さてマンガ作家としての石ノ森章太郎のロケット的なデビューへの助走期、高校卒業までの「こころの痕跡」を探る機縁。と思ったのがロケットランチャー・発射機ともいえる部屋の様子とデスク環境。「作家と住空間」というテーマにとっては、いかにもコアな領域と言える。
　もちろん作品などの創造過程自体はかれ石ノ森の脳味噌の中から発酵し表出してくる部分なので、きわめて「個人的」な部分であり余人からうかがい知れることは限られてくる。しかしその部分にもっとも「肉薄」できるのは、その作家の遭遇していた周辺環境、住のありようであることは紛れもない。それがわたしたちに体感可能な状態で残され、公開されていることは稀有なことだろう。同じ日本人としてほぼ同時代を体験し事跡を知っている人間としては、深く刺激的。
　で、この石ノ森少年が囲まれていたデスク環境を丹念に記憶に刻印し分析的に直視していた。ルポルタージュというコトバの実感そのままに視認チェックしていた。
　まず興味深かったのが、このデスクはどうも「既製品」を購入したものではないという感覚。デスク面の特異な寸法感覚、足回り側面の木による面構成などからどうも造作特注品、大工仕事なのではという感想を持った。デスク表面にも無垢材が張られているようだ。塗装の剥げ具合には、作家の「手ざわり」痕跡のような雰囲気まで感じられてならなかった。また、このデスクには一般的に付属する引き出しなどの収納装置が付設されていなかった。シンプルに「作業平面」だけを骨太に造作構成した様子がうかがい知れたのです。
　さらに興味深かったのが、築100年を越すという和風住宅なのに、この部屋にだけ「出窓」が造作されていること。そしてさらにその出窓には写真のように水道蛇口とボウルまでもが装置されていた。・・・デジタル化以前の創生期のマンガ制作では作画表現に墨を使うけれど、それを洗い流すために、この個室に特別に造作された環境のように受け取れた。そう考えると、デスク表面にうっすらと墨の残滓が木表面に展着した部分もその痕跡と認められる。
　オイオイ、であります（笑）。家長である父親はこの「跡継ぎ」長男に対して、かなりその才能開花のための環境を増築造作して「与えていた」ことが浮かび上がってきてしまう。あらら、謹厳な公務員としてマンガ家を志望した息子に反対した話はどこに行ったのか、とオモシロく感じてしまった。なんも、かわいい息子の純粋な志望に対して建築的な特別環境を構築して大いにその志望を深く支えていたのではないか、というように思われてしまった。
　最終的には息子の志望を認めて送り出した父の、そしてそれを夫婦で意思決定していった母の心情が、なんとも言えずしみじみと「伝わって」くるように思えた。親の盲目の深い愛。

English version

[Carpentry construction? The boyhood desk environment that nurtured his dreaming]
The revelation of the talents of my beloved ‘heir’ son. And endless worry about my child’s future destiny. The architectural environment of a peculiar manga boy. …

　This is an opportunity to explore the ‘traces of the heart’ of Shotaro Ishinomori as a manga artist in the run-up to his rocket-like debut and up to his graduation from high school. The room and desk environment of his room can be seen as a rocket launcher. This is a core area for the theme of ‘artists and living space’.
　Of course, the creative process itself, including the works themselves, is a very ‘personal’ part of Ishinomori’s brain, and what can be learned from him is limited. However, it is undeniably the surrounding environment that the artist encountered and the way he or she lived that can be most closely related to this part of his or her work. It is a rare thing that these are preserved and shown to the public in a way that allows us to experience them. As a Japanese person who experienced the same period and knows the traces of it, it is deeply stimulating.
　In the book, the Ishinomori boy’s desk environment is painstakingly etched in his memory and viewed directly from an analytical point of view. I was checking the visualisation of the term ‘reportage’ as it really is.
　The first thing that was interesting was the sense that this desk had not been purchased ‘off-the-shelf’. The unusual dimensions of the desk surface and the wooden surface structure of the side of the undercarriage gave me the impression that it was a custom-built, carpentry work. The surface of the desk also seems to be covered with solid wood. The peeling paintwork even gave the impression of traces of the artist’s ‘handiwork’. The desk was not fitted with storage devices such as drawers, which are generally attached to desks. It was evident that only a simple ‘work plane’ had been constructed in a robust manner.
　What was even more interesting was the fact that this room was the only one with a bay window, even though it is a Japanese-style house that is over 100 years old. And on the bay window, there was even a water tap and a bowl, as shown in the photo. … In the early days of manga production, before digitalisation, ink was used for drawing expression, and it seemed to me that this private room had been specially built as an environment for washing it away. Considering this, the part of the desk surface where ink residues were spread on the wood surface can also be recognised as a trace of this.
　Oui, it is (laughing). It emerges that the father, who is pretty much the patriarch of the family, had ‘given’ this ‘heir’ eldest son an environment for his talent to flourish by building an extension. Oops, I wondered wryly where was the story of his opposition to his son who, as a respectful civil servant, aspired to be a cartoonist. It seemed to me that he had been deeply supporting his cute son’s aspirations by building a special architectural environment for his son’s genuine aspirations.
　The feelings of the father who finally acknowledged his son’s aspirations and sent him off, and of the mother who made this decision as a couple, seemed to be indescribably and deeply ‘felt’. The blind and deep love of a parent.

Posted on 3月 15th, 2025 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 住宅取材＆ウラ話