人間の基本は「なにを食べるか」。北海道島の先人のみなさんと対話するには、わたしたち現代北海道人とは違う、狩猟採集型の食生活ということを前提として知らなければならない。わたしたちはどうしてもコメ食文化がベースなので、そのあたりの翻訳コンニャクが重要ポイントになる。
今回の草戸千軒ミュージアム再訪でもこのあたりの食文化を「復元ポイント」として注目。ブログのシリーズ展開としては、ちょうど北海道島の擦文文化期からこっちにスライドしてきたので、要チェックでもありました。
そうしたら写真のようなそのものズバリの展示を確認できた。おいおい、であります。メッチャいいものを食べている（笑）。現代人以上の豊富な食材構成で栄養バランスも考え抜かれている。って、まぁ復元なので多少は「ハレの日」仕様ではあるでしょうが、大量の発掘遺物の分析からのメニュー構成であることは明らか。芦田川と瀬戸内海の水産物はそれこそ豊富に食卓を賑わせていた。タコの味付けには塩が盛り付けられている。現代では当然「しょうゆ」でしょうが、そうした醸造産業はまだ未成熟だったことでしょう。逆に瀬戸内海地域では「製塩」業は活発だった。お米は精米というよりも玄米で各家庭でそれぞれ好みの「分突き」加減で調理したのでしょう。先日見たように女性たちが臼と杵でそれぞれの家庭の加減で突きあげてご飯にしていたことでしょうね。
わたしはあんまり玄米って食べたことがないので、食感について想像力はありません。しかし、副食類は食器容器も含めてまったく現代と変わらない。中世の食卓風景、団欒ぶりが伝わってきますね。



で、こちらが博物館で調査された動植物などの遺物分析の結果表。非常に注意をひかされるのが「イヌ」の骨が異常に大量に出土していることとされていた。当初は、「草戸千軒の人びとはたいへんな愛犬家ばかりですごい」みたいな想像をされていたそうですが、出土するイヌの骨があきらかに「切断」された痕跡が顕著であるとのこと。
ようするにイヌが食肉対象として飼育・捕食されていたと結論づけられていった。
おお、であります。韓半島、中国大陸ではイヌ食文化は根付いているとされるけれど、日本社会ではそういった常識理解はなかった。むしろ仏教思想が導入されて広く受け入れられていって禁忌的な考え方が浸透していたという理解だったのが、そうではなかったということになる。しかもこの草戸千軒は仏教寺院・明王院の門前市であるのでちょっと意外な事実の発掘結果だと思います。灯台もと暗し。
一方で瀬戸内海交易の世界では韓半島地域とも活発な交流が想像できるので、そういったことが影響している可能性もあるのかも。イヌ食文化痕跡にはやや驚かされました。

English version⬇

[The diet of medieval city people. Canine Eating? ~Kusado-Senken 2023 revisited-10]
Abundant marine products and brown rice with a portion for each family. The seasoning is salt. The excavation results also strongly suggest a canine food culture. The excavation results also strongly suggest the Inu food culture.

The basis of human life is “what we eat. In order to communicate with our ancestors on the island of Hokkaido, it is necessary to understand their hunter-gatherer diet, which is different from that of us modern Hokkaido people. Since we are based on a rice-eating culture, the translation of konnyaku is an important point in this regard.
In this revisit to the Kusado-Senken Museum, we will focus on this area of food culture as a “point of restoration”. As for the development of the blog series, I had just slid over here from the period of the Abrasive Culture of Hokkaido Island, so it was also important to check it out.
Then I was able to check out the very same exhibit as shown in the photo. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. I’m eating a lot of good food (laughs). They have a richer food composition than modern people, and their nutritional balance is well thought out. Well, it is a reconstruction, so it may be a little bit “Hare no Hi” (a special occasion), but it is clear that the menu is based on the analysis of a large amount of excavated artifacts. Fisheries products from the Ashida River and the Seto Inland Sea were abundant on the table. The octopus is seasoned with a heaping helping of salt. Today, it would naturally be “soy sauce,” but such a brewing industry would have been still in its infancy. Conversely, the “salt manufacturing” industry was active in the Seto Inland Sea region. Rice was probably unpolished rather than polished, and each household cooked rice according to their own preference for the amount of rice to be cooked. As we saw the other day, women would have pounded the rice with a mortar and pestle according to their family’s preference.
I have never eaten much brown rice, so I have no idea what the texture was like. However, the side dishes, including the containers and tableware, are not different from those of today. I can feel the happy atmosphere at the dining table in the Middle Ages.

So, here is a table of the results of the analysis of the artifacts, such as plants and animals, that were examined at the museum. It was noted that an unusually large number of “canine” bones were excavated. At first, people imagined that the people of Kusado-Senken were all great dog lovers, but the unearthed canine bones showed obvious traces of “mutilation”.
In short, it was concluded that canines were bred and preyed upon as meat.
Oh, yes. It is said that canine eating culture took root in the Korean peninsula and mainland China, but there was no such common sense understanding in Japanese society. Rather, it was the understanding that Buddhist thought had been introduced and widely accepted, and that the forbidden idea had spread, but this was not the case. Moreover, this Kusado-Senken is the gateway market of a Buddhist temple, Meio-in, so it is a somewhat surprising factual discovery result. It is dark under the lighthouse.
On the other hand, in the world of Seto Inland Sea trade, we can imagine active exchanges with the Korean peninsula area, so there may be a possibility of such an influence. I was somewhat surprised by the traces of canine food culture.

Posted on 12月 22nd, 2023 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: おとこの料理＆食, 日本社会・文化研究 | No Comments »

〜しばしも休まず　槌うつ響き　飛び散る火花よ　走る湯玉　ふいごの風さえ　息をもつがず
仕事に精出す　村の鍛冶屋
あるじは名高い　働き者よ　早起き早寝の　やまい知らず　永年鍛えた　自慢の腕で
打ち出す鋤鍬（すき くわ）心こもる〜「童謡・村の鍛冶屋」
日本の「ものづくり」産業史のなかでこのような童謡でまで語り継がれている職種は希少だろう。メロディのテンポの良さ、歯切れのいい歌詞。小学校の時にこの歌を歌いながら、強く心を鼓舞された記憶がある。
大好きだったのだろう。日本のこどもたちにいかにも「ものを作っている」という職人の誇りを現実の労働で示し続けた意味で、強くリスペクトさせられたように思う。写真でも、主力火力に対して注連縄で結界を表現して、心正しく真剣に一期一会のものづくりに邁進する姿が立ち上ってくる。
古代史のなかで白村江海戦など日本が朝鮮半島の権力闘争に深く関与していたのは、なによりも鉄の生産と確保が日本国家権力の大命題として存在し、その産業確保自体が中核的なテーマだっただろうことをあらわしている。日本において本格的に製鉄が開始されたのは、5世紀から6世紀にかけてとされる。
中国地方で「たたら製鉄」が始原したのは、いつの頃からなのか、そこで生産された原料鉄を使って、より消費地に近い地域で、それぞれの需要に対応した地域産業として「鍛冶屋」は成立したのでしょう。
基本的には農業土木の生産性を飛躍的に高めた存在として農業鉄器があり、同時に刀などの軍事用途が平行的に発展していったと推定される。今日のクルマ産業にまで至る日本の産業基盤だと強く思う。



この草戸千軒でも、周辺の農業地帯への農機の提供ということがまず第一の成立根拠だっただろう。中国地方の山地地域で生産された原料鉄は芦田川水系を使って河口域の草戸千軒に運ばれ、この「製鉄所」で加工・製品化されて周辺地域に普及し、さらに瀬戸内海交易を通じて堺などの大消費地にも伝播していったことだろう。
生産物毎に各地に特産地が形成され、和泉堺の庖丁、播磨三木の大工道具、越後三条・越前武生の鎌、近江甲賀・土佐山田の木挽鋸などがその代表格とされるようになっていった。交易はそういった産地間競争を刺激する最高の試練の場、公平な競争機会を提供したのだろう。日本の製造業は、こうした国内産業同士の激しい競争によって常に革新され発展してきたことだろう。
「あるじは名高い　働き者よ」というのは、日本社会がこういった競争を生産者に強いた表現の一種であるのかも知れない。日本の市場が歴史的に培ってきた生産者への創造力刺激パワー。

English version⬇

[The “town blacksmith,” a manufacturer who forges day and night – Kusado Senken 2023 Revisited-8
It continued to stimulate the spirit of “monozukuri” (manufacturing) in both rhythm and melody, the best of all the nursery rhyme songs. The core of the Japanese spirit. …

〜The sound of hammering, the echo of hammering, the sparks flying, the running balls of hot water, even the wind from the blowpipe, breathless…
The village blacksmith, hard at work
A master blacksmith, renowned for his hard work, early to rise, early to bed, never getting sick, his skill trained over many years
The plow and hoe he hammers out, with all his heart – “The Village Blacksmith,” a children’s song
In the history of Japan’s “monozukuri” (manufacturing) industry, it is rare to find an occupation that has been passed down through the generations in a children’s song like this one. The tempo of the melody and the crisp lyrics. I remember being strongly inspired while singing this song in elementary school.
I must have loved it. I think I was made to respect it strongly in the sense that it continued to demonstrate to Japanese children the pride of craftsmen who were “making things” through real labor. Even in the photo, the image of the craftsman using a shimenawa to express a boundary against the main fire power rises to the surface as he strives to make things right in his heart and earnestly, once in a lifetime.
In ancient history, Japan was deeply involved in the struggle for power on the Korean peninsula, including the Battle of Hakuchon River, indicating that above all, the production and securing of iron was a major mission of the Japanese state power and that securing the industry itself was a core theme. Iron manufacturing in Japan is said to have begun in earnest in the 5th and 6th centuries.
When did “tatara iron manufacturing” begin in the Chugoku region? Using the raw iron produced there, “blacksmithing” must have been established as a local industry in areas closer to consumption areas to meet the respective demands.
Basically, it is presumed that agricultural ironware existed as an entity that dramatically increased the productivity of agricultural engineering, and at the same time, military uses such as swords developed in parallel. I strongly believe that this is the industrial foundation of Japan that has led to today’s car industry.

The first and foremost reason for the establishment of Kusado-Senken would have been to provide agricultural machinery to the surrounding agricultural areas. The raw iron produced in the mountainous areas of the Chugoku region was transported to Kusado-Senken at the mouth of the river using the Ashida River system, processed and commercialized at this “ironworks”, and spread to the surrounding areas, and then to large consumption areas such as Sakai through trade on the Seto Inland Sea.
Each product formed its own specialty area, and the kitchen knives of Izumi Sakai, carpenters’ tools of Harima Miki, sickles of Echigo Sanjo and Echizen Takefu, and wood saws of Omi Koga and Tosa Yamada became representative of these areas. Trade probably provided the best testing ground and fair competitive opportunities to stimulate such competition between production centers. Japanese manufacturing industries have always innovated and developed through such fierce competition among domestic industries.
The phrase, “Aruji wa kamihaso hirusha” (“Aruji is a famous worker”) may be a kind of expression of the Japanese society that forced producers to compete in this way. The Japanese market has historically cultivated the power to stimulate creativity among producers.

Posted on 12月 20th, 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 »

昨日に引き続き初源期の「商工」事業者の草戸千軒遺跡での活動ぶり。ものづくりの基本は生活をよりよくする目的。そのなかでも食生活を彩る食器は基本中の基本。石器時代には石の皿などが使われていましたが、定住が日本列島で始まった縄文以来、木の国の社会として漆は木製品加工に活用された。
以下Wikiの記述引用。〜古くは縄文時代から漆を使用し、現在に至るまで連綿と多くの漆器が存在する。漆器は中国発祥で技術は漆木と共に大陸から日本へ伝わったと従来考えられていた。ところが北海道函館市南茅部で出土した漆の装飾品6点が、米国での放射性炭素年代測定により7400年前とされる中国を大幅に遡る約9000年前（縄文時代早期前半）の装飾品と確認された。さらに福井・鳥浜貝塚出土の漆の枝木は分析の結果、世界最古の約1万2600年前（縄文時代草創期）と確認・証明された。（中略）こういった遺構、遺品から日本では縄文時代草創期にはすでにウルシを生育していたと考えられている。〜
漆器のことを英語ではJAPANというのだそうですが、これは漆器が日本特有の工芸品だと世界が認めているということ。和の食材を載せる容器として、漆製品は民族のシルシとも言えるのでしょう。木製品はそのままでは食材の水分が浸透してしまい、手近に入手できる木製品に対しての「防水」加工として、これも樹液から得られる漆に着目した先人に深く感謝したい。木を扱う技術伝統の深さを思わされる。
この草戸千軒遺跡の復元住居兼用工房展示でも、まずはこうした職人・工業に注目したのは素晴らしいと感動します。



そしてこの製品流通の最適地で塗師という職工人が存在したことも興味深い。原材料としての漆・漆木はたぶん遠い生産地だったに違いない。この中州立地の草戸千軒の芦田川上流の山岳地帯で採取された漆が河川交通でここまで運送されてきたものだろう。地縁血縁での信頼関係に基づいた結びつきも想定される。もうひとつの原材料である木製品は、この遺跡展示でも番匠（大工）の作事場が復元されているように、その周辺的技術として職方・工人が存在したに違いない。分業構造の「製造業」集積、イマドキの言葉で言えば見事にサプライチェーンが成立していた。
整理整頓された作業場の復元ジオラマから、仕事の段取りの様子までもが伝わってくる。加工された漆器は乾燥させる目的で棚に整頓され、作業場では各種道具類が床に並べられ、塗装の漆が収納された容器群は作業場右の棚にきちんと整頓されている。機能的な空間美の世界。
そのように製造生産された漆器は、芦田川河口域から瀬戸内海交易圏に商品として出荷されて、京大阪の市場に投入されていったものだろうか。こうした瀬戸内海交易の世界が、源平期には平家の財政基盤として機能し、戦国期には反織田勢力の基盤にもなっていたのではないか。
民の日々の暮らしから社会構造の基盤要素がくっきりと浮かび上がってくる。

English version⬇

Handicrafts since the Jomon period / Lacquerware House 2 – Kusado-Senken 2023 Revisited-6
Lacquerware is called JAPAN in the world. It is a tradition since the Jomon period, created in the land of wood. With the increase of social productive power, it became a handicraft industry. …

Continuing from yesterday, how “commercial and industrial” businesses of the Hatsugen period were active at the Kusado-Senken site. The basic purpose of monozukuri is to improve our lives. Among them, tableware that decorates our eating habits is the most basic of all. In the Stone Age, stone plates and other such items were used, but since the Jomon, when settlement began in the Japanese archipelago, lacquer was utilized in the processing of wood products as a society in the land of trees.
The following is a quote from Wiki’s description. 〜Lacquer has been used since the Jomon period, and many types of lacquerware have existed continuously until the present day. Lacquerware is thought to have originated in China, and the technique was thought to have been introduced to Japan from the continent along with lacquer wood. However, radiocarbon dating in the United States of America has confirmed that six pieces of lacquer decoration excavated in Minamikayabe, Hakodate, Hokkaido, date back approximately 9,000 years (the first half of the Early Jomon Period), well beyond the 7400-year-old Chinese date. Furthermore, analysis of a lacquer tree branch excavated from the Torihama Shell Midden in Fukui Prefecture has confirmed and proven that it is the oldest in the world, dating back to approximately 12,600 years ago (the early Jomon Period). （Based on these remains and artifacts, it is believed that poison oak was already growing in Japan during the early Jomon Period. ~.
In English, lacquerware is called JAPAN, which means that the world recognizes lacquerware as a craft unique to Japan. As containers for placing Japanese foodstuffs, lacquerware products can be said to be the shirushi of a people. Wooden products, as they are, allow moisture from foodstuffs to permeate through them. As a “waterproof” treatment for wooden products that are readily available, I would like to express my deep appreciation to our predecessors who focused on lacquer, which is also obtained from sap. It reminds us of the depth of the technological tradition of handling wood.
It is wonderful and impressive that the restored dwelling and workshop exhibit at this Kusado-Senken site also focused on these craftsmen and industries first.

It is also interesting to note the existence of a craftsman named Nurishi in this optimal location for product distribution. Lacquer and lacquer wood as raw materials were probably produced far away. Lacquer collected in the mountainous area upstream of the Ashida River in Kusado-Senken, the location of this chuzu, must have been transported here by river transportation. It is also assumed that there is a relationship of trust based on geographical and blood ties. Wooden products, another raw material, must have been a peripheral skill of artisans and craftsmen, as shown by the reconstruction of the workshop of a bansho (carpenter) in the exhibition at the site. The “manufacturing” accumulation of the division of labor structure, or in modern terms, the supply chain, was splendidly established.
A restored diorama of a well-organized workshop conveys even the arrangement of work. The processed lacquerware is arranged on shelves for drying, various tools are laid out on the floor in the workshop, and the containers of lacquer for painting are neatly arranged on the shelves to the right of the workshop. A world of functional spatial beauty.
The lacquerware produced in this way was probably shipped from the Ashida River estuary to the Seto Inland Sea trading area to be sold in the Kyoto-Osaka market. This Seto Inland Sea trading world may have served as the financial foundation for the Heike clan during the Gempei period and as the basis for the anti-Oda forces during the Sengoku period.
The daily life of the people clearly reveals the basic elements of the social structure.

Posted on 12月 18th, 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 »

この草戸千軒の都市の様子は、約600年前の頃の状況を復元再生させた展示。室町時代中期から後期に掛けての町と時代の庶民の日常が活写されている。
日本史では古代の公地公民制という「タテマエ」が現実にはほとんど機能せず、土地の「私有制」といえる「荘園」体制が全国で一般化していった時代。この草戸千軒にほど近い「安芸国沼田荘」は、開発領主の沼田氏が中央の貴族に寄進して成立した荘園だった。それが中央での政変などによる有為転変の結果、京都の「蓮華王院」が領主になって、のちに戦国武将になっていく「小早川氏」が武権を担う地頭になっている。
こうした荘園公領制は日本の中世における荘園および公領を土台とした重層的土地支配構造のこと。現地のムラの農民にして見ると領主による搾取に苦しめられた時代だけれど、同時に生産力の増大に伴って領主層に対して年貢の軽減要求など自立的な姿勢が盛り上がっていった。
こういう時代背景の中で、各荘園農民から発生した「余剰生産物」を交易する一種の「解放区」のようにして千軒と言われるような都市機能が成熟していった。そうした「市」では中国貨幣などが決済手段として活用された。現代に繋がってくる「市民社会」的な萌芽形態が見られ始めたということだろう。
歴史の授業を受けながら、こういう時代に差し掛かってくると、ワクワク感が学ぶ側にも募っていた（笑）。


貨幣経済化という身近感。上の貨幣は１貫文が5-10万円程度。捉えやすくすれば現代の10万円で、その半分で５万円、３万円といった換算になるだろうか。
船着き場と「市」場は隣接していて、荷揚げした商品の一時置き場所には簡易な差し掛け小屋。そして市場には草葺き小屋。こちらは自然木利用の掘立柱建築で壁は造作されていない。物品については出土遺物を考慮している。
大きな壷が置かれているが、生活の第１条件は水の確保であり、井戸で水を汲むのにも各戸での貯水が絶対不可欠。最大の必需品だったことは自明の理。
一般商品として活魚・干物・貝類・海草・塩・山鳥。さらに米・豆類・野菜・筵などが販売されていた。油や土器（かわらけ）などは担いで売り歩く「振り売り」などもあったとされる。
それこそ「需要と供給」という経済原則、人間の営みのそのままが正直に全面展開している。
どうもわたしは家系的にもこういう現場感覚が肌にしっくりくる部分があって、現代生活でもたくさんの買い物客が集まる店舗などではちょっと「血が騒ぐ」（笑）。原始から古代と歴史を見てきて、ようやく「オレたちの時代」という雰囲気に引きずり込まれてしまうのですね。

English version ⬇

Logistics and stores in the Seto Inland Sea, 1400s, Kusado-Senken 2023 revisited-4.
A jar is equivalent to a water bill in modern times. It is a basic tool for daily life. I am delusional and think that 10 years’ worth of water bill including shipping cost would be reasonable. I am full of delusions.

This exhibit of the city of Kusado-Senken restores and recreates the situation as it was about 600 years ago. It vividly depicts the daily lives of the common people of the town and period from the mid to late Muromachi period.
This was a time in Japanese history when the ancient “tatemae” system of public lands and civic rights hardly functioned in reality, and the “shoen” system of “private ownership” of land became common throughout the country. The “Aki Province Numata Manor” near Kusado-Senken was a manor established by the Numata clan, a development lord, who donated the land to the central aristocracy. As a result of political changes in the central government, the “Rengeoin” of Kyoto became the lord, and the “Kobayakawa,” who later became a military commander in the Warring States period, was made the head of the manor.
The manor-governing system in medieval Japan was a multilayered land control structure based on manors and fiefdoms. The local peasants suffered from exploitation by their lords, but at the same time, as their productive capacity increased, they actively demanded a reduction in annual tribute from the lords.
Against this backdrop, a city functioned as a kind of “liberated zone” for trading the “surplus products” generated by the peasants of each manor, and a city of 1,000 houses was established. In such “cities,” Chinese coins were used as a means of payment. This may mean that the budding form of “civil society,” which is connected to the present day, was beginning to be seen in these “cities.
While taking the history class, I felt a sense of excitement as the class approached this period (laugh).

A familiar feeling of monetary economization. The coinage above is about 50,000-100,000 yen per kanbun. To make it easier to grasp, it would be 100,000 yen today, and half of that would be converted to 50,000 yen, 30,000 yen, and so on.
The landing place and the “market” are adjacent to each other, and a simple hut is used as a temporary storage place for unloaded goods. The market place is a thatched hut. This hut is a dug-out pillar structure made of natural wood with no walls. The goods are based on excavated artifacts.
A large jar is placed here. The first requirement for life was to secure water, and it was absolutely essential to store water in each house, even to fetch water from a well. It is self-evident that this was the greatest necessity. General commodities included live fish, dried fish, shellfish, seaweed, salt, and mountain birds. In addition, rice, beans, vegetables, and mats were sold. Oil and earthenware (kawarake) were sold by “swing peddlers,” who carried them around on their shoulders.
The economic principle of “supply and demand,” or human activity as it is, is honestly and fully developed.
I have a family history of feeling this way, and I get a little “excited” when I am in a store where many shoppers gather (laugh). (Laughs.) Having seen history from the primitive to the ancient times, I am finally drawn into the atmosphere of “our time.

Posted on 12月 16th, 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 »

民衆の視点からの日本史というのは、なかなか見出しにくい。歴史というのはどうしても権力の移動についての争乱とか内戦とかに主要な「ながれ」を感じて、それを真ん中にして語っていくことになる。しかし、現実の時間は庶民の毎日の暮らしにこそ実質があって、そこでの変化や、変わらないものが歴史の最大の動因だと思う。
城郭だとか大土木工事を伴うような都城「平城京」「平安京」はたしかにモニュメント性が大きいけれど、市井の民の肉声は伝わってこない。それに対して中世の庶民の実態をわかりやすく伝えてくれる遺構は貴重。
江戸時代中期の地誌『備陽六郡志』（びようろくぐんし）に記された伝説の町「草戸千軒」は歴史の主舞台には登場しないけれど、瀬戸内海交易圏の重要地点として物資のながれを保証する機能を果たしたに違いない。政治の極限とも言える軍事では食糧確保こそが兵站として決定的に重要。火を見るよりもあきらか。まさに「ハラが減っては戦はできぬ」。海や河川の流路に面して、物流がさかんに行われる空き地、河川の中州などは商業交易の最適地。そこに行けばなんでもモノが買える場所はきわめて貴重な存在。
草戸千軒は、大正末から昭和初年にかけてこの芦田川の改修工事によって発見された。しかし当時は遺跡発掘に至ることはなく、本格的な発掘調査は昭和36-37年に至ってようやく着手され、その名前が全国に知られるようになったのだという。北海道の少年にも遠雷のように名前が刷り込まれていた。


図は一遍上人絵伝のワンシーンということだで、中世の商業都市での人びとの交易の様子。こうした情景は、絵伝のような絵画でしか見ることができなかった。そういう空間について具体的な遺物が出土して浮き彫りになっていったのだ。あくまでも事物に基づいた実証的な根拠に踏まえた「市」の全体像を復元させることができたのですね。もちろんそこから現実感のある実物大のジオラマに到達させるのは、さらに非常な努力が傾けられた。
草戸千軒では中国の宋銭・明銭などの貨幣や、商業取引の「約定書」などに用いられた「木簡」、商品としてもたらされた陶磁器が出土している。またそうした「商品」を貯蔵させたに違いない大量の土器など、活発な商取引の実態が明示的に示されている。
ここは芦田川の中州だけれど、周辺の郷村や「荘園」領地などの人びと、そして瀬戸内海を行き来する大型船から荷物を出し入れするジャンク舟からここに商品が運び込まれる。当然そこでは人間同士の情報交換機会があり、各地の情報がやり取りされたに違いない。
「最近、上方では織田って言うのが力を握っているらしいな」
「おうさ、信長ってのはもうすぐ太政大臣か、将軍になるってもっぱらのウワサ」
「そういえば、最近、天ぷらっていうのが流行っているって？」
「おお、たくさん油を使う超ぜいたく品ってことだけどなぁ」
草戸千軒の街角で、こういったウワサに耳を傾けていたいなぁ（笑）。・・・

English version⬇

A Crossroads of Goods, Money, and Information: Kusado-Senken 2023 Revisited-2
From the exchange of information on familiar foods to rumors of political and military affairs, information must have been exchanged as a melting pot of the common people in medieval society. ……

Japanese history from the perspective of the people is difficult to find. History is inevitably centered on conflicts and civil wars that are the main “flow” of power transfers, and is told from that perspective. In reality, however, it is the daily lives of ordinary people that are the most important factors in history, and it is the changes and things that do not change that are the most important factors in history.
Castles and other structures such as “Heijo-kyo” and “Heian-kyo,” which involved major civil engineering works, are indeed very monumental, but they do not convey the real voices of the common people. In contrast, the remains that convey the reality of the common people in the medieval period in an easy-to-understand manner are valuable.
The legendary town of Kusado-Senken, mentioned in the mid-Edo period geographical journal “Biyoroku Gunshi,” does not appear on the main stage of history, but as an important point in the Seto Inland Sea trade zone, it must have functioned to ensure the flow of goods. In military affairs, which can be called the extreme end of politics, securing food supplies is critically important for logistics. It is clearer than seeing fire. It is true that “you can’t fight a war if your stomach is empty. Vacant lands and riverbanks facing the flow of oceans and rivers, where logistics are actively carried out, are the best places for commercial trade. Places where one can go to buy anything are extremely valuable.
Kusado-Senken was discovered during renovation work on the Ashida River between the end of the Taisho era and the beginning of the Showa era. However, at that time, the site was never excavated, and it was not until 1961-37 that full-scale excavation work was finally begun, and the name became known throughout Japan. The name was imprinted on Hokkaido boys like a distant thunderbolt.

The figure is a scene from the Ippen Shonin Eaden, which shows people trading in a medieval commercial city. Such scenes could only be seen in paintings such as the pictorial biography. Concrete artifacts were unearthed to bring such spaces into relief. You were able to restore the entire image of the “city” based on empirical evidence based solely on things. Of course, from there, it took a great deal more effort to arrive at a full-scale diorama with a sense of reality.
At Kusado-Senken, Chinese coins such as Sung and Ming coins, “wooden letters” used as “written agreements” for commercial transactions, and ceramics brought as commodities were excavated. A large amount of earthenware, which must have been used to store such “merchandise,” clearly shows the reality of active commercial transactions.
Although the site is located on the middle bar of the Ashida River, goods were brought to the site by people from surrounding villages and “manor” estates, as well as by junks that took goods in and out of large vessels that traveled to and from the Seto Inland Sea. Naturally, there must have been opportunities for people to exchange information with each other, and information from various regions must have been exchanged.
I hear that Oda is in power in Kamigata these days.
“Oh, well, it is widely rumored that Nobunaga will soon become either Grand Minister or Shogun.
Speaking of which, is tempura in fashion these days?
“Oh, it’s a luxury food that requires a lot of oil.
I wish I could listen to such rumors on the streets of Kusado-Senken (laughs). Laughs.

Posted on 12月 14th, 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 »