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【「札幌らしい」典型的デザイン住宅 旧有島武郎邸-1】



先に芥川龍之介ゆかりの草庵として千葉県九十九里の一宮館に付設された芥川荘を探訪した。実際に訪問してみて、その空気感に触れることで得られる体感は、その小説作品にふれてもいることからより肉声として感じさせられる部分を意識した。作家の空間には数寄を感じる。
そういった「人と住まい」という部分ではさまざまな芸術作家たちの住宅を見て来て、掘り下げて見てみたくなる。そういえば司馬遼太郎さんの記念館に行ったときにも、ガラス越しだけだったけれど、作家の作品作りに随伴していた空気感を味わったことも思い出していた。
そういった流れのなかに札幌、北海道住宅の類縁をたどれば、有島武郎の旧邸がある。有島については現・北海道開拓の村に移築保存された旧邸もあるけれど、有島自身が深く設計にも関与したとされているのがこちらの建物で、新婚当時の1912年8月に、現札幌市北区北12条西3丁目に竣工した。勤務していた北海道大学の正門にほど近い立地ということになる。
いわゆる日本的な伝統的住宅とはかなり隔絶したデザイン感覚であり、とくに新築後早々に塗られたとされる赤褐色ペイントの印象は強烈だったに違いない。北海道開拓では「洋造」がその建築性能追究を目的として導入されたワケだけれど、戸建て住宅のデザイン典型としてもこの有島邸は特徴的。こうした日本伝統とは隔絶したデザイン感覚も、日本人全体に札幌・北海道というものがまさに新天地的なイメージ、意識を盛り上げていったに違いない。
わたしがReplan誌を創刊した当時、活躍していた建築家・倉本龍彦氏の住宅デザイン感覚にもこの有島武郎邸の雰囲気が大きく影響を与えていた。「札幌らしい」というデザインのクラシックとしてわたしたち年代には懐かしさを覚えさせられる。
こちらもメモリアル建築としていまは札幌芸術の森に移築保存されている。
有島は1878年(明治11年)3月4日-1923年(大正12年)6月9日)という45年間の生涯だったけれど、そのうち12年間は札幌で過ごしている。日本社会で北海道、札幌は明治以降の「国際化」のなかで一種特異な象徴的地域になったけれど、そういう札幌のイメージを沈殿させた文学者として有島武郎の存在はきわめて大きかったのだと思う。有島の作品に登場する札幌の街並みなどから刺激された「エキゾチズム」が日本社会に染みわたって行ったと思う。時計台の鐘について作品中で描写する箇所があるけれど、まだ見ぬ津軽海峡の先の民族の新天地への思いは、かれの作品を通して醸成されていった部分も大きいのではないか。
年齢的には芥川の14-5歳年上にあたるけれど、本格的作家活動としては芥川龍之介とほぼ時期が重なっている。芥川のことを書きながら、一方で気になり続けていた有島武郎邸、こっちもちょっとシリーズ的に深掘りしてみたいと思います。

English version⬇

Former Takeo Arishima’s residence, a typical “Sapporo style” design residence-1
Since the Meiji period, encouraging immigration to the cold region of Hokkaido has been a national security issue for Japanese society. The design of the Takeuro Arishima Residence deeply imprinted this image. …

Earlier, we visited Akutagawa-so, a hermitage attached to Ichinomiya-kan in Kujukuri, Chiba Prefecture, as a hermitage associated with Ryunosuke Akutagawa. I was conscious of the fact that the experience I gained by actually visiting the villa and coming into contact with its atmosphere was more like a physical voice from the fact that I was also exposed to the novelist’s works. I feel sukiya in the artist’s space.
I have seen the residences of various artists in terms of “people and their homes,” and I would like to delve deeper and take a look. I remember that when I visited Ryotaro Shiba’s memorial museum, I was able to experience the atmosphere that accompanied the artist as he created his works, although only through the glass.
In the same vein, the former residence of Takehiro Arishima is located in Sapporo, Hokkaido, and is related to the Hokkaido Houses. Arishima’s former residence has been relocated and preserved in the current Hokkaido Kaitakunomura (Hokkaido Development Village), but it is said that Arishima himself was deeply involved in the design of this building, which was completed in August 1912, when he was newly married, in Kita 12-jo Nishi 3-chome, Kita-ku, Sapporo. It is located close to the main gate of Hokkaido University where he worked.
The design sense of the house was quite different from the traditional Japanese style, and the reddish-brown paint, which is said to have been applied early after construction, must have made a particularly strong impression on the owner. The Arishima Residence is unique as a typical example of a detached house design, even though “Western-style construction” was introduced in the Hokkaido frontier to pursue architectural performance. This sense of design, which is so different from traditional Japanese design, must have contributed to the Japanese people’s awareness of Sapporo and Hokkaido as a new land.
The atmosphere of the Tatsuhiko Kuramoto residence had a great influence on the sense of residential design of the architect Tatsuhiko Kuramoto, who was active at the time of the first issue of Replan magazine. It is a classic of “Sapporo style” design that makes us nostalgic for our generation.
This building has been relocated and is now preserved as a memorial building in the Sapporo Art Park.
Arishima lived 45 years (March 4, 1878 – June 9, 1923), 12 of which were spent in Sapporo. Hokkaido and Sapporo became a kind of unique symbolic region in the “internationalization” of Japanese society after the Meiji period. I believe that the “exoticism” stimulated by the streets of Sapporo in Arishima’s works permeated Japanese society. In one of his works, he describes the bells of the clock tower, and I believe that his works may have fostered the desire for a new land beyond the Tsugaru Straits that had yet to be seen by the Japanese people.
Although he is 14-5 years older than Akutagawa in age, his serious writing career coincides with Akutagawa Ryunosuke’s. While writing about Akutagawa, I also wrote about him in his works. While writing about Akutagawa, I would like to delve a little deeper into the residence of Takehiro Arishima, which has been on my mind for some time.

【人生激変の時期、天国のような北国の秋】



いろいろなことが同時進行してなかなか平安な心象を持ちにくい環境の中におりました。独立開業からの時間に自分で一定のピリオドを打って、ネクストの環境に移行しつつあるのですが、法的な申請関係も一定の時間がかかり、言ってみればモラトリアムな時間でしょうか?
別にできることは山ほどあるのだけれど、どうも心理的にスッキリしない(笑)。
そういう時期は自然のうつろいの中に身を委ねて、その自然からの応答を受け止めたい、みたいな心理状態になってくる。日本人なので、こんな風な気分を感じ続けています。ということで週末にはカミさんとあちこち逍遙中。
北海道もことしは猛暑が続き、北国人にしてみれば天国のような夏が1ヶ月以上も続くという奇跡を体験。北海道ではふつう本州の温暖・蒸暑の「真夏」は1−2週間が限度。多少は高温にはなるけれど長続きはせず、さらに「蒸し暑い」ということはほんの数日というのが常態なのですね。
温暖蒸暑地域のみなさんによる夏期の「湿気」対策みたいな論議を一昨日、いきなり論点として振られたワケですが、まさか「大歓迎です」とは言えず、ただ微笑させていただいておりました(笑)。「なんもいいっしょ、そんないいことないっしょや」(方言丸出しで失礼)の気分半分。
寒冷への対応は「いのちの危機への備え」という要因なのでしょうが、湿潤への対応は「ジメジメへの憎悪からの解放」というような心象を持ってしまう。
そういうことなので今年のような体験はまさに「未曾有」のできごと。たぶん過ぎ去ってみると「あの年はよかった」と感慨に浸ることになるのでしょう。もし来年以降もことしのような夏が経験できたら、これに過ぎるシアワセはないと思っているのがホンネ。このあたりが温暖地域の方々と寒冷地域の人間の「心理的すれ違い」の最大要因なのかも知れませんね。
お盆が過ぎれば一気に秋冷が始まって、徐々に冬将軍の厳しい到来を待ち続ける心理に追い込まれる。そういう「花鳥風月感」が一般的。
そういう秋も、順調に深まっているとはいえ、日中はまだまだ気温上昇がある。昨日も旭川周辺のスキー場ゴンドラを楽しんで山上からの景観を楽しもうということで「メッチャ寒いに違いないから薄手のダウン・帽子」という準備をしていましたが、拍子抜けの汗ばむ状況。
どうも天国に一番近い季節、今年の北海道は秋にまで継続してきているように思われます。
こういうシアワセ感のしっぺ返しがこの冬、盛大に冬将軍さまの手でもたらされないように、こころの中でお祈りを捧げております。もうすこし、よろしく。

English version⬇

A heavenly northern autumn, a time of drastic changes in life.
While the next environment has yet to start up, I feel sheer joy that the remnants of the heavenly summer of high temperature and humidity are still here in Hokkaido. …

I have been in an environment where various things have been going on at the same time and it has been difficult to have a peaceful mental image. I have put an end to the time that has passed since I started my own business, and I am now moving on to the next environment, but it is also taking a certain amount of time for legal applications.
There are a lot of things I can do, but psychologically I am not feeling very refreshed (laughs).
During such a period, I feel like I want to surrender myself to the changes of nature and accept the responses from nature. Since I am Japanese, I keep feeling this way. This is why my wife and I are floundering around on weekends.
Hokkaido has been experiencing a heat wave this year, and for a northerner, it is a miracle that the heavenly summer has lasted for more than a month. In Hokkaido, the warm and humid “midsummer” of Honshu is usually limited to one or two weeks. It gets a little hotter, but not for long, and the “hot and humid” usually lasts only a few days.
The day before yesterday, I was suddenly asked by people in warm and humid regions to discuss measures against “humidity” during the summer season. I couldn’t say, “You are very welcome,” but I just smiled at him (laugh).
While the response to cold temperatures may be a factor of “preparing for the crisis of life,” the response to wetness may be a mental image of “freedom from the hatred of dampness.
That is why an experience like this year’s is truly an “unprecedented” event. Perhaps we will be deeply moved by the passing of this year and think, “That year was good. If we can experience another summer like this one next year, I really believe there is no greater feeling of happiness. This may be the biggest reason for the psychological difference between people in warmer regions and those in colder regions.
Once the Obon season has passed, the autumn chill begins at once, and we are gradually driven into a state of mind that keeps us waiting for the harsh arrival of the winter army. That kind of “flower, bird, wind, and moon” feeling is common.
Although such autumn is steadily deepening, there is still a rise in temperature during the daytime. Yesterday, too, I was preparing to enjoy the ski gondola around Asahikawa and enjoy the view from the top of the mountain, but the conditions were so sweaty that I was not prepared for the beat.
It seems that the season closest to heaven, Hokkaido this year, is continuing into autumn.
I am praying in my heart that General Winter will not bring this kind of sheer happiness back to us this winter. A few more days, please.

【「日本エコハウス大賞 クロストークvol.2」に参加】


昨日は夕刻18:30から19:30までの1時間、建築専門誌・建築知識ビルダーズさんの主催される表題の日本エコハウス大賞の「ゲスト審査員」として前振りのクロストークというのに参加しました。
この様子は、https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaMQELSgsJU&t=21s で動画配信されていますので、ご興味のある方はご視聴ください。
内容はエコハウス大賞という趣旨に添ったもので、司会の方からはいきなり住宅内の「湿度管理」についてという超マニアック(笑)な振り方。建築専門誌という立場として、主要な読者対象をプロの建築専門家にフォーカスされているのだろうと推察されました。相方はReplan誌面で連載で記事執筆していただいている東大工学部の前真之先生。
前先生はこのテーマについての有数の専門家ですから学ばせていただきつつ、わたしとしてはユーザー視点に近い立場で応答させていただいていました。
建物内部での「高湿度」対策というのは関東以南地域での「蒸暑」対策として大きく浮かび上がってきているテーマだと思いますが、北海道は列島地域の中でいちばん大陸型の気候に近く、湿度はむしろ乾燥型の気候風土に属している。
わたしの家はそういうなかでコンクリートブロック造という「調湿型の建築構造体」を採用しているので、そういった生活実感に即してお答えし、さらに温暖・蒸暑地域でも漆喰や塗り壁といった先人からの建築素材の知恵が基本になるのではないかと話したりしていました。


温暖・蒸暑地域でも最近は個別の先進的ビルダーさんたちが高断熱高気密住宅技術を摂取されて家づくりに実践され「地域一番店」的にクローズアップされてきています。そういう流れは、新住協の活動がどんどん南下していって以降、顕在化してきたことだと思います。大変喜ばしいことだと思いますが、その大衆化過程ではいろいろな過渡的な事象も生起する。
北海道でも初期の高断熱高気密化段階では、そのことを「差別化」手段として活用される例がありましたが、北海道庁などの公共が公平な基準作りで大きく関与することで、あくまでもユーザー主体の技術基盤形成が進んでいった経緯があります。一部が原理主義的に突出するのではなく、平準的な「普遍化」の方がはるかに重要であり大切だという視点ですね。
こういった機会を捉えて、そうした北海道的な経験知を広く拡散できる機会になれればと思っています。今回のクロストークに続いて、10/26には午後2時から午後6時までの4時間という長時間でエコハウス大賞選考の様子をリアルタイム情報発信されるということ。参加する側としては、その間、Zoomとはいえ、トイレ休憩は可能なのかとハラハラしております(笑)。
そちらの方もぜひご視聴いただければと思います。わたしとしては第1にユーザー視点、そして寒冷地域としての視点というスタンスで参加させていただければと思っています。よろしく。

English version⬇

Participated in “Japan Eco-House Award Crosstalk vol.2
Participating in a project by Architectural Knowledge Builders to promote high performance housing in warm and humid regions. Video distribution is underway. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaMQELSgsJU&t=21s

Yesterday evening, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., I participated as a “guest judge” for the Japan Eco-House Award sponsored by the architectural magazine, Architectural Knowledge Builders, as a preliminary cross talk.
The video of this event is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaMQELSgsJU&t=21s. Please watch it if you are interested.
The content of the talk was in line with the purpose of the Eco-House Award, and the moderator suddenly took a very maniacal (laugh) turn and talked about “humidity control” in housing. As an architectural magazine, I guessed that the main target audience was focused on professional architectural experts. His partner was Dr. Masayuki Mae of the University of Tokyo’s School of Engineering, who writes a series of articles for Replan magazine.
Dr. Mae is one of the leading experts on this topic, so I was able to learn from him, while I was able to respond from a position close to the user’s point of view.
I think that measures against “high humidity” inside buildings are a theme that has emerged as a major countermeasure against “heat and humidity” in the Kanto and southern regions, but Hokkaido is closest to the continental climate of the archipelago, and humidity is rather dry.
My house is built of concrete blocks, which is a “humidity-regulating building structure,” so I answered the question in line with the realities of daily life. I also said that even in warm and humid regions, the wisdom of our ancestors’ building materials such as plaster and painted walls would be fundamental.

Even in warm and humid regions, recently, individual advanced builders have been taking highly insulated and airtight housing technologies and practicing them in house building, and they are being closely watched as the “best in the region. This trend has become apparent since the Shinjyukyo’s activities have been moving southward. I think it is a very good thing, but in the process of popularization, various transitional events also occur.
In Hokkaido, too, there were some cases where this was used as a means of “differentiation” in the early stages of the development of highly insulated and airtight buildings. However, the Hokkaido Government and other public agencies were heavily involved in creating fair standards, which led to the formation of a user-centered technological infrastructure. This is a viewpoint that universalization is far more important and vital than the fundamentalist prominence of one part of the population.
I hope to seize opportunities like this to spread such Hokkaido-like empirical knowledge widely. Following this crosstalk, on October 26, the Eco-House Award selection process will be broadcasted in real time over a four-hour period from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.. As a participant, I am wondering if it is possible to take a restroom break during that time, even though it will be via Zoom (laugh).
(Laughs.) I hope you will be able to watch the event as well. I would like to participate from the user’s point of view first and foremost, and from the perspective of the cold region. Thank you very much.

【文豪の肉筆に触れる 芥川龍之介・九十九里の庵-8】


わたしは筆跡についての知識はありませんが、自分のヘタな字面を毎日のように見ていると、そこに自分のダメさ加減が如実に表れていると自責させられている。たぶん多くの人が、自分の書いた文字について密かな自問自答を繰り返しているのだろうと思います。そういう自分にしてみると、世界がパソコンに一変してきたことは、潜在的で根深い劣等感からのひそかな「解放」にもなっている。
でも、それは人間と文字文化についてのきわめて根源的な「革命」であって、あとで「人類が喪失した重要な手業の痕跡」ということに認定されてしまう可能性もある。
芥川さんの上のハガキ文字の書きようからは「あ、けっこう投げやりっぽい」という印象も持たされる。特に「込」の左側、しんにょうが一筆書きになっているあたり「ま、これで通用するだろう」みたいな芥川さんの個性とか、内語の発露というように感じられる。
草書、行書、楷書みたいな書き方分類からすれば、ハガキなどは草書の最たるものだろうから、こういった心理で書いていくときにはその心理の雰囲気伝達も含めて蓋然性があるのでしょう。



一方で、きちんとした手紙文章については、楷書とまでは言わないけれど、一字一字、丁寧な筆遣いで「克明」感がある。「敬啓」という文頭熟語はイマドキのPC辞書には発見できない。たぶん「敬って」「申し上げます」みたいな内意を表現したと推測できるが、芥川の存命当時はまだ日本語共通語が完全には成立していない時期だと思えるので、かれ芥川としては気に入った文頭語として独自に創始したのだろうか。
あるいはもっと進んで、恩師・夏目漱石たちが必死に取り組んでいた近代日本の文化基盤としての共通語創造作業に対して、リスペクトしつつ芥川オリジナルな文章表現を社会に提案していたのかも知れない。東京帝大文学部学生としての国家的役割の自覚、明治末・大正初期の国語文化創造の民族的使命感の一端がそこに示されてもいるようだ。
先般来見て来ている「恋文」についてはこのような肉筆は公開されていない。恋情という生々しい心情吐露において、その書き方が行書だったか、草書だったかは、非常に興味深い。恥ずかしながら自分事として思い返してみても、そのあたりは明晰ではない。また追確認する術もほぼない(笑)。コピー装置のない時代、一期一会としての書き文字にはそういう「気迫」のようなものも託されていた。
司馬遼太郎の作品に「街道をゆく」があり、そのなかの本郷界隈篇では夏目漱石らの明治国家初期の文化創出期の人間像、その苦悩ぶりなども表現されているけれど、その直系ともいえる芥川にも日本共通語創出期の熱気を感じさせられる。

English version⬇

Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s Hermitage in Kujukuri – 8] Touching the Writings of the Great Writers
Akutagawa and his contemporaries must have been in the reverberations of Soseki Natsume’s generation, who created the lingua franca of Japan. We will explore their psychology in cursive and running script. …

I am not knowledgeable about handwriting, but when I look at my bad handwriting on a daily basis, I am reminded that my ineptitude is truly expressed in it. I think many people probably repeat the secret self-questioning about their own writing. For such a person as myself, the fact that the world has been transformed by personal computers has been a secret “liberation” from a latent and deep-seated sense of inferiority.
But it is also a very fundamental “revolution” about human beings and writing culture, which could later be qualified as “a trace of an important handiwork that humanity has lost.
The way Akutagawa writes the postcard characters above also gives the impression of “Oh, it looks quite throwaway. In particular, the single stroke on the left side of “kome” (込) and “shinyou” (しんにょう) give the impression of Akutagawa’s individuality and the expression of his internal language, as if to say, “Well, this will work.
In terms of writing styles, such as cursive, running script, and standard script, postcards are probably the most common type of cursive writing.

On the other hand, as for the proper writing of a letter, each character is carefully handwritten and has a sense of “conquering”, although it is not necessarily in block style. The phrase “Dear Sir/Madam,” which is an idiom at the beginning of a sentence, cannot be found in modern PC dictionaries. It is assumed that it was used to express the meaning of “respectfully” or “respectfully,” but since the common Japanese language had not yet been fully established at the time of Akutagawa’s death, he may have created his own favorite idiomatic expression.
Perhaps Akutagawa was respecting the efforts of his mentor Soseki Natsume and others to create a lingua franca as the cultural foundation of modern Japan, and at the same time, he was proposing his own original writing style to society. This may have been part of Akutagawa’s sense of national mission to create a national language culture at the end of the Meiji and early Taisho eras.
As for the “love letters” that we have been looking at for some time now, no such writings have been made public. It is very interesting to know whether the writing style was cursive or cursive, as it is a very vivid expression of the feelings of love. I am ashamed to admit that when I think back on it as a matter of personal experience, I am not quite clear on this point. I am ashamed to admit that when I think back on my own life, I am not so clear about it, and there is almost no way to check. In an era without photocopying equipment, the written word, which was a once-in-a-lifetime event, was entrusted with a kind of “spirit” as well.
Ryotaro Shiba wrote “Kaido yuku” (“On the Road”), in which he describes the human image of Soseki Natsume and others during the period of cultural creation in the early Meiji era, and the anguish they endured.

【この木造空間にちなむ文学作品 芥川龍之介・九十九里の庵-7】



このブログを書いていて、芥川は金持ちのボンボンで定職もないときに海辺の旅館の「離れ」で遊興の限りを尽くしていたのが実相ではないかという意見をいただきます。本日はその辺の調査ブログ(笑)。
〜一宮川河口に位置する旅館・一宮館の離れで、大正3年(1914)と大正5年(1916)に芥川龍之介がこの離れに滞在した。芥川は滞在中にこの離れから、後に妻となる塚本文に長い求婚の手紙を送り、一宮での思い出を「微笑」「海のほとり」「玄鶴山房」「蜃気楼」などの作品に登場させている。
建物は明治30年(1897)の建築。茅葺寄棟造の木造平屋建て。主屋と次の間2室の3方に縁側を回らし、縁側の一端には洗面所を設けている。当地方の伝統的な民家建築技法で建てられ、周囲の松林の閑静な雰囲気と相まって良好な景観となっている。〜<一宮町観光協会HPより要旨抜粋>
一方、芥川作品はこの時期、以下のような作品群。
<翻訳関係>
・バルタザアル 1914年(翻訳、原作アナトール・フランス)
・「ケルトの薄明」より 1914年(翻訳、原作ウィリアム・バトラー・イェイツ)
・春の心臓 1914年(翻訳、原作ウィリアム・バトラー・イェイツ)
・クラリモンド 1914年(翻訳、原作テオフィル・ゴーティエ)
<創作作品>
・ひょっとこ 1915年
・羅生門 1915年
・鼻 1916年
・芋粥 1916年
・手巾 1916年
・煙草と悪魔 1916年
岩波新書「芥川龍之介」(関口安義著)にも「龍之介が一宮館でひと夏を過ごしたときの様子や、夏目漱石との深い師弟関係もくわしく紹介されています」とあり、その文中には以下の記述。
「大学卒業後、芥川は俸給が定まらないまま、大学院に籍を置き、創作に勤しむこととなる」とある。この時代の作家仕事というのは、経済的にどうであったかを偲ばせる。やがて恩師・夏目漱石の配慮で定職を得ることになるが、日本文学「業界」の基盤経済構造も草創期であったといえるのだろう。
恋文の中で「僕のやってゐる商売は今の日本で一番金にならない商売です。その上僕自身も碌に金はありません。ですから生活の程度から云へば何時までたっても知れたものです」と書いているのは正直なところだったのだろう。
「大学を卒業し創作時間は大幅に増えたとは言え、著述に没頭できる時間はいくらあっても足りないほどだった。・・・一宮滞在中(1916年)芥川は同宿の友人と海で泳ぐ一方、計画的に読書をし、翻訳をし、小説を書き、絵や俳句に勤しんだ」と記述されている。


芥川の年譜にも「1915年(大正4年)10月、代表作の1つとなる『羅生門』を「芥川龍之介」名で『帝国文学』に発表。1916年(大正5年)には第4次『新思潮』を発刊し創刊号に掲載した『鼻』が漱石に絶賛される。」といった時期に相当している。
このブログで建築と文学仕事の関連を考えていますが、明示的な資料にはないけれど、どうも作品としては「芋粥 1916年」がこの滞在期間に描かれたものだと想像できる。〜芋粥を腹一杯食べたい、という欲望を大事に持っていた人物が、突然その欲望を他人の力で満たされる事になり・・・夢見る幸せと、他力で叶う味気なさ。〜
妻になる女性にあてた恋文で書かれた「仕事」とは、間違いなく著述作業であったことは疑いようがないと思える。ただし作家稼業で巨万の富を得られたとは思われない。師である夏目漱石にその才能を激賞されて注目を浴び創作に意欲を燃え上がらせていたことは間違いないでしょう。

English version⬇

Literary works associated with this wooden space: Ryunosuke Akutagawa, The Hermitage of Kujukuri – 7
The economy of the “Japanese literary world” and the realities of the writer’s business in 1916. Soseki Natsume intended to nurture the standard-bearers of “Japanese culture” and Akutagawa responded to him. …

In writing this blog, I have received some opinions that the truth is that Akutagawa was a rich bon vivant who, without a regular job, spent his time at a seaside ryokan “away from home” to the fullest extent of his amusement. Today’s blog is an investigation into this matter.
〜The Ichinomiya-kan Ryokan is located at the mouth of the Ichinomiya River, and Ryunosuke Akutagawa stayed at the Ichinomiya-kan in 1914 and 1916. During his stay, Akutagawa sent a long letter of courtship to Tsukamoto, who later became his wife, from this villa, and his memories of Ichinomiya appear in such works as “A Smile,” “On the Edge of the Sea,” “Genkaku Yambo,” and “Mirage.
The building was constructed in 1897. It is a one-story wooden structure with a thatched hipped roof. The main house and the two rooms of the second house are surrounded on three sides by a porch, and a washroom is located at one end of the porch. The house was built using traditional minka (private house) construction techniques of the region, and the quiet atmosphere of the surrounding pine forest makes for a beautiful sight.  Akutagawa’s works during this period were as follows.
<Translation
Balthazar, 1914 (translation, original by Anatole France)
From “Celtic Twilight,” 1914 (translation by William Butler Yeats)
Heart of Spring, 1914 (translation by William Butler Yeats)
Clarimonde, 1914 (translation and original by Théophile Gautier)
Hyottoko, 1915.
Rashomon 1915
The Nose, 1916
Sweet potato porridge, 1916.
The handkerchief, 1916
Tobacco and the Devil, 1916
In Iwanami Shinsho’s “Akutagawa Ryunosuke” (written by Yasuyoshi Sekiguchi), “Ryunosuke’s summer at Ichinomiya-kan and his deep teacher-student relationship with Soseki Natsume are also introduced in detail,” and the following statement is included in the book.
After graduating from the university, Akutagawa entered graduate school without a fixed salary and began to work hard on his creative writing. This reminds us of the economic situation of writers in this period. Eventually, he was able to secure a regular job, thanks to the consideration of his former teacher, Soseki Natsume, but the basic economic structure of the Japanese literary “industry” was also in its infancy.
In one of his love letters, he wrote, “My business is the most unprofitable business in Japan today. Moreover, I myself have no money. So, from the point of view of my living standards, I will always be a nobody.
Although he graduated from university and had much more time for creative work, he still had more than enough time to devote to writing. During his stay in Ichinomiya (1916), Akutagawa systematically read, translated, wrote novels, painted, and wrote haiku while swimming in the sea with his housemates.

In October 1915, Akutagawa published “Rashomon,” one of his best-known works, in Teikoku Bungaku under the name “Akutagawa Ryunosuke,” and in 1916, he published the fourth edition of Shin Shicho (New Shicho), and his “Nose” in the first issue was highly praised by Soseki. This corresponds to the period of his career.
I have been thinking about the connection between architecture and literary work on this blog, and although there is no explicit reference to it, apparently I can imagine that the work, “Imo porridge, 1916,” was drawn during this period of his stay. 〜The character who had a cherished desire to eat a full meal of sweet potato porridge suddenly has that desire satisfied by the power of others…….. 〜The story is about the happiness of dreaming and the tastelessness of being fulfilled by other means.
There is no doubt that the “work” described in the love letter to his wife-to-be was writing. However, it does not seem that he could have earned a huge fortune from his writing career. There is no doubt that his teacher, Soseki Natsume, praised his talent highly, and he was attracted by the attention and burning desire to create.

【創造力生産性の高い空間 芥川龍之介・九十九里の庵-6】



芥川龍之介という作家はわたし個人的に思い入れがあるのかも知れない。イマドキの人にとっては明治大正期の文豪というのはほぼ紫式部、清少納言とも同列の歴史の印象なのでしょうか。
わたし個人的には「羅生門」が好きで、ああいう歴史上のワンシーンをピンナップして、そこに人間の葛藤、その断面を構成するという「作家」性に刺激を受けた世代。それに対して現代感覚ではYou-tube動画などの世界の方がはるかに刺激的なのでしょう。わたし自身も、現代の芥川賞受賞作みたいなものには一切反応しなくなっている。
しかし人間は常に頭のなかに「あたらしい考え」を生み出そうとする創造性をいつの世でも重視してきたのだと思います。資本主義が社会を覆っていって、そういう創造性に対しても「生産性」「効率」ということを追究するようになった。
作家を「缶詰め」にしていい作品を生み出させて、それを文学「商品」として高い付加価値付きで売り抜けようという魂胆が盛り上がっていく。
そのときに作家の創造力・想像力を賦活する空間環境ということを必死に考えたのだろう。この芥川荘の空気の中で、大正期のそういう出版人の狙いというものを無意識で探していた。上の写真2枚は芥川龍之介が向かっていたに違いない「文机」周辺の様子。
現代人はこのような座り机は遠慮したいけれど、大正期の芥川にはこういった姿勢環境のほうが適合的だったのだろう。また、この文机は南西側の角に設置されている。日中の作業としては採光環境をそのように設定している。文机自体は非常にコンパクトであり、ほぼ執筆作業平面だけだと想像できる。たぶん参考文献の類は周辺の畳の上に散乱されたに違いない。
ときどき目を休める周辺環境として、砂防林と生け垣が緑を提供して心身の平安を視覚的に担保していたに違いない。恋文まで書いたのだから、かれの本性を解放できる環境だったのだろう。


この時代人が「こういう環境ならば作家は気持ちよく大量のいい作品を生み出してくれる」と商売っ気満々に提供した空間ということになる。そして事実、芥川は小説作品を生産し、その高揚のままにラブレターまでしたためた。さすがに旅館側はその「生産物」についてもしっかり着目して個人情報などには一切配慮せず、作家に許諾を求めて、碑文まで建造して大々的に一流旅館のシンボルとして活用して,今日、わたしのような人間にまで投網をかけ続けている(笑)。
こういう個人の内面情報まですべてさらけ出すという「習慣」がその後の日本の作家、芥川龍之介から太宰治などの「自死」文化に影を落としているとも暗く思えてくる。
空間それ自体への興味と、その空間性を直接的に商品化する旅館という二重の意味で、まことに興味深い事例だと思われる。

English version⬇

Creativity Productive Space Ryunosuke Akutagawa, The Hermitage of Kujukuri – 6
Capitalism that tries to stimulate the imagination and draw out maximum efficiency in an extraordinary space. A landscape of the first source of Japanese literature that remembers exuberance and produces works of art. …

I may have a personal attachment to the writer Ryunosuke Akutagawa. For the people of today, the great writers of the Meiji and Taisho periods are almost on the same historical level as Murasaki Shikibu and Sei Shonagon, I suppose.
I personally loved “Rashomon,” and I am of the generation that was stimulated by the “writerly” nature of the author’s ability to pin up a scene from history and compose a cross-section of the human conflict. In contrast, the world of You-tube videos is probably much more stimulating in the modern sense. I myself no longer respond to anything like the Akutagawa Prize-winning works of today.
However, I believe that human beings have always valued creativity, which is the attempt to generate “new ideas” in our minds. As capitalism has taken over society, people have come to pursue “productivity” and “efficiency” even in the face of such creativity.
The spirit of “canning” writers to produce good works and then selling them as literary “products” with high added value became more and more popular.
The writers must have been desperate to create a space that would stimulate their creativity and imagination. In the atmosphere of Akutagawa-so, I was subconsciously searching for the aims of such publishers in the Taisho era. The two photos above show the area around the “writing desk” where Ryunosuke Akutagawa must have been sitting.
While modern people would prefer not to sit at a desk like this, Akutagawa would have found this kind of posture more suitable for the Taisho period. The writing desk is located on the southwest corner of the room. The desk is located in the southwest corner of the room, which provides the best lighting for working during the daytime. The writing desk itself is very compact, and it can be imagined that it is almost exclusively used as a writing surface. The references must have been scattered on the tatami mats in the surrounding area.
The erosion control forest and hedges must have provided greenery as a surrounding environment where one could occasionally rest one’s eyes, visually assuring peace of mind and body. It must have been an environment where he could release his true nature, since he even wrote a love letter.

It was a space provided by the people of this era with a commercial mindset that writers would be comfortable in such an environment and produce a large volume of good works. In fact, Akutagawa produced a novel and even wrote a love letter in his exuberance. The ryokan, as one would expect, paid close attention to the “product” and did not give any consideration to personal information, asking permission from the writer and even building an inscription to be used as a symbol of a first-class ryokan, which today continues to cast a net even for people like me (laughs).
It seems dark to me that this “habit” of exposing all information about the inner life of individuals has cast a shadow over the “suicide” culture of subsequent Japanese writers, from Ryunosuke Akutagawa to Osamu Dazai and others.
This is a truly interesting case study in the dual sense of an interest in space itself and the ryokan that directly commodifies that spatiality.

【天国に近い快適性の「科学」を 芥川龍之介・九十九里の庵-5】



温暖地・蒸暑地での人間体感環境について、それはあまりにも日本民族にとって身近すぎてそれほど「科学する」対象ではなかったように感じる。一方で日本列島社会で、蝦夷地と呼ばれ続けた北海道はその過酷なまでの寒冷の冬が熱く「科学」されてきたと思います。
蝦夷地の利用とは明治以前には漁業資源収奪が日本民族にとって主要な興味対象であって、米作が不向きな気候条件から「一所懸命」の土地と見なされることはなかった。それが幕末ー明治の世界列強、とくに日本ではロシアの南下占領意図、むき出しの帝国主義侵略への対応としての日本民族の移民推進政策の結果、ようやく寒冷への居住環境ということを前向きに考え始めたといえる。
それまでの日本人にとって居住環境とはあるがままの「やさしい」自然条件のなかで、伝統的知恵にくるまれた安心感に満たされていたのだろうと思う。東北地域は別として。
北海道での「いごこちの科学研究」の進展によって、この居住環境研究はほぼ完成レベルにまで到達してきたと言えるのでしょう。今日北海道では、あえて「住宅性能」を謳い文句にするアピールはユーザーにダイレクトには「響かなく」なってきている。それは当然のことという認識が主流。
温暖地域で「エコハウスコンテスト」というカタカナ日本語で住宅性能イチ押しアピールが言われるけれど、北海道からはほとんど興味が寄せられないのが現実。
たまたま興味を持ったこの芥川龍之介の作家活動専念スタートの地でのボヘミアン・自由闊達な過ごしようの環境に触れることができて、寒冷地の人間としてその気候風土の「天国」ぶりに目を見張らされた。内地の人にとってはあまりにも自然そのものなのでしょうが、その「快適性」の引き立て要素としての住環境装置について、目を向けてみたくなった。
やはり茅葺き屋根による日射熱防御と軒の出による直射日光遮蔽、そして高床的な床下通風と北側以外の3方向の「全開放」による「自然通風」が最大の民族的知恵と言える。
茅葺きの熱環境効果についてはいろいろな研究が挙げられるけれど、確実な断熱・湿気蒸発効果が認められるのだと思う。長い民族史の中で建築の匠たちによる実証研究の結果、こうした到達点に至っていたのでしょう。
一方で自然通風による快適性効果は、たしかに温暖地にあってはその温湿度とも最高快適域に接近していて「うっとり」「ぼーっ」とさせられるレベル。
わたしも強い日射・高温環境の中,この芥川荘で家の中は天国に一番近いと認識させられた。むしろこういう「快適」をこそ「科学して欲しい」と思わされた。

そして民族の知恵はやはり環境全体にまで及んでいる。この芥川荘は九十九里の浜辺からは数百メートル離れているけれど、その緩衝地帯には防砂林のようにして緑地帯が設けられている。庵の南側にはしっかりと生け垣も造作されていて、室内側からも常に「目に優しい」緑が人間を護ってくれている。こういう「見た目」の快適感刺激要素をもっと科学分析して欲しいのだ。
こうした植物群の積層を通りわたってくる浜風は、その空気感がまた格別であるに違いない。ただでさえ心地よい通風感である以上に、微妙な草花たちの息づかい・におい、温度感・湿度感もそれに加わっているに違いないのだ。

English version⬇

The “Science” of Near Heavenly Comfort: Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s Hermitage in Kujukuri – 5
Experience the young Akutagawa’s free-spirited environment and background. I would like you to experience the science of this heavenly comfort along with high insulation and high airtightness. ・・・・・.

I feel that the human experience of the environment in warm and humid regions has not been the subject of much “science” because it is too familiar to the Japanese people. On the other hand, Hokkaido, which has been called “Ezochi” in Japanese archipelago society, has been hotly “scientifically” studied for its harsh, cold winters.
Before the Meiji era, the main interest of the Japanese people in the utilization of Ezo land was the exploitation of fishery resources, and it was never considered as a land where rice cultivation was “hard at work” due to its unsuitable climatic conditions. However, during the end of the Edo period and the Meiji period, the world powers, especially in Japan, began to think positively about the cold climate as a result of the Japanese people’s immigration policy as a response to Russia’s intention to occupy the southern part of the country and its aggression against the imperialist powers.
Until then, the Japanese people had been living in “gentle” natural conditions, wrapped in traditional wisdom, and filled with a sense of security. Except for the Tohoku region.
With the progress of the “science of comfort” research in Hokkaido, we can say that this residential environment research has almost reached the level of completion. Today in Hokkaido, appeals that dare to claim “housing performance” are no longer “resonating” directly with users. The mainstream perception is that it is a matter of course.
In warmer regions, “eco-house contests” are being held in katakana Japanese to promote housing performance, but the reality is that there is little interest in these contests from Hokkaido.
I happened to be interested in the bohemian and free-spirited environment of the place where Ryunosuke Akutagawa started his writing career, and as a person from a cold region, I was struck by the “heavenly” nature of the climate there. For those of us in the interior, it is probably too natural, but I wanted to take a look at the living environment equipment as a complement to the “comfort” of the environment.
After all, the greatest ethnic wisdom is the protection against solar heat by thatched roofs and the shielding of direct sunlight by eaves, as well as “natural ventilation” by ventilation under the floor like high floors and “full opening” in all three directions except the north side.
Various studies have been conducted on the thermal environmental effects of thatched roofs, but I believe that their heat insulation and moisture evaporation effects are recognized. It is likely that such a point of arrival was reached as a result of empirical research by architectural masters over a long period of ethnic history.
On the other hand, the comfort effect of natural ventilation is certainly at a level where the temperature and humidity are close to the maximum comfortable range in warm climates, making one feel “enchanted” and “light-headed”.
In the midst of strong sunlight and high temperatures, the Akutagawa Villa made me realize that the inside of my house is the closest thing to heaven. In fact, it is this kind of “comfort” that I wish would be “scientifically proven.

The wisdom of the people also extends to the environment as a whole. Although Akutagawa-so is located several hundred meters away from the Kujukuri beach, a greenbelt has been created in the buffer zone as if it were a sandbreak. A hedge has also been built on the south side of the hermitage, providing a “gentle to the eyes” green area for the protection of the residents from inside the house. I would like to see more scientific analysis of this kind of “visual” comfort stimulating factor.
The beach breeze coming through the layers of plants must have a very special airy feeling. In addition to the pleasant breeze, the subtle smells and breaths of the plants and flowers, the temperature and humidity must also add to the feeling of air quality.

【温暖地海浜「通風重視」軽建築 芥川龍之介・九十九里の庵-4】




こちらの「芥川荘」を見学したいと旅館本館を訪れたところ、女将さんとおぼしき方がいらっしゃって、どうぞ見学ください、だけど台風に備えて雨戸を全部閉め切っていますから、申し訳ないがご自分で開けて、ご自由にごらんください、というありがたい申し出。
その傑作小説に深く親しんできていた作家の恋文執筆の地、という興味が強かったので、まずはその恋文を樹間の碑でしっかり読破させていただいた後、若き25才の文豪が滞在した「離れ」に。
建築としてのこの庵はまことに温暖・蒸暑地らしい建物。本体の図面などは見当たらなかったけれど、八畳2間に3方向が縁が回っている建築。屋根は茅葺きで庇部分が張り出している。たぶん南国的な気候で時雨が多く、その対応なのでしょう。茅葺きは結構重厚ですが、もちろん夏期の日射による室内気温上昇を抑制したいというのが主目的。冬期も零下までの気温低下は考えにくい地域性なので、まさに夏を旨とした日本文化的軽量建築。
杭基礎が表れていて、床下は全開放されて蒸暑気候の中での耐久性を考え、通風最重視という考え方がよく表れている。太平洋・九十九里の浜辺らしく地面は砂地であることがあきらかで、杭基礎は多少不同していて、縁の部分など、多少の不同沈下が見られています。でも、建物自体が軽量な造作なので確実に築100年は超えているけれど、乾燥状態が保たれた建物と目視できます。

東大在学中からその文才を認められて作家として人生をスタートさせるというのは、その後、大江健三郎がその後嗣になって日本文学作家の一典型にもなった経歴。しかも芥川の場合は終生の師と仰いだ夏目漱石の激賞を受けたばかりという時期。チョー恵まれた環境で人生を歩み始めた天才の、輝かしい時期にこの海浜の庵への逗留時期が重なっている。太陽の季節。
夏目漱石の時代は明治国家としてあらゆる産業勃興させ、社会を欧米近代に追いつかせることに全力だった時代。そういうかれの世代の心理から、芥川のような天才の文学の仕事が日本社会文化創造に欠かせないと判断された時代だったのでしょう。
室内にはこの時期の交友関係が示された手紙・ハガキが展示されていて、上の写真は菊池寛からのハガキ文面。おおむね2週間程度の芥川の滞在期間中にのちの「文藝春秋社」創設者・菊池寛からハガキが来ているということは、のちの菊池寛と芥川の関係をも予測させる。わたしの推量としては「作品制作の場」として滞在費を出資し新進気鋭の作家を「缶詰め」にして作品執筆に当たらせる文化の初源期か?
建物はいかにも温暖地の開放型住宅らしくて北海道人には、夢のようなパラダイス気候環境を想起させてくれる(笑)。「こんなのでも冬,たいして寒くないんだ」という気候条件そのものに対して強く感受性が反応して、いわば底抜けの日本的な心理的解放感を見ておりました。
そういう日本の温暖・蒸暑地らしい住宅建築の「いごこち」についてちょっと考えてみたいので、明日以降、この庵の住宅環境を掘り下げて見たい。

English version⬇

Warm climate seaside “ventilation-oriented” light architecture Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s Hermitage in Kujukuri – 4
From the point of view of the people of Hokkaido, this is a dazzlingly blessed climatic environment blessed with the “season of the sun. I would like to delve deeper into the “comfort” of this environment.

When I visited the main building of the ryokan to see “Akutagawa-so,” the proprietress kindly offered me a tour of the house but told me that she had closed all the shutters in preparation for a typhoon.
I was very interested in the place where the writer, who was deeply familiar with the masterpiece novel, wrote his love letter, so I first read the love letter carefully at the monument in the tree house, and then went to the “detached house” where the young 25-year-old literary great stayed.
The hermitage as an architectural structure is truly typical of a warm and humid place. I could not find any drawings of the main structure, but it is a two roomed house with three sides of a rim. The roof is thatched with overhanging eaves. This is probably a response to the tropical climate and frequent rainfall. The thatch is quite massive, but of course the main purpose is to control the rise in indoor temperature due to solar radiation in the summer. Since it is hard to imagine temperatures dropping below zero even in winter in this region, this is a Japanese cultural lightweight building designed for the summer.
The pile foundation is evident, and the under-floor space is fully open to allow for durability in the hot and humid climate, and to emphasize ventilation. The ground is obviously sandy, as is typical of the Pacific and Kujukuri beaches, and the pile foundations are somewhat uneven, with some unequal settling, such as at the edges. However, the building itself is of lightweight construction, so although it is certainly over 100 years old, it can be visually recognized as a building that has been kept in a dry state.

Akutagawa’s literary talent was recognized while he was still a student at the University of Tokyo, and he began his life as a writer, a career that later became typical of Japanese literary writers when Kenzaburo Oe became his successor. In Akutagawa’s case, he had just received a great award from Soseki Natsume, whom he looked up to as a mentor for the rest of his life. The time of his sojourn at the seaside hermitage coincides with a brilliant period in the life of a genius who began his life in a very privileged environment. The season of the sun.
Soseki Natsume’s era was the Meiji era, when the Meiji nation was doing everything in its power to make all kinds of industries flourish and society catch up with the Western modern era. The psychology of his generation probably led him to believe that the literary work of a genius like Akutagawa was indispensable for the creation of Japanese society and culture.
The photo above shows a postcard from Hiroshi Kikuchi. The fact that Akutagawa received a postcard from Hiroshi Kikuchi, founder of Bungeishunju-sha, during his two-week stay suggests that Kikuchi’s publishing company financed Akutagawa’s stay as a “place to create works” and allowed the up-and-coming writer to write his works “in the can.
The building itself is a warm-weather, open-plan residence that evokes for Hokkaido residents a dreamlike paradise climate (laughs). (Laughs.) I felt a strong sensitivity to the climatic conditions themselves, and saw a sense of psychological liberation that is uniquely Japanese, so to speak.
I would like to think a little about the “comfort” of housing architecture that is typical of such a warm and humid climate in Japan, so from tomorrow onward, I would like to delve into the housing environment of this hermitage.

【素朴な恋情告白 芥川龍之介ゆかりの九十九里の庵-3】



九十九里という土地は北海道人からするとまさに沖縄やハワイやグアムといった南国の気風を感じる土地。北国で生まれ育った人間には、所詮見果てぬ気候風土に恵まれたパラダイス・夢の土地、といった語感にとらえわれる。おだやかな砂浜がはるか悠久に繋がっている・・・。
芥川龍之介という作家の足跡に添って、かれの生きた時代でのとらえ方というのも伝わってくる部分があって非常に興味をそそられる。大正期に近代化が進んだ東京から汽車による交通ネットワークがこの地域まで普及して、いわゆる「大衆社会化」が進んだ様子がわかってくる。
たぶん今日のわたしたちが沖縄とかハワイとかの南国にいだくイメージが近しいに違いないと思われます。そういう「土地の気」が青年芥川にかねてよりの恋心を告白させるに至る。
その恋文が滞在した旅館・一宮館・離れの逍遙林のなかに碑文で遺されている。著名作家というのはプライバシーもすべてさらされるものなのだと驚かされるけれど、もちろん近親者からの許諾は得て遺されているものなのでしょう。上の写真では内容までは不明だと思うので以下、拡大写真。



この恋文を寄せられた塚本文さんは、その後芥川の妻となり、3人の子どもをもうけた女性。「食べてしまいたいくらい可愛い」という有名な言葉は、芥川龍之介の言葉。まことに率直な青年の恋心が赤裸々で微笑ましい(笑)。
文筆を業とする、それも超著名な作家である芥川龍之介はいったい、どんな恋文をしたためるのか、と肩にやや力を入れて読み進めたけれど、非常に心情的で、女性に対してのいたわりに満ちた心根が伝わってくる。「そうか、口説くときはやさしさ一択か(笑)」とわかる。
現代の若者はこういう文章表現で男女関係を表現することは薄れてきているだろうと思うけれど、わたしたち年代では「あなたからのラブレター、まだ持っているわよ(笑)」という恐怖のコトバに弱い輩も多い(笑)。芥川さんの率直な恋文、ほほえましく読ませていただきました。付け加えることはまったくないので、本日のブログは短めで終了であります。ありがとうございました。

English version⬇

A simple confession of love: A hermitage in Kujukuri related to Ryunosuke Akutagawa – 3
I can see from his predecessor Akutagawa that “gentleness” is the only way to approach a woman’s heart. Men of the world should forever be mindful of this. I am sure you will be able to understand the feelings of women.

Kujukuri, from the perspective of a Hokkaido native, is a land with the feel of a tropical island like Okinawa, Hawaii, or Guam. For those born and raised in the north, it is a paradise, a land of dreams, blessed with a climate that is after all, endless. The gentle sandy beaches are connected to the sea for a long, long time….
Along with the footsteps of the writer Ryunosuke Akutagawa, the way he perceived his own era is also very intriguing. The book shows how the modernization of Tokyo in the Taisho period (1912-1926) led to the spread of the train transportation network to this area and the so-called “mass socialization” of the area.
Perhaps it is similar to the image we have today of tropical countries such as Okinawa or Hawaii. The “spirit of the land” leads the young Akutagawa to confess his love for a long time.
The letter of love is inscribed in the floyer in the remote flora of Ichinomiya-kan, the ryokan where Akutagawa stayed. I was surprised to know that a famous writer’s privacy is exposed to the public, but of course, he must have obtained permission from his next of kin to leave the inscription. The above photo does not show the full content of the inscription, so here is an enlarged photo.

Fumi Tsukamoto, who sent this love letter, later became Akutagawa’s wife and had three children. The famous words of Ryunosuke Akutagawa, “You are so pretty I want to eat you up. The frankness of the young man’s love for Akutagawa is very funny.
I was a little tense as I read the book, wondering what kind of a love letter Akutagawa Ryunosuke, a very famous writer by profession, would have written. I could tell that “I see…when you are trying to seduce a woman, you must choose gentleness (laughs).
I think that today’s young people are less likely to use this kind of writing to express their relationships with men and women, but there are many people in my generation who are susceptible to the fearful words, “I still have your love letters (laughs). I read Akutagawa’s frank love letter with a smile on my face. I have absolutely nothing to add, so I will end today’s blog with a short one. Thank you very much.

【大正ロマン・九十九里 芥川龍之介恋文執筆の庵-2】



現代でこの一宮館は「老舗」旅館として、またこの作家との縁を強調して人気旅宿になっている。じゃらんで見てみると結構な高級旅館ぶり。九十九里の浜辺が海水浴場として鉄道も開通して、東京からの観光客が押し寄せ始めた時代、そういった一種の「ブーム」に沸いていたのかも知れない。
地図を参照してみると、この旅館の建つ位置は一宮川が九十九里にそそぐラグーンのような立地になっている。明治の大変革によって近代化の道を歩み始めた日本は、日露戦争の勝利などで「一流国」という位置を獲得し、そういう時代背景の中、大正ロマン主義のような社会の空気感があったのだろう。大衆社会化状況というような時代相が感じられる。竹久夢二のようなロマンチックな表現がもてはやされたことからは、そういう雰囲気が感じられる。


青年芥川龍之介は25才の時にこの「芥川荘」と後にかれの名声を名付けた一宮館・離れに友人・久米正雄氏と逗留した。庭園の一角に石版が置かれている。写真には大正5年の8/17〜9/2までの滞在期間が記されている。
九十九里の海浜の開放的な「真夏」感がかれの本能を激しく刺激して、かねてから恋がれていた女性のことが熱情のように脳裏を満たしていたことが想像される。その熱情がこの離れの、いかにも蒸暑地の開放的な庵という空間の雰囲気の中で涵養されたのか。まぁ、微笑ましい。いつの世でも若い男女の恋愛こそが「生きる」根源的なパワーであることは自明。
芥川の足跡を見ると、大正5(1916)年東京帝大在学中に発表した「鼻」が夏目漱石に評価され、文壇に登場とある。この旅館滞在時期とみごとに重なっている。「鼻」はこの年2月新思潮に発表されたということなので、漱石の激賞を受けて文壇各社がこの新進作家に注目し、激烈な「新刊」争奪戦が繰り広げられただろうことは想像に難くない。たぶんそのなかの1社が「夏まっ盛りの九十九里の旅館に籠もって、原稿書いてみませんか」みたいに「缶詰め」作戦に出たのかも知れない。その後の短編作品の量産ぶりを見ると蓋然性は高い。
「どうして25才の青年がこんな旅館に長期逗留できたのか?」という疑問を読者の方から提起されたけれど、背景などを考えてみるとこういった事情のように思われる。芥川は終生、この夏目漱石からの激賞に深く感謝し師弟関係を強く意識していることからも、この時期はかれが自分の未来に対して、無限の可能性を感じていたに違いない。
そういう生命力の高まりがかれをラブレターの執筆に向かわせたのだろうか(笑)。かれの多感な恋愛生活も、著名作家として個人情報などの配慮は一切なく(笑)白日の下にさらけ出されている。
江戸期の浮世絵作家、明治期の近代国家建設期の作家たちとも相違して、いわゆる大衆社会化のなかで大正期以降の作家たちは今日社会のテレビ芸能「スター」のように扱われた存在だったのだと思う。華やかな商業主義出版資本と作家の内面という点で、興味深いものがある。
やがて自死に至る「僕の将来に対する唯ぼんやりした不安」というものが、その後の日本の作家に色濃く広がっていく。なんとも言い難いものを感じてならない。

English version⬇

Taisho Romance, Kujukuri: The Hermitage of Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s Love Letter Writing – 2
Since he is a well-known writer whose writings are abundantly documented, his psychological state of mind also emerges in real time. Akutagawa’s psychological upheaval. …

Today, Ichinomiya-kan is a “long-established” ryokan and a popular inn, emphasizing its connection with the writer. A look at Jaran shows it to be a fairly high-class ryokan. The Kujukuri beach may have been in the midst of a kind of “boom” at the time when the railroad was opened as a bathing beach and tourists from Tokyo began to arrive in droves.
Referring to the map, the location of this ryokan is like a lagoon where the Ichinomiya River flows into Kujukuri. Japan began its path of modernization with the great reforms of the Meiji era (1868-1912), and with the victory in the Russo-Japanese War, the country achieved the position of a “leading nation” in Japan. This was a time of mass socialization. The popularity of romantic expressions such as those of Takehisa Yumeji suggests such an atmosphere.

At the age of 25, the young Ryunosuke Akutagawa stayed with his friend Masao Kume at Ichinomiya-kan, which he later named “Akutagawa-so” (Akutagawa Manor). A stone tablet is placed in the corner of the garden, and the third photo shows the period of his stay from August 17 to September 2, 1916.
The open “midsummer” feeling of the Kujukuri seashore stimulated his instincts, and we can imagine that his mind was filled with a passionate love for a woman he had long been in love with. Was this ardor nurtured in the atmosphere of the open hermitage space in this remote summer resort? Well, it is a very funny story. It is obvious that love between young men and women is the fundamental power of “living” in any age.
According to Akutagawa’s footsteps, he first appeared on the literary stage in 1916 when his novel “Nose,” published while still a student at Tokyo Imperial University, was highly praised by Soseki Natsume. This coincides perfectly with his stay at the ryokan. Since “Nose” was published in February of the same year in Shin-Shicho, it is not difficult to imagine the intense competition for “new publications” that ensued as the literary world paid attention to this budding writer in the wake of Soseki’s high praise. Perhaps one of the companies may have launched a “canned” strategy, asking him to stay at a Japanese inn in Kujukuri in the height of summer and write his manuscript. The fact that so many short stories have been produced since then makes it highly probable.
The reader may raise the question, “How could a 25 year old stay in such an inn for such a long period of time?” This seems to be the reason, considering the background of the story. Akutagawa was deeply grateful to Soseki Natsume for his generous encouragement, and he was very conscious of the relationship between master and disciple.
This surge of vitality may have motivated him to write the love letter (laugh). As a well-known writer, his sensitive love life is also exposed in the light of day, without any consideration for personal information (laugh).
Unlike the ukiyoe artists of the Edo period (1603-1867) and the writers of the Meiji period (1868-1912), when the modern nation was being built, the writers of the Taisho period and after were treated like the TV entertainment “stars” of today’s society in the so-called mass socialization. It is interesting to look at the glamorous commercialist publishing capital and the inner lives of writers.
The “only vague anxiety about my future” that eventually led to his suicide spread strongly among Japanese writers in the following years. I can’t help but feel something indescribable.