昨日は先般訪れていた東北地域・岩手県三陸海岸沖を震源とする地震のニュース。ちょうど朝の散歩から帰ってきたときに知った。わたしの住む札幌西部地方は震度ということで散歩中は、特段の揺れも感じなかったし、迎えてくれた家人も「え？地震あったの？」という状況。
　八戸あたり、青森県階上での揺れが強烈だったとの報道。今年に入って北海道東北の太平洋側沿岸地域の地震ゾーンの活動がふたたび三度、活発化しているようです。先般の「東日本大地震15年」での被災地域探訪ツアーで、陸前高田などの壊滅的被災地の「その後」を凝視してきましたが、この地震活動期ぶりをみると、油断なくいのちを守る行動様式の徹底は、必須要件ですね。被災のみなさんのご無事を祈ります。
　・・・ということですが、自然は危険性を持っていると同時に、そこで生かされているいのちの営みというものへの深い「母性」を感じさせてもくれる。
　写真は、いつもの散歩定番コースのひとつ、北海道神宮外苑の円山公園緑地の池のほとりに棲息しているオシドリの「つがい」の様子。この時期はかれらの「ランデブー」時期らしく、いかにもお互いの性をいたわりつつ、未来に向かっての種の永続を念願している様が伝わってくる。
　そして６月初夏の「天国に一番近い」北海道の自然環境は、日々日射に重量感が増してきている。池の水の密度にもある濃厚さが加わって、水紋にも「重み」を感じさせられる。地面を彩る植物も土に還る枯れ葉すらも、そういう営みにやわらかい表情を提供してくれているし、目にやさしい新緑は池の水とも溶け合うばかりの光彩をみせる。
　徐々に加齢してくると、涅槃というコトバに反応するようになってくるのだけれど、こういうごく当たり前の日々のうつろいの中に、そういう実感が伴ってくる。
　先人、血縁のひとびとの江戸初期からの「生き様」をたどる旅路を行き交っているけれど、その背景としての自然環境生態は、このように変わらない自然な実相で見守ってくれていたように思える。呆然とさせられる感動を抱く。感謝しつつ、いまできることを全力で取り組むことが、変わらぬひとの務めでしょう。
　ひたすら足下を見つめて、精進ですね。

●お知らせ
拙書「作家と住空間」幻冬舎から電子書籍で発刊
お求めはAmazonで。
https://amzn.asia/d/eUiv9yO

English version⬇

[Seeing “Nirvana” in Everyday Scenes of Nature…]
Lately, I’ve found myself spacing out and becoming entranced by the most ordinary of scenes. Old age. Both my ancestors and I have been sheltered by the same profound nature. …

　Yesterday, there was news of an earthquake with its epicenter off the Sanriku Coast in Iwate Prefecture, in the Tohoku region—an area I had recently visited. I found out just as I was returning from my morning walk. In the western part of Sapporo, where I live, the tremor was classified as a “shindo” level, so I didn’t feel any significant shaking during my walk, and when I got home, my family greeted me with, “Huh? Was there an earthquake?”
　Reports indicate that the shaking was particularly intense around Hachinohe and in Hashikami, Aomori Prefecture. Since the start of this year, seismic activity in the earthquake zones along the Pacific coast of Hokkaido and Tohoku appears to have intensified for the third time. During my recent tour of the disaster-affected areas to mark the 15th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, I took a close look at “what has become of” devastated areas like Rikuzentakata. Given the intensity of this current period of seismic activity, it is absolutely essential that we remain vigilant and thoroughly implement life-saving measures. I pray for the safety of all those affected by the disaster.
　…That said, while nature poses dangers, it also evokes a deep sense of “motherly” care for the lives it sustains.
　The photo shows a pair of mandarin ducks living by the pond in Maruyama Park, part of the Hokkaido Jingu Outer Garden—one of my regular walking routes. This seems to be their “mating season,” and you can really sense how they are tenderly caring for one another while hoping for the continuation of their species into the future.
　And in early June, in Hokkaido’s natural environment—often described as “the closest to heaven”—the intensity of the sunlight grows heavier with each passing day. The water in the pond takes on a certain richness, and even the ripples seem to carry a sense of “weight.” The plants coloring the ground—and even the withered leaves returning to the soil—lend a gentle expression to this cycle of life, while the fresh greenery, so soothing to the eye, shimmers with a radiance that seems to blend seamlessly with the pond’s water.
As one gradually grows older, one begins to respond to the word “nirvana,” and within these very ordinary, daily changes, that sense of reality begins to take hold.
　I am on a journey tracing the “ways of life” of my ancestors and relatives dating back to the early Edo period, and it seems to me that the natural environment and ecology serving as the backdrop have been watching over us with this unchanging, natural reality. I am filled with a sense of awe and wonder. I believe it is our unchanging duty as human beings to give our all to what we can do now, while remaining grateful.
　It is a matter of focusing single-mindedly on the path before us and striving diligently.

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

Posted on 6月 26th, 2026 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 未分類