北海道・樺太の探索によって北辺の領土確定という国事に功をなした間宮林蔵。上の写真２枚はわたしの毎日の散歩道コース・参拝社である「開拓神社」（北海道神宮の末社）。ここでは北海道の現在のありようを規定した功績のあった人物37人の御柱が祀られている。間宮は上段の左から２人目に上げられている。
ほかには高田屋嘉兵衛や伊能忠敬、松浦武四郎、最上徳内などの名前が記される。知らず知らず、こうした人物名とその事跡には強い興味を持ち続けているのは、毎日のこういう習慣が大きく深層心理に染み込んでいるのかも知れない。
このように永く顕彰されている間宮だけれど、後半生は幕吏としての立場に立っての事跡が知られている。ひとつが国禁とされていた日本地図を国外に持ち出したことで多くの幕臣とシーボルトが罰せられた「シーボルト事件」でのかれの行動。今日であれば、地図情報が国禁にされていたということの方が意味不明となるけれど、専制権力体制下である幕府機構としてはきわめて秘匿性の高い情報。国家主権の根幹に関わる事象だった。歴史性を強く帯びざるを得ないことがらだと言える。
北辺の国境線についての情報を幕吏として、いわば公益に資するものとして幕府にもたらしたことで、かれの立場は幕府内で強くなったことだろう。そういうなかで政治的に幕府の方針に従う行動を取るのは自然なのだろう。シーボルトから送られてきた書簡や小包を開封せずに幕府に提出して「異人に対して私的に交流することは国禁を冒すことになる」姿勢を示したと言われる。その結果、シーボルトに対して日本地図情報を提供した同輩幕吏の高橋景保は逮捕処刑され、シーボルトは国外追放処分を受ける。
その後のかれは「幕府隠密」活動の事跡を残している。晩年には西国大名への密偵活動が知られている。シーボルト事件は1828年でかれは49歳。そこから1844年65歳で江戸の自宅で死去するまでの時間に相当する。情報というものへの態度が歴史的に政治情勢で変動した。その狭間で起こり得た事象なのか。ちょうど時代は幕末の政治動乱期に突入していく。
しかしこういう背景事実もあるけれど、国外追放されたシーボルトはヨーロッパ世界に日本の北方域の地図を発表したとき「間宮海峡」と明確に紹介している。そもそもシーボルト自身もオランダ商館員という立場を持った情報工作員であったことも事実。
そういった立場としてシーボルトは間宮に対して、特段の感情を持っていたとは言えないだろう。むしろある種のリスペクトは持っていたに違いない。国際的な立場の違いだとも思える。後世の人間にはこうした行動への判断はしにくい。

English version⬇

Rinzo Mamiya’s Birthplace – 10
Rinzo Mamiya lived as a shogunate official from the Siebold Affair to his covert activities. However, he was later enshrined as a mihashira at the Kaitakushi Shrine. The…

Rinzo Mamiya, who made a great contribution to national affairs by exploring Hokkaido and Sakhalin to determine the territory of the northern part of Japan. The two photos above are of the Kaitakushi Shrine (a branch of the Hokkaido Shrine), which is my daily walking route and shrine. The shrine enshrines the 37 Gobashira, or “pillars,” of the people who made Hokkaido what it is today. Mamiya is the second person from the left in the upper row.
Other names on the shrine include those of Kahei Takataya, Tadataka Ino, Takeshiro Matsuura, Tokunai Mogami, and others. Perhaps it is because of this daily habit that I have always had a strong interest in the names of these people and their legacies, without even realizing it.
Although Mamiya has been honored for a long time in this way, his achievements in the latter half of his life as a shogunate official are well known. One example is his actions during the Siebold Incident, in which many shogunate officials and Siebold were punished for taking a map of Japan out of the country, which had been banned by the government. Today, it would be more meaningless to say that the map information was prohibited by the government, but it was highly confidential information for the Shogunate organization under the tyrannical power system. It was an event that involved the very foundation of the nation’s sovereignty. It can be said that this information has a strong historical significance.
As a bakufu official, he brought information about the northern border to the shogunate as something that would contribute to the public interest, and this must have strengthened his position within the shogunate. Under such circumstances, it was natural for him to act politically in accordance with the policies of the shogunate. It is said that he submitted letters and packages sent by Siebold to the Bakufu without opening them to show that “to communicate privately with a foreigner would be to violate the national prohibition. As a result, Takahashi Kageyasu, a fellow shogunate official who provided Siebold with information on Japanese maps, was arrested and executed, and Siebold was deported.
After that, he left traces of his “Shogunate covert” activities. In his later years, he was known to spy on the feudal lords of western Japan. The Siebold affair took place in 1828, when he was 49 years old. This corresponds to the time from 1828 to his death in 1844 at the age of 65 at his home in Edo. Attitudes toward information have historically fluctuated in political situations. Could this be an event that could have occurred in the intervening time? The period was just entering the period of political upheaval at the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
However, despite this background fact, when Siebold, who was exiled from Japan, presented a map of the northern area of Japan to the European world, he clearly introduced it as the “Straits of Mamiya”. It is also a fact that Siebold himself was an information agent with a position as a member of the Dutch trading post.
As such, it cannot be said that Siebold had any particular feelings toward Mamiya. Rather, he must have had a certain respect for him. It seems to me that this is a difference in international standing. It is difficult for future generations to judge such behavior.

Posted on 5月 25th, 2023 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 歴史探訪 | No Comments »

間宮林蔵たち幕末期の領土測量探求者の営為の上に立って、黒田清隆などの新政府は北海道島の日本支配をより強固なものとしていくために積極的な「殖民」政策を大方針として立てていく。
その基盤として「寒冷地仕様住宅」の研究とその普及政策があった。そしてそのDNAは今日の地域自治体・北海道にも脈々と受け継がれ、高断熱高気密住宅として完全に地域に根付き、さらに現在、本州以南地域の住宅革新にも波及している。住宅を巡る日本史としては歴史の一本道であるように思われる。
間宮林蔵は本来の任務であった樺太探検のあと、現地の人びとの協力を得て、黒竜江（アムール川）中流の交易都市・デレン探訪に向かう。かれ30才の当時。その様子はこの第２回樺太探査の記録としてまとめられた「東韃地方紀行」に記述されている。今に伝わる絵画表現は、間宮林蔵の探検者としての師・村上島之允（しまのじょう）の子・貞助が編纂者として記録されている。貞助の絵画表現が1810年当時のこの地域の状況をわかりやすく伝えてくれる。伝統的な「大和絵」の臨場表現として軍記物や洛中洛外図などと同様にナナメ上方からの視点で情報が描かれていて、わかりやすい。
デレンには清朝の出先機関が置かれて「朝貢」がタテマエでの交易活動が行われている実相が伝わってくる。１枚目の絵図では清朝に対して異民族が服従し上納する形式が表されている。もちろん返礼品が対応
されることが前提。異民族側からすると目的は交易だけであるけれど、自分が世界の中心であるとする中華思想としてはこういう「形式」を求めるものなのだろう。現代にも繋がる部分か。
一方で形式が終われば、いわゆる客人としての接遇が間宮に対して行われ、酒席での接待が行われた様子も表現されている。そして、交易された品々はデレンの市で取引されて自由に流通していた様子も見て取れる。このような市場のありよう、形式としては清朝が地域「支配」していたことになるのかどうか。
この段階の日本・江戸幕府は欧米世界との対応の中で、世界標準の「近代国家」という概念に対応する姿勢を見せているし、この間宮たちの行動はそういった実態を表している。その後の極東アジア情勢の推移は清朝国家が破綻していく一方、日本は「脱亜入欧」を目指していくことになる。

間宮の視線は庶民の暮らしぶりにも向けられている。現地の人びとの子育ての様子までもが表現されていた。デレンの役人たちとは友好的に接することができた証しか。絵は乳児の「ゆりかご」の様子のように判別できる。妻帯せず、子をなさなかった間宮はどう感じたのか、ふとかれの両親のことを思い出す瞬間もあっただろう。国事に身を投じた人生とは言え、やや切なさも感じる。

English version⬇

Diplomacy at the End of the Edo Period at Deren in the Middle Heilongjiang River – Mamiya Rinzo’s Birthplace – 8
Diplomacy between Japan and China at the time of 1810 at the Qing dynasty’s outpost in China. Under the isolationist regime, was it in the form of an accidental encounter with a local in Sakhalin accompanying a local in Sakhalin? …

Based on the efforts of Mamiya Rinzo and other territorial surveyors at the end of the Edo period, the new government, led by Kuroda Kiyotaka, adopted an aggressive “colonization” policy to consolidate Japanese control over Hokkaido Island.
The foundation for this policy was research into “cold-weather housing” and the policy to promote its spread. This DNA has been passed down through the generations to today’s local governments in Hokkaido, where highly insulated and airtight housing has taken root, and is now spreading to housing innovations in the south of Honshu and beyond. It seems to be a straight line of history as far as Japanese history concerning housing is concerned.
After his original mission to explore Sakhalin, Rinzo Mamiya, with the cooperation of the local people, went to explore the trading city of Deren in the middle reaches of the Heilongjiang River (Amur River). He was 30 years old at the time. The account of his expedition is described in the book “Travels in the East Rhodesian Region,” which was compiled as a record of the second Sakhalin expedition. The pictorial representations handed down to this day are recorded by Sadasuke, the son of Mamiya Rinzo’s mentor as an explorer, Murakami Shimanojo, as the compiler of the book. Sadasuke’s pictorial representation conveys the situation of this region at the time of 1810 in an easy-to-understand manner. The information is depicted from a naname-upper perspective as in the traditional “Yamato-e” realistic expression, as in military records and Rakuchu-Rakugai-zu, and is easy to understand.
The first picture depicts the form of subjugation and payment of tribute by different ethnic groups to the Qing dynasty. Of course, it is a prerequisite that the return gift
The first illustration shows a form of subjugation and payment to the Qing Dynasty by the different ethnic groups. From the perspective of the different ethnic groups, the purpose is only to trade, but the Chinese thought that they are the center of the world requires this kind of “formality”. Is this a part of the modern world as well?
On the other hand, once the formalities were over, Mamiya was treated as a so-called guest, and the scene of entertainment at the drinking table is also expressed. We can also see how traded goods were traded and freely distributed at the market in Deren. The question is whether or not the Qing dynasty “ruled” the region in the form of this kind of market.
The Japanese Edo shogunate at this stage in its dealings with the Western world was taking a stance that corresponded to the concept of a world-standard “modern state,” and the actions of these Mamiya and others represent such a reality. The subsequent transition of the situation in Far East Asia would see the collapse of the Qing dynasty state, while Japan would aim for “de-industrialization” of Europe.

Mamiya’s gaze also turned to the way of life of ordinary people. He even described how the local people were raising their children. Is this a sign that he was able to have friendly contact with the officials in Deren? The paintings can be identified as showing the “cradle” of an infant. Mamiya, who was not married and had no children, must have felt how he felt, and there must have been moments when he thought of his parents. Although Mamiya’s life was devoted to the affairs of the country, it is also somewhat sad.

Posted on 5月 23rd, 2023 by 三木 奎吾
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北海道神宮境内には「開拓神社」が置かれている。わたしの好きな毎朝の散歩道の定番コースでして強い親近感を持って参拝させていただいている。記憶が定かではないけれど小学校の「社会科」では定番の地域史にそれらの名前は刻印されている。北海道開拓に功績のあった人物を顕彰する宮。地域としての北海道は公式的には幕末の時期に歴史が刻印されはじめるのですね。
そのなかに伊能忠敬、近藤重蔵、高田屋嘉兵衛、松浦武四郎、松田伝十郎、間宮林蔵、最上徳内と言った北海道の地勢情報の開拓者たちの名前が記されている。高田屋嘉兵衛は北前船交易の主人公として司馬遼太郎「菜の花の沖」に描かれた。わたしの家系伝承探索をしていると、このあたりにルーツを感じさせられる部分が強い。興味を持って調べていたら、播磨灘物語の巻末の文章でわが家の伝承と司馬さんのご先祖さまとがクロスする箇所もあった。
そういう時代の感覚が、間宮林蔵さんの足跡を追体験するとふつふつと沸き起こって来る。間宮林蔵が江戸で最期を迎えたとき、幕臣として北方探索を重ねていたかれの事跡が残された資料類は幕府が「国家機密」書類として回収したとされている。鎖国が国是の時代にあって幕府として北方の領土について情報を把握することがいかに機微なことがらであったのかが偲ばれる。
そして明治維新政府がこうした作業に関わった多くの幕臣たちをむしろ顕彰するに至ったことからは、北海道をはじめとする北方の領土問題がいかに明治という時代にとって枢要だったかをあらわしている。明治の政府の中枢であった黒田清隆はむしろ積極的に維新戦争での敵方・幕臣たちにリスペクトしている痕跡がある。北海道を中心とする領土問題は近代国家基幹部分が形成された中心軸だった。北海道人にとってこの時代感覚は毎日の神社参拝を通してなお、なまなましく生き続けている。
今回つくばみらい市で間宮林蔵生家を訪問したことで、北海道はこうしたフロンティアたちのさまざまな活動によって基礎が形成されたことを追体験させられている。
上の写真の銅像は稚内・宗谷岬に残された間宮林蔵像。幕臣として、国命である領土調査活動としてかれは樺太島に渡り、大陸と樺太を隔つ「間宮海峡」を確定させるに至る。その後の対ロシア外交交渉で世界の「公知」事実として根拠を示し得た発見だった。

こうした事実は当時のオランダ人医師シーボルトによって世界に情報拡散されていった。間宮海峡という名前もこの経緯によって世界標準になっていった。世界史と日本史が戦国期以来ふたたび交叉し始める。戦国期が大名たちが主語で語られるのに対して、幕末明治はもっと庶民の側に近い個人名が主語になっていく。こうして間宮林蔵の息づかいまで普通に知れることは、すばらしい。

English version⬇

The Formation of a Modern Nation, Hokkaido, and Territorial Issues – Rinzo Mamiya’s Birthplace – 6
At the end of the Edo period and during the Meiji era, there were countless activities that martyred the “national interest” regardless of whether it was Satcho or the shogunate. In Hokkaido, such spirits are enshrined in the Kaitakushi Shrine.

The Kaitakushi Shrine is located within the precincts of the Hokkaido Shrine. It is a regular course of my favorite morning walk, and I visit the shrine with a strong sense of familiarity. I am not sure if my memory of the shrine is correct, but its name is imprinted in the standard local history book for elementary school social studies classes. The shrine honors those who have contributed to the development of Hokkaido. So Hokkaido as a region officially begins to have its history imprinted at the end of the Edo period.
Among them are the names of pioneers of Hokkaido’s geographical information, such as Ino Tadataka, Kondo Shigezo, Takataya Kahei, Matsuura Takeshiro, Matsuda Denjuro, Mamiya Rinzo, and Mogami Tokunouchi. Takataya Kahei was depicted in Ryotaro Shiba’s “Nanohana no Oki” as a hero of the Kitamae-bune trade. In my search for family lore, I have a strong sense of my roots in this area. As I was researching with interest, I found a passage at the end of Harimanada Monogatari (Tales of Harimanada) that crossed my family traditions with those of Mr. Shiba’s ancestors.
Such a sense of the times arises when I relive Rinzo Mamiya’s footsteps. When Rinzo Mamiya met his end in Edo, it is said that the shogunate had recovered the documents that contained the traces of his many northern expeditions as a vassal of the shogunate as “state secrets”. In an era when the national policy was to keep the country closed to the outside world, it is easy to understand how sensitive it was for the Shogunate to obtain information on the northern territories.
The fact that the Meiji Restoration government honored the many shogunate officials who were involved in this process shows how important the issue of northern territories, including Hokkaido, was to the Meiji era. There are traces that Kiyotaka Kuroda, who was at the center of the Meiji government, actively respected his adversaries and shogunate vassals in the Restoration War. The territorial issue centering on Hokkaido was the central axis around which the core of the modern nation was formed. For the people of Hokkaido, this sense of the times is still vividly alive through their daily visits to the shrine.
Visiting the birthplace of Rinzo Mamiya in Tsukubamirai City, I was reminded that the foundation of Hokkaido was formed by the various activities of these frontiersmen.
The bronze statue in the photo above is the statue of Rinzo Mamiya left at Cape Soya in Wakkanai. As a shogunate minister, he traveled to Sakhalin Island as part of his territorial survey activities as ordered by the Japanese government and established the “Mamiya Strait” that separated Sakhalin from the mainland. The discovery was later used as a basis for diplomatic negotiations with Russia as a fact of “public knowledge” in the world.

This fact was spread around the world by Siebold, the Dutch physician of the time. The name “Mamiya Kaikyo” also became a global standard through this process. World history and Japanese history began to intersect again after the Sengoku period. While the subject of the Warring States period was the feudal lords, the subject of the late Edo and Meiji periods was individual names that were closer to the common people. It is wonderful to be able to know even the breath of Rinzo Mamiya in this way.

Posted on 5月 21st, 2023 by 三木 奎吾
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幕末期には列強によるアジア地域への「進出」という名の侵略行動が活発化した。江戸幕府によるオランダ・中国以外の国との接触を断つ鎖国政策に他国からの政策変更圧力が高まっていた。この時期に幕府は積極的に「北方探索活動」を推進しはじめる。間宮林蔵の仕事はそのなかでも「間宮海峡」という個人名まで付された、いわば世界が公的に追認した大きな成果だった。
この時代段階での地学測量の技術面の困難を克服しながら「国境画定」の基盤を為す行為。ロシアによるユーラシア大陸北東地域への進出制覇という脅威の現実があり、その情勢の中で、北海道島、樺太島が島嶼であるのか、大陸の延長であるのかはすぐれて国際関係論の重要テーマとされていた。
現実に各国の「探検家」たちが樺太と大陸の地理関係を探査してきていたが、失敗を重ねてきていた。鎖国体制とは言え、幕府もロシアの南下侵略行為への強い危機認識を持ち、国際的「公知」の根拠となる精細な地域測量努力を重ねていた。地理を正確に把握していることがそのまま強い「外交交渉力」となるのが、現代世界にまでいたる世界標準的「法の支配」根拠だったのだ。
こうした情勢下、幕府では写真のように北海道島の正確な地図作成目的で、伊能忠敬や最上徳内など旧来の幕臣ではない人材任用が行われた。かれらの行為は第一に日本国の国防の最前線活動だったのだ。そういうなかで世界に樺太の正確な地理知識を認定させた間宮林蔵の足跡は、ロシアに対する最重要な「抑止力活動」だったと言える。科学知識に基づく防衛装備。
間宮林蔵は幕府機構組織の中では「お庭番」という間諜活動に位置づけられ、事実としてかれの晩年にはその本来業務での活動事実も上げられている。幕府組織としては対ロシア国防での明確な功労者である間宮林蔵はいわば専門職として農民から抜擢登用した人物。伊能忠敬や最上徳内もその専門知識をもって幕臣の地位を与えた存在。したがってその本来の役儀である間諜活動を命じていたことになる。その後、明治の政変に至る過程で、その評価について歴史の荒波に揉まれていくことになる。

そういうかれら同士では、いわば身内意識、専門職としての共感があったことが記録にある。上の資料は伊能忠敬から間宮林蔵への書簡。高齢になってから農民身分を「隠居」した後「お国のために」測量活動を続けた伊能にしてみれば、若い間宮の行動にはいたわりの感情も持っていたように思う。事実、間宮は一人っ子であり生家は同族の人間によって家系存続されている。間宮林蔵個人は結局妻帯せず、いわば国事に人生を捧げることになった。その後の国の戦争での戦没者たちの影と重なってもみえてくる。
北海道人としては、こうした先人たちのことを忘れることはできない。

English version⬇

Promoting the national policy of “border demarcation” at the end of the Edo period – Rinzo Mamiya’s birthplace – 5
Geographical surveying to ensure the world standard “rule of law” basis. Deterrence activities that confronted Russia with the world standard “rule of law”. …

In the last days of the Edo period, invasive actions by the powers in the name of “expansion” into the Asian region became more and more active. The Edo shogunate’s policy of seclusion, which cut off contact with countries other than the Netherlands and China, was under increasing pressure from other countries to change its policies. During this period, the Shogunate began to actively promote “northern exploration activities. Rinzo Mamiya’s work was a major achievement that was officially recognized by the world, and was even given a personal name, “Mamiya Kaikyo.
The act of overcoming the technical difficulties of geological surveying at this stage of the history of the world and establishing the foundation for “border demarcation” was a major achievement. The reality was that Russia was threatening to conquer the northeastern part of the Eurasian continent, and the question of whether the islands of Hokkaido and Sakhalin were islands or extensions of the continent was an important topic of discussion in international relations.
In reality, “explorers” from various countries had explored the geographical relationship between Sakhalin and the continent, but had repeatedly failed. Despite the isolationist regime, the Shogunate also had a strong sense of urgency about Russia’s southward aggression, and made repeated efforts to survey the area in detail as a basis for international “public knowledge. The accurate understanding of geography was the basis for the world standard “rule of law,” which has continued to the modern world, as a strong “diplomatic bargaining power” as it is today.
Under these circumstances, the Bakufu appointed personnel not traditionally associated with the shogunate, such as Ino Tadataka and Mogami Tokunouchi, to create an accurate map of the island of Hokkaido, as shown in the photo. Their actions were first and foremost a frontline activity for the national defense of Japan. In this context, the footsteps of Mamiya Rinzo, who made the world recognize the accurate geographical knowledge of Sakhalin, were the most important “deterrence activity” against Russia. Defense equipment based on scientific knowledge.
Rinzo Mamiya was positioned as a counterintelligence agent in the Shogunate organization as “Oyaban,” and in fact, in his later years, his activities in his original duties were also reported. Rinzo Mamiya, a clear contributor to the defense of the Shogunate against Russia, was selected and promoted from among the peasants as a specialist, so to speak. Ino Tadataka and Mogami Tokunouchi were also given the status of shogunate vassals because of their expertise. Therefore, they were ordered to engage in counterintelligence activities, which was their original role. Later, in the process leading up to the political upheaval of the Meiji period, he was caught in the stormy waves of history regarding his evaluation.

The record shows that there was a sense of kinship and professional empathy among them. The above document is a letter from Tadataka Ino to Rinzo Mamiya. Ino, who had continued his surveying activities “for the good of the country” after “retiring” from the peasant life at an advanced age, seems to have felt some sympathy for the young Mamiya’s actions. In fact, Mamiya was an only child, and his family of birth was continued by a member of the same family. Rinzo Mamiya personally did not marry and devoted his life, so to speak, to national affairs. His life was dedicated to national affairs, so to speak, and his deaths in subsequent national wars can be seen in the shadows.
As a Hokkaido native, I cannot forget these predecessors.

Posted on 5月 19th, 2023 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: こちら発行人です, 歴史探訪 | No Comments »

後にその理工系の才能を認められて幕臣として登用され、世界情勢の中でも緊張を高めていた北辺地域の支配根拠となる正確な地理把握を日本発で世界に認識させた間宮林蔵。
当時、列強による世界全域での領土・利権争奪が熾烈を極める中で、そのなかでももっとも危険性の高いロシア国家との「領土」紛争を未然に沈静化させ、英米を中心とする世界世論を日本に引きつける根拠をかれの事跡は確定させた。
そういうかれが生誕した住まいがこの家。
いちばん上の写真は、生誕前のエピソード説明で、なかなか子どもに恵まれなかった両親が、必死に神頼みしたという近在の「月読神社」の様子。ご両親の思いは少子化社会のただ中にいる現代のわれわれとも通底する。
このように「人とすまい」というワンセットが保存されているケースは興味深い。
北海道人としては地域の歴史経緯を知るほどに、自分の生きる土地がロシアとの緊張関係の末に日本領土として確定し、自分が日本人としてのいのちを生きていることに大きな「恩」のある人物なのだと思い続けていた。その人物の生身の出自を探訪できる不思議な機縁。
そのご両親の素朴な人間性にまで触れることができた気がする。


家の中に入ったとき、農家らしい広い土間空間の三和土（たたき）空間が出迎えてくれる。この建物はほんの50m先からとはいえ「移築」されたものだというけれど、丹念に突き固め踏み固められた地盤面には、濃厚に人間らしさが表現されている。
そして自然と、かまどに吸い寄せられるように近づいていった。両親が祈りようやく授かったいのちを養育するのに、そのパワーを生み出し続けた空間。かまどは食という基本で間宮家のいのちを守り続けたのだと、一種畏敬にも近い念が沸き起こって来る。
現代では人間は産科病院で生まれることが多数だけれど、200数十年前の頃には自宅で産婆さんの介助を受けて産み落ちるのが自然。その「産湯」もこのかまどが用を果たしたに違いない。
そして15-6歳になるまでの成長期、間宮林蔵という人物・個性にこのかまどは食生活を通して圧倒的にその成長を保証し続けた。両親の深い愛情が、このかまど空間に刷り込まれている。
ひとは生を受けて成長し、望みを抱き、また人のために役立つことを為していくけれど、そういった「輪廻」のなかで住まいというのは、静かにたたずまいを提供し続けてくれる。まことに多様な個性を生み出し続ける空間なのだと、いまさらながら、深く気付かせられる。

English version⬇

The longed-for child of my parents, finally given to me – Rinzo Mamiya’s birthplace – 3
The house is like witnessing the traces of reincarnation of life. The neat and simple living space that secured the growth of Rinzo Mamiya from birth to the age of 15-6. …

Rinzo Mamiya was later promoted to the post of shogunate minister in recognition of his talent in science and engineering, and he was the first person in Japan to make the world aware of the accurate geographical understanding that would serve as the basis for control of the northern border region, which was undergoing increasing tension in world affairs.
At the time, the struggle for territory and interests throughout the world by the powers was fierce, and Rinzo Mamiya was able to calm down the most dangerous “territorial” dispute with Russia and establish a basis for attracting world public opinion, especially that of the United Kingdom and the United States, to Japan.
This is the house where he was born.
The photo at the top is a scene from the nearby “Tsukuyomi Shrine,” where his parents, who were not blessed with children, desperately prayed to God for help. The parents’ wish is also relevant to us today in the midst of a society with a declining birthrate.
It is interesting to see a case like this where one set of “people and their home” has been preserved.
As a Hokkaido native, the more I learned about the history of the region, the more I kept thinking that I owed a great debt of gratitude to a person whose land I live on was determined as Japanese territory after tensions with Russia and whose life I am living as a Japanese citizen. It was a strange opportunity to be able to explore the person’s birthplace in the flesh.
I feel that I was even able to touch the simple humanity of his parents.

Upon entering the house, one is greeted by a spacious earthen floor space with a farmhouse-like “tataki” (earthen floor). Although this building was “relocated” from a distance of only 50 meters away, the ground surface, which has been painstakingly pried and stepped on, is richly expressive of human nature.
I was naturally drawn closer to the kamado. It is a space where parents prayed and continued to generate the power to nurture the life that was finally given to them. The kamado is a place that has continued to protect the life of the Mamiya family through the fundamental element of food, and this arouses a sense of awe in me.
Today, most people are born in maternity hospitals, but 200 or so decades ago, it was natural for women to give birth at home with the assistance of a midwife. This kamado must have served the purpose of the “birth bath” as well.
During the growth period of Rinzo Mamiya, from the age of 15 to 6, this kamado overwhelmingly ensured the growth of his personality and character through his food. The deep love of his parents is imprinted in this kamado space.
People are born, grow up, have hopes, and do useful things for others, but in such “reincarnation,” a dwelling quietly continues to provide a place to stand. It is a space that continues to give birth to a variety of personalities, as we are reminded even more deeply now.

Posted on 5月 17th, 2023 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 住宅取材＆ウラ話 | No Comments »