived in the eastern part of Hiroshima Prefecture, I sometimes feel a sense of bitterness as I come face to face with a reality that testifies to the fragments of a reality where life was difficult in a society with a fixed status system. If I had passed through my dreamy childhood, I would have been thrown out of this kind of reality as soon as possible. Even so, I would have returned home at the end of the Bon holidays and spent some carefree time with my parents, siblings, and childhood friends.
However, it is clear that even for the eldest sons who succeeded to the family of their birth, life was difficult under the severe pressure of collecting tribute. In such a situation, they must have managed to survive by devising ways to cultivate their own land to grow commodity crops, such as mulberry for sericulture, which became an active export industry in this region at the end of the Edo period. There must have been a great sense of anticipation on the part of the people that they would be able to open up the country and become economically independent. Is this the truth of the “ee-jana-nai” social movement that spontaneously emerged at the end of the Edo period?
The interior of the house has an earthen floor more than half the size of the frontage on the right side of the floor plan, a wooden floor with a hearth between the beams along the earthen floor, an oku (a small wooden box) on the upper side, and a nando (a wooden stand) on the back side, in a so-called three-room, wide-room layout. The hearth is set in the hearth, and a wooden floor is placed on the earthen floor side of the hearth, and a closet is built behind the hearth. The “itashiki-no-ma” is about 20-22 tatami mats, including the storage nandos, and is about 10 tsubo (about 1.5 square meters) in area. Japanese living space is basically in this form, and has nothing to do with the “individualistic” private room layout that has become universal since the end of World War II.
If you look closely, you can see that the ceiling is stretched only over this wooden floor. It is probably a trace of the attempt to seal the main living space as an earnest device for “heat insulation. The ceiling is finished with bamboo screens, and there is a fire pit in the sunken hearth.

The only tatami-matted oku does not have a ceiling, and the view is directly behind the roof. An alcove, a butsudan (Buddhist altar), and a cupboard are installed as part of the tatami room decorations. There is no record of how it was used, but it is likely that it was basically used for ceremonial occasions such as weddings and funerals, and was usually used as a bedroom.
The area is 103 square meters (about 31 tsubo). The entrance to the stable is on the right when viewed from the front, and the entrance to the earthen floor is on the left. There is only one pillar standing between the stable and the earthen floor, and the stable is not fenced in, and the floor is integrated with the earthen floor.
The floor is also integrated with the earthen floor. This is the kind of appearance that brings to mind the lifestyle of ordinary people in the Edo period.

Posted on 7月 23rd, 2023 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 住宅マーケティング, 日本社会・文化研究 | No Comments »

旧蓮見家住宅はさいたま市緑区井沼方、大宮台地の南端部、見沼の低地から入り込む谷に突き出た舌状台地上に所在していた。1730年当時開拓された「見沼たんぼ」のなかに「蓮見新田」もある。この地域は幕府直轄領であり「村高」は66石という記録がある。この一家が生産する米は成人66人が１年間に消費する量に相当するという記載とのこと。
建物の建築年代を直接示すものはなく明らかではないが、構造手法から見て、江戸時代中期18世紀の前半、ちょうど1730年という年代時期に相当すると推定。そうすると約300年前となるか。桁行16.75メートル、梁間5.4メートルの寄棟造り、茅葺屋根の建物。たぶん新田開発を進めながらその農作業にも従事していた、その生産拠点としてやや高台の立地に建てられ、土地を管理していたのでしょう。関東のような平野部でも自然地形での高低差はあり、低地は水利を得やすく水田造営に適していたでしょうが、そのことは水害被害に遭いやすいということでもあり、居住家屋としては農地に適さない高台を選択したものでしょう。そういう土地利用は関東でよく見かける。
内部は向かって右に間口の半分以上の土間を取り、土間に沿って梁間いっぱいに板の間のヘヤ、その上手にオクと、その裏側にナンドを配している。いわゆる三室広間型の間取り。ヘヤには囲炉裏を設け、囲炉裏に接し土間側に板敷きの床を張り出していて、このヘヤ後方には戸棚を造りつけている。
この建物の特徴として、南面するヘヤにはシシマド（格子窓）があること、柱は1間ごとに直接礎石の上に立つこと、大黒柱は細く杉材が使われている等があげられる。
シシマド・格子窓は「シシよけ窓」などと呼ばれており、イノシシやオオカミなどの獣の侵入を防ぐためのものだと言われて関東・中部地方に多く見られるという。逆に言うと家屋に対してそういった動物たちが進入を試みることがあったということ。
上の写真では外観の中央に格子窓がある。内観側の様子をあわせて見ていただきたい。内部側からはあんまり格子の存在は感じない。たんなる「明かり窓」のように思える。
やや高台の住居という条件では当然周囲は森に囲まれた環境になり、そういった獸たちが旺盛にテリトリーを作っていたのでしょう。現代北海道ではふたたびヒグマの害が増加してきているけれど、江戸期の関東開拓進行期でも、そういう用心が建築的にまで計られていた。いかにも「開発農家」的な雰囲気が色濃く感じられる。
こういった関東での再開発が、明治以降北海道の「開拓農家」への民族的導火線になっていったというようにも類推が働いてくる。利根川東遷などの大規模自然改造・再開発が江戸期を通じて行われた、そういう意味では関東は「新開地」そのものだったのか。家康に捧げられた「東照大権現」という名前の意味があらためて興味深く想起される。

English version⬇

The God of Kanto’s Redevelopment, Tosateru Daigongen? Development farmers in Urawa-3
The “Shishimado,” a lattice window and a defensive device against wild boars and wolves, tells the story of the “newly developed land. Is the precedent of Hokkaido development the Kanto redevelopment? …

The former Hasumi family residence was located in Inumakata, Midori-ku, Saitama City, on the southern edge of the Omiya Plateau, on a tongue-shaped plateau that juts out into the valley that enters from the Minuma lowlands. This area was under the direct control of the shogunate, and the “village height” was recorded as 66 koku. It is said that the amount of rice produced by a family is equivalent to the amount consumed by 66 adults in a year.
Although there is no direct evidence of the building’s construction date, it is estimated to be in the first half of the 18th century during the middle of the Edo period (1730), which would make it approximately 300 years old. That would make it approximately 300 years old. It is a hipped-roof building with a thatched roof, 16.75 meters long and 5.4 meters beam-to-beam. It was probably built on a slightly elevated site as a production center for the development of new rice paddies and farming activities, and was probably used to manage the land. Even in the plains of the Kanto region, there are differences in elevation in the natural topography, and while lowlands are probably more suitable for paddy field development due to the ease of obtaining water, this also means that they are more susceptible to flood damage, so they probably chose higher ground for their residences, which is not suitable for farming. Such land use is often seen in the Kanto region.
The interior has an earthen floor more than half the width of the frontage on the right, a heya (a wooden floor) between the beams along the earthen floor, an oku (a wooden floor) above the heya, and a nando (a wooden floor) behind the heya. The floor plan is what is called a “three-room, wide-room” type. The hearth is set in the hearth, and the earthen floor is covered with wooden planks.
The only tatami-matted oku has an alcove, a butsudan (Buddhist altar), and a cupboard for decoration in the tatami room.
Other features of this building include shishimado (lattice window) on the south-facing heya, pillars standing directly on the foundation stone every 1 ken, and the daikoku-bashira (main pillar) made of thin cedar wood.
Shishimado or lattice windows are called “shishimado-yado” (meaning “window to keep out wild boars and wolves”), and are said to be common in the Kanto and Chubu regions of Japan. Conversely, such animals sometimes attempted to enter the house.
In the photo above, there is a lattice window in the center of the exterior. Please take a look at the interior as well. From the interior, the latticework is not so obvious. It seems to be just a “light window.
The house is located on a slightly elevated plateau and is naturally surrounded by forest, so these animals must have been actively establishing their territory. Even in the Edo period (1603-1868), when the Kanto region was being pioneered, such precautions were taken even architecturally. The atmosphere of a “development farmer” is strongly felt.
It is analogous to the way that the redevelopment of the Kanto region became a national focal point for Hokkaido’s “pioneer farmers” after the Meiji period. In this sense, the Kanto region may have been a “newly developed land” itself. The meaning of the name “Tosateru Daigongen,” which was dedicated to Ieyasu, is once again interestingly recalled.

Posted on 7月 21st, 2023 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 住宅マーケティング, 日本社会・文化研究 | No Comments »

商家２軒をひもといてみた浦和の「民家園」保存建物の続篇。今回は地域の開発農家住宅篇です。関東を家康が治めるに際してかれは大規模な自然改造計画を打ち出している。上の外観写真の下は今回の住宅に関連する「見沼たんぼ」を赤く図示した広域図、そして巨大自然改造計画「利根川東遷」の図。
関東平野というのは日本最大の平野部でありながら、縄文海進の名残が強く残っていて整合的な河川構成ではなく、最大の暴れ川・利根川が江戸湾（東京湾）に注いでいて中心地域・江戸ですら安定した地面の確保が難しい広大な地域。巨大な湿潤平野地域が生む「坂東太郎」という巨大雲の造形が作られる。
そういう地域だけれど、武家権力にとっては鎌倉期以来の「本願」の地。ヤマト王権が比較的に安定した地盤面と気候風土の「畿内」地域を基盤として成立したのにはそういう背景事情があったと思うし、東国・関東をどう安定支配するかが日本の権力の歴史的「課題」でもあったのだろう。
そういう地域の支配権を秀吉は家康に与えた。基本的には関東に「封じ込めた」のだろう。安定した領土・東海５カ国を取り上げて関八州と交換させた。「これでオレの権力はひと安心だ」と思ったに違いない。そういう不利な領土移転に対して地道な領土経営を家康は坦々と進める。
家康の天下取りは、かれの「治政・治山治水能力」に依るところが大きいのではないかと思っています。なんといってもその最たるものは関東での利根川の東遷計画の遂行でしょう。
いまは「どうする家康」の度肝を抜くファンタジーぶりが話題になっていますが、かれの能力は三河・遠江・駿河の３カ国支配から信長の死を経てあっという間に甲斐・信州を併合した統治能力と、その後の秀吉による関東移封を見事に逆手にとって、関東に平和と政治体制の安定をもたらした手腕に依るところが大きい。武田氏や北条氏の遺臣たちがあっという間に家康に従ったことが、すなわち人心と地域の安定をもたらし、それがかれの天下制覇に繋がったのだと思うのです。
ぜひそのような非ドラマチックなテーマをたっぷりと見せ場にすることを期待したい（笑）。でもまぁ、そういうのはムリでしょうね。たぶん信長や秀吉のような重商主義変革路線に対して、農本主義的な支配体制路線が対置されるのでしょう、常識的に。
で、戦国期に盛り上がった「築城土木技術」が、家康によってこの利根川東遷計画という驚嘆すべき平和的な河川土木工事・建築工事に昇華させられたことが、かれ家康の隠れた「革命性」だったように思われるのです。さてどうでしょうか？
こういう自然大改造計画というのは日本史上でも稀有。鎌倉武士以来、辛苦を重ねてきた関東支配が実質的に完成した巨大事業。いなほの国・日本の政治権力の正統性は、やはり自然をしっかりコントロールする能力に淵源を持つのだと思う。日本全体にとって次の民族的領土経営課題は北海道に受け継がれる。
紹介する「旧・蓮見家住宅」は、この家康の大土木事業に関連した自然改造の結果、新規造成された田園の新興地主農家住宅という性格が強い。前段の地域開発側面の把握に沿って明日以降に続けます。

English version⬇

Jomon sea advance and Ieyasu’s “Great Kanto Reform” Development Farmers in Urawa-1
Public works projects to remodel nature from the viewpoint of “management” rather than “domination”. The basis of this project, the Tone River eastward shift project, is a gigantic flood control project. The “Tosateru Daigongen,” the sovereign of God. The “Tosetsu Daigongen” character, the divine sovereign.

A continuation of the “Minka-en” preserved buildings in Urawa, where we looked into two merchant houses. This time, we will look at the development of farmhouses in the area. When Ieyasu Ieyasu ruled the Kanto region, he launched a large-scale natural remodeling project. Below the exterior photo above is a red map of the “Minuma-tambo” area related to the houses in this issue, and a map of the “Tone River Eastward Transition,” a massive natural remodeling project.
The Kanto Plain is the largest plain in Japan, but it is a vast area where the remnants of the Jomon sea advance remain strong and the river configuration is not consistent, and the largest river, the Tone River, flows into the Edo Bay (Tokyo Bay), making it difficult to secure stable ground even in the central area, Edo. The huge humid plain area creates a huge cloud formation called “Bando Taro.
Although it is such an area, it has been the land of “Hongan” for the samurai power since the Kamakura period (1185-1333). I believe that this was the background for the establishment of the Yamato kingdom based on the relatively stable ground and climate of the Kinai region, and that the stable control of the eastern provinces and the Kanto region was also a historical “issue” for the Japanese power.
Hideyoshi gave Ieyasu the right to control such areas. Basically, he “contained” them in the Kanto region. He took away the five stable territories of the East Sea and exchanged them for the eight provinces of Sekihachishu. He must have thought, “Now my power is secure. Ieyasu’s steady territorial management in the face of such unfavorable territorial transfers proceeded smoothly.
I believe that Ieyasu’s success in the country was largely due to his “ability to govern and control mountains and floods. The most important of these was his plan to shift the Tone River eastward in the Kanto region.
Although “What to do about Ieyasu” is currently the talk of the town for its mind-boggling fantasy, Ieyasu’s ability to govern is largely due to his ability to rule the three provinces of Mikawa, Omi, and Suruga, and then, after Nobunaga’s death, to annex Kai and Shinshu in a flash, and to his skill in taking advantage of Hideyoshi’s subsequent move to Kanto, bringing peace and political stability to the region. The success of the shogunate was largely due to its ability to bring peace and political stability to the Kanto region. The fact that the vassals of the Takeda and Hojo clans quickly followed Ieyasu’s lead, in other words, brought stability to the region and to the hearts of the people, and I believe that this is what led to Ieyasu’s conquest of the region.
I would love to see you showcase such a non-dramatic theme in your film (laugh). But, well, such a thing would be impossible. Perhaps the heavy mercantilist reformist line of Nobunaga and Hideyoshi would be opposed to the nouveau riche ruling system line, as common sense would dictate.
The fact that Ieyasu sublimated the “castle-building civil engineering technology” that flourished during the Warring States period into the marvelous and peaceful river engineering and construction work known as the Tone River Eastward Expansion Project seems to have been Ieyasu’s hidden “revolutionary” nature. What do you think?
This kind of major natural remodeling project is rare in the history of Japan. It was a gigantic project that practically completed the rule of the Kanto region, which had been painstakingly ruled since the time of the Kamakura samurai. I believe that the legitimacy of the political power of Japan, the Land of Inaho, has its origin in the ability to firmly control nature. For Japan as a whole, the next national territorial management issue led to the management of Hokkaido.
The “Former Hasumi Family Residence” introduced here is a newly created rural farmhouse of the Hasumi family, which was the result of the natural remodeling related to Ieyasu’s major land development project. We will continue tomorrow and beyond in line with the understanding of the regional development aspect of the previous section.

Posted on 7月 19th, 2023 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 住宅マーケティング, 日本社会・文化研究 | No Comments »

江戸期には京都で旺盛に盛り上がった呉服産業があり、綿の生産には大量の魚肥が必要とされて、その需要が蝦夷地のニシン漁の漁獲・運送を盛んにさせたことが知られる。高田屋嘉兵衛という事業者の成功には、京阪神地域での産業革命、ビジネス革命があったことが偲ばれる。社会が沸騰するような農産物の多様化・産業化が進んだのでしょう。
呉服産業というのはまったくのファッション産業だけれど、江戸期の社会発展はそういう産業基盤条件を形成していったということ。幕府が繰り返し「贅沢禁止令」みたいなものを発出した背景にはそういった社会発展に伴う強い需要があったと言われる。
また幕末期以降には横浜の開港、海外貿易の開始という経済的インパクトが起こって、とくに関東一円では「養蚕」業が旺盛に発展した。その蚕のためのクワの生産が空前の需要を生んでいった。
そうした商品作物の生産競争の中で、単位面積あたりの収量を左右する「肥料」に農家経済は依存を深めていった事情が垣間見える。肥料屋さんという商売が大きく成立した背景には、江戸期以降からの多様な商品作物の生産の盛り上がりが大きい。日本資本主義の勃興期そのものだろうか。とくに消費都市大都会・江戸の需要に応える意味合いがこの浦和宿ではきわめて大きかったのでしょう。浦和周辺地域からの江戸・東京への商品作物出荷も盛んだったことだろう。
上の写真は浦和の町家のなかでも広い間口を開いているこの店舗のようす。江戸期・明治大正戦前期には大八車などで「肥料」搬出入が繰り返された。運搬動力としては基本的には馬が使われたのでしょう。３枚目の写真は昭和30年代の店舗の写真だそうですが、よくみると店の前に「オート三輪」とおぼしきトラック車両が横付けされて肥料が積み出されている。
買い付けに訪れる農家や「仲買人」たちがこの肥料店で購入して、店舗奥側のバックヤードから運び出された商品がこの店先から出荷されていった状況なのだろう。
明治以降、開拓が進展した北海道札幌でも、よく似た光景が展開していて、幹線道路「石山道路」に面していたわたしの生家前には運搬に使役された馬たちの「馬糞風」が吹いていた。そして運搬動力はこの写真のようにオート三輪が活躍した。たぶん似た光景がこの浦和宿でも見られていたに違いない。自分自身が体験した幼年期の記憶がシンクロしてくる。


店舗内の風景としては「量り売り」のための計量器がドンと鎮座している。大量取引の場合はこうした計量器が使用され、より小口取引の場合には、マスでの販売が行われたというような説明が行われていた。まことに画期ある商取引の状況が活写されている。
昨日よりも今日、そしてあしたはもっと良くなるということを多くの人びとが信じていた。

English version⬇

Fertilizer, the backbone of the commodity crop economy.
The air is filled with the vitality of the contact point of the commodity crop economy, the active buying, selling, and transporting of fertilizers. The breath of a manufacturing society. The breath of a manufacturing society.

It is known that the kimono industry flourished in Kyoto during the Edo period, and that the production of cotton required large amounts of fish manure, the demand for which stimulated the fishing and transportation of herring in the Ezo region. The success of an entrepreneur named Takataya Kahei is remembered for the industrial and business revolution in the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe region. It must have been the diversification and industrialization of agricultural products that brought society to a boiling point.
The kimono industry is a totally fashionable industry, but the social development during the Edo period formed such industrial base conditions. It is said that there was a strong demand for such products due to social development, which was the reason why the shogunate repeatedly issued a kind of “luxury prohibition.
In addition, after the end of the Edo period, the opening of the port of Yokohama and the start of overseas trade had an economic impact, and the “sericulture” industry developed vigorously, especially in the Kanto area. The production of mulberry for silkworms created unprecedented demand.
In the midst of such competition in the production of commodity crops, the farm economy became increasingly dependent on “fertilizers,” which were crucial to the yield per unit area. The background to the establishment of the fertilizer business is largely due to the rise in the production of various commodity crops since the Edo period. Was this the very period of the rise of Japanese capitalism? In particular, the Urawa-juku must have been extremely significant in meeting the demands of the consumer metropolis of Edo. The shipment of commodities from the Urawa area to Edo and Tokyo must have been very active.
The photo above shows a store with a wide frontage among the town houses in Urawa. During the Edo period and the Meiji-Taisho prewar period, “fertilizer” was repeatedly carried in and out of Urawa by large carts and other vehicles. The third photo is said to be a photo of the store from the 1950s, and if you look closely, you can see a truck vehicle that looks like an “auto three-wheeler” parked in front of the store, and fertilizers are being loaded out.
It is likely that farmers and “middlemen” visiting the store to buy fertilizers purchased the products at this store, and the products were shipped out from the back yard at the rear of the store.
In Sapporo, Hokkaido, where pioneer settlers developed after the Meiji period, a similar scene was often seen, with the “horse dung wind” of horses used for transportation blowing in front of my birthplace, which faced the Ishiyama Road, a main road. As you can see in the photo, three-wheeled motorcycles were used for transportation. A similar scene must have been seen at the Urawa Inn. My own childhood memories of the Urawa Inn are synchronized with this scene.

As a view inside the store, a weighing scale for “weighing and selling” is sitting on the floor. The explanation was that such a scale was used for large volume transactions, while mass sales were used for smaller transactions. This is truly a vivid picture of business transactions in an epoch-making period.
Many people believed that today and tomorrow would be better than yesterday.

Posted on 7月 17th, 2023 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 住宅マーケティング, 日本社会・文化研究 | No Comments »