次兄からの命令による家系史探索引継の件、大量のわが家集積のモノクロ写真類も資料として受け継がされた。時間を見ながら、ジミジミとデジタル化させて資料として時系列的な整理整頓も心がけています。自分的にも、脳内宇宙にさまざまなタイムトラベル路線が多数混在するような、面白い現象を生起させてくれます。思わぬ「副産物」。
　で、そういうなかでときどき非常に驚かされる事実の発掘がある。
　わたしの父は岩見沢近郊の「上幌」から43歳のときに札幌に一家８人で出てきて、新たな起業をしたという破天荒な野心家。江戸期の「四百年間のいのちの履歴書」探究でも、家系はけっこう大きな「転換」をしてきているのですが・・・そういえば、であります（笑）。父にも当然ながらそういう血脈はドクドクと流れていたのだと頓悟させられる。
　で、札幌でとりあえずは事業として「納豆」生産を思い立って始めるのだけれど、こちらはなかなかビジネスの見通しが立ってこなかった。そういう時期に営業に歩いていた先のお客様から、新興の食品領域として「もやし」を推奨されたのですね。当時（1950年代）には全国物流体制はそこまでは完備されていなかった。北海道は寒冷地なので冬場には当然ながら新鮮野菜が不足する。
　そういう冬場の野菜として室内工場で生産されるもやしは、注目されていたのですね。それでわが家は新市場領域に進出していった経緯がある。
　写真の人物はロシア（当時はソ連）の経済担当官のようで、寒冷地でありながら日本社会では知恵と工夫で冬場の野菜不足に打ち勝とうとしている、その生産工場現場を調査しに来ていた。どういうルートからこういう事態になったのかは不明ですが、右側で「もやし工場」の様子を説明しているのが父の後ろ姿。ロシアには伯父・叔父たちが抑留される辛酸を舐めさせられたのですが、それはそれ、こういう善隣外交にはきちんと対応していた。
　さらにちなみに、この工場は必要不可欠な遮熱蓄熱の住宅性能の必要性からブロック造だった。そういう経験心理からわたしも自宅建設でこの工法を採用し、また高断熱高気密住宅への親近感を相伝することになった次第。なかなか感慨深い建築的現場の再会感も（笑）。
　過去へのタイムトラベル、ドラえもんとしても非常に刺激的。

●お知らせ
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English version⬇

Restoring Reality Through Colorization of Black-and-White Photos: My Father’s “Bean Sprout Diplomacy” with Russia
The Soviet Union (Russia) at the time took a keen interest in Japan’s winter vegetables for cold regions—the humble “bean sprout.” My father’s earnest efforts in good-neighbor diplomacy, seen from behind (ahem). …

　Regarding the family history research project I inherited at my second brother’s request, I also received a large collection of our family’s accumulated black-and-white photographs as reference material. I’m gradually digitizing them as time allows, making a conscious effort to organize them chronologically as reference materials. Personally, it creates an interesting phenomenon, like having numerous time travel routes coexisting within my mental universe. An unexpected “byproduct.”
　And amidst this, I occasionally unearth facts that truly astonish me.
My father was a wildly ambitious man who, at age 43, left “Kamihoro” near Iwamizawa with his family of eight to start a new business in Sapporo. Even in my research into the “400-year life history” from the Edo period, our family lineage has undergone quite significant “transitions”… Come to think of it, that’s exactly it (laugh). It suddenly dawned on me that this same bloodline was undoubtedly pulsing through my father too.
So, in Sapporo, he initially decided to start a business producing natto. However, the business prospects for this venture were slow to materialize. During this period, a customer he was visiting as part of his sales efforts recommended “bean sprouts” as an emerging food sector. At that time (the 1950s), the national logistics system wasn’t yet fully developed. Hokkaido is a cold region, so fresh vegetables naturally became scarce during winter.
Bean sprouts, produced in indoor factories as a winter vegetable, were attracting attention. That’s how our family ventured into this new market.
The person in the photo appears to be an economic official from Russia (then the Soviet Union). He had come to inspect the production factory site, observing how Japanese society was overcoming winter vegetable shortages through ingenuity and resourcefulness, despite the cold climate. The exact chain of events leading to this situation remains unclear, but the figure explaining the “bean sprout factory” on the right is my father’s back. While Russia had caused my uncles to endure the bitterness of internment, that was a separate matter; we handled this kind of good-neighbor diplomacy properly.
Incidentally, this factory was constructed using blocks due to the essential need for heat insulation and thermal storage in residential performance. That experience influenced my own home construction, where I adopted this method, and also passed on my affinity for highly insulated, airtight homes. It was quite a poignant reunion with this architectural site (laugh).
A trip back in time – even for Doraemon, it was incredibly stimulating.

●Notice
My book “Writers and Living Spaces” published as an e-book by Gentosha
Available on Amazon.

Posted on 3月 14th, 2026 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 未分類