きのうはオフィス社屋を共同しているReplanメンバーの仕事打ち上げ日。
身分的には「代表者」から変化して、いまは一定期間「相談役」を拝受しておりますが、一応別会社。なんですがなんとなく出社していたメンバーから、帰り際にあいさつされておりました。大きな変動をいっしょに体験してきたので、みんなの表情にそのことが見えていたように感じました。なによりもみんな前向きに、全力を挙げて未来に向かっていることが喜ばしい。深い感慨。
そんなメンバーの中に出産・育児からようやく復帰したメンバーもいて、朝会の時にはリモートだったので画面越しにカワイイ子どもさんの顔も見ることができた。少子化が進行している日本社会ですが、制度的には女性の働き手が社会参加しやすいようにという方向は進化してきている。企業も、そういった社会的責任感の一端を担うように要請されているということなのでしょう。
これまでの社会では子育て・出産の負担は基本的に「家庭」がそれを担い、２世代３世代が協力し合って未来へといのちをつないできた。しかし基本的には核家族化が究極まで進んで、さらに「個人単位」化にまで社会は変容してきている。
そういう趨勢の中でしかし、未来を担う子どもたちのことは社会全体として護っていかなければならない。女性スタッフの子育てのほんのわずかな部分でも、企業もまた一端を支えられるということなのでしょう。屈託のない「ボーッ」とした子どもたちの表情に無限に癒される気持ちでした。


草戸千軒シリーズ最終回ですが時空間を超えて迫ってくるのは人間らしい、いとなみ感。
市では毎日の食生活を支える新鮮野菜が周辺の郷村から寄せられ、この中世都市が成立した寺院門前町の主役のお坊さんたちも、そのおかげでいのちをつないでこられた。しかし最新研究では草戸千軒では「イヌ」食の痕跡も発見されているとされていた。日本的な「ホンネと建前」ということなのか、真相追究へ、中世の人びとの食文化の不明部分は深まってもいる・・・。
しかしまちと住まいはこうしたくらしの営為をしっかりと支えてきた。交易拠点としては草戸千軒・尾道・鞆の浦などは深い相互ネットワークで結ばれていただろう。わたしの直接のご先祖さまは、瀬戸内海交易圏としてはこの草戸千軒のとなり港・尾道にほど近い地で家系のバトンを渡し続けてきていた。商家としてさまざまな交流が容易に想像でき、この草戸千軒、その後継交易拠点などに関係があったことだろう。
そう想像するとちょっと時間と運命ボタンが違っていればと妄想が膨らみ続けてしまった（笑）。いろいろな気付きを与えていただいた次第です。

English version⬇

The One That Connects Lives – Kusado Senken 2023 Revisited – 16
It is the last day of work for the year. I am very much thankful for your hard work. Even in such a situation, childbirth, childcare, and life continue. From Senken Kusado to today and tomorrow. The last day of work for the year.

Yesterday was the work launch day for Replan members who share an office building.
Although I have changed my status from “representative” to “advisor” for a certain period of time, it is a different company. I was greeted on my way home by a member who had somehow come to the office. I felt that everyone’s expressions showed that they had experienced the big change together with me. Above all, I was pleased to see that everyone was looking forward to the future with all their might. Deep emotion.
One of these members had finally returned to work after childbirth and childcare, and since I was remote during the morning meeting, I was able to see her cute child’s face through the screen. Japanese society is experiencing a declining birthrate, but systematically, there has been an evolution in the direction of making it easier for female workers to participate in society. It may mean that companies are also being requested to take part in such a sense of social responsibility.
In the past, the burden of child rearing and childbirth was basically borne by the “family,” and two or three generations worked together to pass life into the future. However, the nuclear family has reached its ultimate stage, and society has been further transformed into an “individual unit.
Despite these trends, however, society as a whole must protect the children who bear the future. Even a small part of the female staff’s efforts to raise their children may mean that the company can also play a part in supporting them. I felt infinitely healed by the carefree, “spaced-out” expressions on the children’s faces.

This is the final installment of the Kusado-Senken series, but what comes to us across time and space is a sense of humanity and cousinliness.
The city received fresh vegetables from the surrounding villages, and the monks who played a leading role in the temple town where this medieval city was established were also able to sustain their lives thanks to the fresh vegetables. The latest research, however, indicated that traces of “inu” eating had also been discovered in Kusado-Senken. In the search for the truth, we are still trying to understand the Japanese “Honne to Tatemae” (honesty and tactfulness), and the unknown aspects of the medieval people’s food culture are deepening….
However, the town and its houses have firmly supported this way of life. As trading centers, Kusado-Senken, Onomichi, and Tomonoura were probably connected by a deep mutual network. My direct ancestors continued to pass the family baton in the Seto Inland Sea trading area, which is located near Onomichi, a port next to Kusado-Senken. As a merchant family, it is easy to imagine the various interactions that must have taken place between the Kusado-Senken and its successor trading post.
Imagining this, I kept imagining that if only time and the fate button had been a little different (laughs). I am grateful for the many insights I have been given.

Posted on 12月 30th, 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