広島県の福山市に拠点を置いての重点探訪の旅中です。
　福山市は旧国名では「備後」に当たり、岡山と広島に挟まれた山陽地域。確実に家系の痕跡をたどれる四百数十年間のうち、1905年に北海道に渡って来るまでの300年ほどの時間が、光彩に満ちた瀬戸内の風景の中に沈殿しているのです。
　次兄から家系史探訪の業務引継命令を拝受してから、たびたびこの地域を探訪しています。それ以前もときどき来ているので、それなりに「懐かしい」心象に至ってきている。
　これは自分の経験知が影響してきているのでしょうが、内面的には「響き」としてなにかからの反応が身体に届いてきているようにも思われる次第。浪漫。
　で、昨日は旧国名では「安芸」国を回っていたのですが、最後にはやはりここの夕景を見たいと思って、芦田川が石鎚山周辺で大きく蛇行する「中津原」に来ておりました。家系の先祖の記録を確定させていくと、この地域周辺から当主が繰り返し５代にも渡ってこの地域から嫁取りしてきているのですね。いわばわが家系の「母性」が集中している地域。
　こういうケースはどれほどの確率であり得るのか、よくわかりませんが、現代ではあまり考えられない。なにかいのちと運命を暗示してくれているように思われる。
　しかし家系はこの地域ではなく、より海岸線に近い松永・今津や尾道などで、商家として活動してきている。この中津原はたしかに地域の最重要道路「山陽道」にほど近いけれど、どう考えても農業地帯。一見すると、しずかな風景と思えるけれど、しかし、芦田川がイキモノのように流量を変動させるなかでは、土木の歴史が重要なカギであるのでしょう。
　それはそれとして、今回も１日目の最後の風景として、やはり強く惹かれて来てしまった。
　１度来ただけだったので、多少はカーナビに関連ワードを入れて案内させたけれど、最後はカンでたどりついていた（笑）。案外最後は、あいまいな「行動記憶」が働いてくれる。そういう「導き」に素直にしたがった結果、切迫する夕景時間のなか、最後はこの光景に再会。
　山並みの果てに夕陽が落ちていく様は、耽美的。
　はるかな血脈のなかの「母性」が迷い子の手を取ってくれるのかも。

●お知らせ
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English version⬇

[“Evening Glow Over Nakatsuhara”: A Journey Through My Family’s Ancestral Hometowns in Hiroshima Prefecture]
I’m usually a bit of a daydreamer, but I was desperate to see this scene and spent every moment striving to make it happen. Finally, I was able to witness the last rays of the setting sun…

　I am currently on a focused exploration trip based in Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture.
Fukuyama City corresponds to the old province of “Bingo” and is located in the Sanyo region, nestled between Okayama and Hiroshima. Of the 400-odd years for which I can reliably trace my family lineage, the roughly 300 years leading up to my move to Hokkaido in 1905 are deeply embedded within the radiant scenery of the Seto Inland Sea.
　Since receiving the assignment to take over the family history research from my second older brother, I have been visiting this region frequently. I had come here occasionally even before that, so it has begun to evoke a sense of “nostalgia” for me.
This is likely influenced by my own experiences, but on a deeper level, I feel as though a certain “resonance”—a response from something—is reaching my body. Romance.
　So, yesterday I was touring the region known in the old provincial system as “Aki,” but in the end, I wanted to see the sunset here, so I came to “Nakatsuhara,” where the Ashida River meanders widely around Mount Ishizuchi. As I’ve been confirming the records of my family’s ancestors, it turns out that the head of the family has repeatedly taken brides from this area over five generations. It is, so to speak, the region where the “maternal lineage” of my family is concentrated.
　I’m not sure how likely such a coincidence is, but it’s hard to imagine in modern times. It feels as though it’s hinting at something about life and destiny.
However, my family lineage has been active as merchants not in this area, but in places closer to the coastline, such as Matsunaga, Imazu, and Onomichi. While Nakatsuhara is indeed close to the region’s most important road, the Sanyo Highway, it is, by any measure, an agricultural area. At first glance, it seems like a quiet landscape, but with the Ashida River fluctuating in flow like a living creature, the history of civil engineering must be a crucial factor.
That aside, once again, I found myself strongly drawn to this scene as the final landscape of the first day.
Since I’d only been here once before, I did enter some related keywords into the car navigation system to guide me, but in the end, I relied on my gut to find my way (laughs). Surprisingly, in the end, it’s that vague “motor memory” that comes through. As a result of simply following that “guidance,” I was reunited with this scene just as the evening light was fading.
The sight of the setting sun sinking beyond the mountain range is truly poetic.
Perhaps the “motherly instinct” within that distant lineage is taking the hand of a lost child.

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

Posted on 3月 17th, 2026 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 未分類