【入道雲とセミ時雨が知らせる、至る「お盆」 】

きのうから人によっては９連休という方も多いようです。カミさんとあちこちと遠出していましたが、ふだんのドライブとは勝手の違う運転者も多いので、要注意ですね。
　自分ではルールに則った運転をしていても、ふだんあんまり運転していない人が、ふだんあんまり走ったことのない道をノロノロとか、暴走とか、いろいろあるので気を抜けません。みなさん安全運転で。
　さすがに盛夏でセミの時雨がドライブコースに木霊し続けている。
　「木霊」と書いてみて、まさにセミってそのように表現するのが的確ではないかと気付いた。深い森全体から、その周辺の地中を生き続けた末に、特定の木に留まっていのちの咆哮を上げ続ける。１匹のちいさないのちの叫び声が、合唱となって森全体に響き渡ってくる。まさに「木霊」。
　種としてのイキモノ全体の本然のままが、ふかく刺さってきて仕方がない。西行さんはこういうセミ時雨にどんな詩を読んでいたかなぁ、などと脳内を探してみるけれど、不勉強で一句も浮かんでこなかった。あとで調べてみたらこんな句があった。
　水の音に暑さ忘るるまといかな
　　　　　梢のせみの声もまぎれて
　・・・漂泊の僧となった西行法師は日々和歌を詠み花鳥風月への耽溺を深めていく。ゆえに解脱し得ず六道輪廻を彷徨う。この詩では水が主テーマでセミはその付随対象。・・・
　太古から人間はかれらの木霊に接してきて、それが輪廻転生の定めであることを知り続けてきている。そういう知見から季節のひとつの極限を知って、お盆とか彼岸とかという宗教的な言霊をそれに冠してきたのではないだろうか。たしかに万物自然の「至る季節」という感覚があったのだろう。
　写真はきのうのドライブの途中、ムクムクと湧き続けてくれた入道雲に、心がとらわれ続けて、ひょっとしてこのカーブを曲がったら、と期待していたらまさにその通りのタイミングでこちらに微笑み返してくれたショット。こういう瞬間の美感に癒されている。
　空と大地は、この北海道の地でその季節季節で雄大にパノラマを見せてくれるけれど、だんだんとこういった雲の有様などにこころが導かれるようになってくる。そしてそういう心理には同時に少年期に感じていたこころ模様がオーバーラップもしてくる。
　盛夏を知らせるセミ時雨、まだ数日は楽しめそうですね。

English version⬇

　It seems that many people have been on a nine-day weekend since yesterday. My wife and I were out for a long drive here and there, but I have to be careful because there are many drivers who are not used to driving like normal drivers. Even if you are driving according to the rules, there are many drivers who are not used to driving and who drive very slowly on roads they have never driven before, or who drive out of control. So please drive safely.
　It is indeed mid-summer, and the cicadas are still singing on the driving course. When I wrote the word "spirits," I realized that cicadas are aptly described as such. The cicada's cry of life echoes throughout the forest as a chorus. It is truly a "spirit of the trees.
　The true nature of the entire creature as a species is so deep and piercing that it cannot be helped. I wondered what kind of poems Saigyo-san read in this kind of semi-rainstorm, but I could not come up with any poems due to my lack of study. Later, I looked it up and found this poem.
　The sound of the water makes me forget the heat.
　　　　　The sound of cicadas in the treetops is muffled
　Saigyo Hoshi became a monk drifting in and out of Japan, composing waka poems every day and deepening his indulgence in flowers, birds, wind, and moon. Unable to attain liberation, he wanders through the cycle of reincarnation in the six realms. In this poem, water is the main theme and the cicada is the incidental object. The Cicada is a concomitant object.
　Since ancient times, humans have been in contact with their spirits and have come to know that this is the destiny of reincarnation. From this knowledge, we have come to know one of the extremes of the seasons and have given it the religious term "Higan" (the other shore). Indeed, he must have had a sense of "the season that leads to the end" of all things in nature.
　The photo was taken during a drive yesterday, when I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the iridocumulus clouds that kept bubbling up, and when I rounded this curve, they smiled back at me at exactly the right moment. I am soothed by the beauty of moments like this.
　The sky and the earth show us a magnificent panorama in Hokkaido in every season, but gradually my mind is being guided by the clouds and the like. At the same time, the mental pattern of my childhood also overlaps with this kind of mentality.
　I think we can still enjoy the cicadas that signal the beginning of midsummer for a few more days.

【思わず「絵画鑑賞」〜むかし絵・松下紀久雄作品】

　一昨日の高校同期会の会場はお世話になっていた「三川屋会館」という宴会専門のお店。中学校・高校と同級生だった友人の実家のビジネス。かれも当然参加していたのですが、わたしがあらためて見入ってしまっていたのが、宴会場の背景画として掛けられていたこの絵。
　こういう店舗の仕掛けマネジメントは、友人のお母さんだったことが記憶の底から蘇ってきて思い出され、その絵の選定の感覚について酒を飲みながら、やや耽溺していた。
　この絵自体は松下紀久雄氏（1918年生まれで2010年死去）という画家の作品で、現代人でありながら、克明にその地の歴史を解明しながらそのいとなみぶりを活写する作風を確立したように思われる。この作品についてオーナーに聞いたけれど、かれはあまり知識を持っていなかった。札幌西高は東京芸大への進学率も高い高校なので、たまたま同席していたもと美術部に確認を求めたけれど、自分で描く方が専門だからそういう「知識」は持っていなかった。
　「好み」が伝わってきて、かれのお母さんと久しぶりに対話しているようだった。酒の肴にはたしかにちょうど良かったのかも知れない。お母さんはすごい（笑）。

　全景はこんな感じなのだけれど、江戸期までの全国のどこかの商業市街地を描いたモノだろうか。日本社会のむかしのある局限点を再生させながら、私の好きな「洛中洛外図」という日本独特の絵画文化領域をあざやかに再現してくれている。住宅建築についての情報を自分のライフワークテーマとして選択してきた人間として、こういう「市井」への目線は数寄なのだ。


　住宅・店舗の建物のつらなりと、そのそれぞれの「なりわい」の間に流れる「生き方・暮らし方」の実相があざやかに再生されてくる。その間をうごく人間たちは、その体動の描写で暮らし方・生き方が表現されている。
　街区というものがどのような成り立ちで生まれ出てきたのか、そういった部分が匂い立ってくるかのように思われる。
　ふと、自分のライフワークと、こうした表現の間に共通する内容があるように思えた。わたしは住宅建築を取材し、その写真を「表現手段」の最たるものとして活用して、その家で人間はどのような思いをいだき、暮らそうとするのか、そこに強いこだわりを持ってきている。ただ、個人情報については一般的には触れないように配慮する。
　この絵画表現では「無名性」に徹して、それぞれの人間の暮らしを正面から表現していく。そのあたりの根源的な部分で「対話」しているような時間だった。


English version⬇

Unintentionally "Appreciation of Paintings" - Mukashi E, Kikuo Matsushita's works
I am strongly attracted to "Rakuchu Rakugai-zu", a picture I drew in the first grade of elementary school in the U.S.A., which shows the Japanese people from the viewpoint of the people living in the city. ...

　The venue for the high school class reunion the day before yesterday was a restaurant specializing in banquets called "Mikawa-ya Kaikan", which we were indebted to. It is a business owned by the family of a friend of mine who was a classmate of mine in junior high and high school. He was naturally in attendance, but what I found myself looking at again was this picture hanging as a background painting in the banquet room.
　I was reminded of the fact that my friend's mother was the manager of this kind of store, and I was somewhat indulged in the sensation of the selection of the painting while drinking sake.
　The painting itself is the work of Kikuo Matsushita (born in 1918 and died in 2010), a contemporary artist who seems to have established a style of vividly capturing the history of the place while conclusively elucidating the history of the place and its lifestyle. I asked the owner about this work, but he did not have much knowledge about it. Sapporo Nishi High School has a high percentage of students who go on to Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, so I asked the former art club member who happened to be in attendance to confirm his knowledge, but he did not have any such "knowledge" because he specializes in painting by himself.
　I could feel his "taste" and it was like talking to his mother for the first time in a long time. It was like talking to his mother for the first time in a long time. His mother is amazing (laugh).

　The overall view looks like this, but it probably depicts a commercial district somewhere in Japan up to the Edo period. While reproducing a certain localized point in the past of Japanese society, this work vividly recreates my favorite "Rakuchu Rakugai-zu," a uniquely Japanese pictorial cultural area. As someone who has chosen information on residential architecture as my life's work theme, I appreciate this kind of "city" perspective.

　The reality of the "way of life" that flows between the rows of houses and stores and their respective "livelihoods" is vividly reproduced. The people who move between the buildings express their way of life through their body movements.
　It is as if one can smell the origins of the city block and how it came to be.
　It occurred to me that there are similarities between my life's work and this kind of expression. I have been reporting on residential architecture and using photographs as my "means of expression," I have been strongly interested in what people think about and try to live in their houses. However, I will take care not to mention personal information in general.
　In this pictorial expression, I am committed to "anonymity" and express each human being's life head-on. It was a time as if we were having a "dialogue" on the fundamental aspects of this area.

【高校同期会参加 しなやかに高齢化を生きる】

　きのうは一昨日のゴルフ大会に引き続き、高校の同期会でした。1969年の高校卒業からは55年が経過して多くの友人たちは仕事からもリタイヤした人が多い。しかし久しぶり、年に一度の同期会では酒を酌み交わしてのくだけた会話・情報交換で大盛り上がり。
　開会に先立って、物故者への黙祷から開始。つい最近、今年になっても２名ほど同期性が突然世を去ったのですが、つねにそういった別れが積み重なっていく。450人前後の同期性の内、すでに50人ほどが世を去っているということで、10数パーセントが該当している。別離ということは確実にやってくるのだけれど、そういう決定〜けつじょう〜のなかでどうするか、日々の生き様のなかで、いまをどのように過ごすべきか、そういう情報交換の場になっていた。
　わたし自身のことについても、日々書いているこのブログを読んでくれている友人もいて、さまざまな「反響・意見」などを受け取らせていただいた。深く感謝。そして、そのような会話のなかで「なにをすべきか」内省的に時間が過ぎて行っていた。
　もう数十年こういった同期会を続けているけれど、それでもまだ初めて聞くというような話題も多く、そういう友人たちの「経験知」というものを共有させていただけることを強く実感させられる。考えて見ると稀有に貴重なことでしょうね。
いちばん上の写真は会の余興として行われていた「俳句」の優秀作・最優秀作の一句。最優秀作の「今度いつかね」というコトバは、言霊〜ことだま〜を深く感じさせてくれるし、また優秀作の「泣き笑い」もしみじみと染みわたってくるものがある。

　あ、わたしは俳句を「短歌」と聞き間違えて、さらに字余りの自由短歌ということではるかな「選外」でした（笑）。提出したところで内容は記憶があいまいになっているのだけれど、「割れても末に会わんとぞ思う」の本歌を下敷きにした歌をひねり出したように思う。
　今生でか、NEXTでか、よくわからないけれど、そういった気分でこれからの時間を有意義に使って生きていきたいと思わされた次第。みんな来年以降も元気な顔を見せて欲しい。


English version⬇

[Participation in a high school class reunion Living an agile aging society
55 years have passed since I graduated from high school. A shared experience of a sensitive and exciting time. It is a rare opportunity to check in on the present. I am in the mindset that even if I am broken, I will see you again at the end of my life. .......

　Yesterday, following the golf tournament the day before yesterday, we had a high school class reunion. 55 years have passed since I graduated from high school in 1969, and many of my friends have retired from work as well. However, it has been a long time since they last met, and the annual reunion was a great success with casual conversation and exchange of information over drinks.
　Prior to the opening of the meeting, a moment of silence was observed for those who have passed away. Of the 450 or so people who have passed away, about 50 have already passed away, which is more than 10 percent of the total. Although partings are sure to come, this was a place to exchange information about what to do in the midst of such decisions and how to spend the present time in one's daily life.
　Some of my friends read this blog, which I write about myself on a daily basis, and I received various "reactions and opinions" from them. I am deeply grateful. And in the midst of these conversations, time passed introspectively as I wondered what I should do.
　Although we have been holding such meetings for several decades, there are still many topics that I have never heard of before, and I strongly feel that I am able to share the "experiential knowledge" of my friends. When I think about it, it must be a rare and precious thing.

This picture shows one of the excellent and the best haiku that were presented as entertainment at the meeting. The words "Someday next time" of the best haiku makes me deeply feel the spirit of words (Kotodama), and "Crying and Laughing" of the excellent haiku is also deeply moving.
　I mistook haiku for tanka, and my entry was not selected because it was a free tanka with too many characters (laugh). (Laughs.) My memory is a little fuzzy as to the content of the poem I submitted, but I think I came up with a poem based on the original poem "Cracked, but I will see you at the end of time," which was written in the same style as the original poem.
　I am not sure if it is in this life or in the NEXT life, but I would like to use my time from now on in a meaningful way with such a feeling. I hope that everyone will continue to show their energy in the coming year and beyond.

【超久しぶりのゴルフとカラダ各所の痛み】

きのうは高校時代以来の友人たちとの気の置けないゴルフ会。仕事人生のひとつの区切りはついたわたしなので、楽しい仲間との交友も可能と考えていたのですが、やはり住宅というフィールドからは無縁ということには至らず、いやむしろより自由な立場から関わることが多く、また新たな領域への挑戦も始まっているのでなかなか時間にゆとりがない。というか、ゴルフへの積極的やる気不足。ということで、定期的にやっているゴルフ会には参加意思を持ってはいても、事実上すっかり足が遠のいていた。
　ところが今回は東京から参加の友人のクルマ運転手的な立場で、参加致しました。幹事の友人からは「そんなにやっていないのなら少しは練習しとけよ」「練習は絶対条件だからな」というような叱咤激励・脅迫もあって、一応、２回ほどは練習に行ったけれど、各回ともボール20発くらい打つと、それ以上のモチベーションを維持できない（笑）。打ち放し練習はあくまでも「鍛錬」みたいなもので、それは重要だけれど実際のゴルフとはまったく別物。どうにもやる気は出ない。
　体調の維持については毎日10,000歩近く散歩をしているので、特段カラダを動かしていないワケではない。事実きのうのゴルフ会での歩数は以下。

最近のゴルフではほぼセルフカートで昔のようにずっと歩いてではなく、ほぼ半分くらいはカート移動という条件ではあるけれど、歩数的には東京都内をあちこち移動して活動しているときの方が多い。で、今回のゴルフで体力的にへばるということはなかった。ただ、ゴルフはカラダの使い方がちょっと異常な体動なので、とくに腰回りに負担が掛かって、筋肉痛が出てきました。たぶん「打ち放し練習」に行ってすぐにイヤになるのはこの体動の異常さ、局所筋肉の負担感に拒否反応があるのではないだろうか。
　・・・というのはまったく「引かれ者の小唄」恨み辛みの発露でしょう（笑）。結果は非常に無惨で人生初めてゴルフをやった頃のスコアに近づいていた（泣）。案の定、上がってみたら栄えある「BB賞」を受賞させていただいた。わかりました、しばらくはゴルフからは離れて暮らします、と思っていたらなんと、追い打ちのように来年の会の「幹事」役の拝命であります。う〜む陰謀だ（笑）。
　さてここらへんが人生の分かれ道（？）のようでもあります。まぁしかしキッパリゴルフをやめるというのもカドが立つので、細々と続けながら謹んで役務を遂行し、しかるのちに今回ゴルフでの屈辱に大いにリベンジしたいと思います。


English version⬇

I have not played golf for a very long time and my body is sore in various parts.
Practicing without hitting a ball at all is just a difficult and arduous task with little motivation. I don't want to make excuses that I have limited time in my life and that I have to play golf with unnatural body movements... (laughs). Laughs.

Yesterday, I had a casual golf outing with friends I have known since high school. I thought that I could enjoy the company of my friends since I had already reached the end of my professional life, but it is not the case that I am not involved in the housing field, and in fact, I am involved in many things from a more liberal standpoint and have begun to take on challenges in new areas. I am also beginning to take on new challenges in new areas, so I don't have much time to spare. I am also beginning to take on new challenges in new areas, so I don't have much time to spare. So, even though I have been willing to participate in the regular golf meetings, I have been virtually absent from them.
　This time, however, I participated as a driver for a friend from Tokyo. My friend, who was the organizer of the event, gave me a pep talk and threatened me, saying, "If you haven't been playing that much, you should practice a little," and "Practice is an absolute requirement," so I went to practice twice, but after hitting about 20 balls each time, I couldn't maintain motivation any longer (laugh). (Laughs) Practicing hitting balls out is just like "training," which is important but completely different from actual golf. I can't seem to get motivated to do it.
　As for keeping in shape, I walk nearly 10,000 steps every day, so it is not that I am not moving my body. In fact, the number of steps I took at yesterday's golf outing is as follows.

Although most of my recent golf outings have been in a self-propelled cart and not on foot as in the past, with about half of the time spent in the cart, my step count is higher when I am moving from place to place within the Tokyo metropolitan area. So, I was not physically exhausted during this golf outing. However, since golf is a slightly unusual physical activity in terms of the way I use my body, it took a toll on my lower back in particular, and my muscles began to ache. Perhaps the reason why I hate it as soon as I go out to "practice hitting the ball," is because of this abnormal body movement and the sense of strain on the local muscles.
　I guess it is a "little song of the Hikareta" (a little song of the Hikareta), a manifestation of resentment and bitterness (laugh). The result was very miserable and approached the score I had when I first played golf for the first time in my life (tears). Sure enough, when I went up, I was awarded the prestigious "BB Award". I thought, "Okay, I'll stay away from golf for a while," but to my surprise, I was asked to play the role of "secretary" for next year's meeting as a follow-up. Hmmm... a conspiracy (laughs).
　Well, this is a fork in the road (?) of my life. I'm not sure if it's a good idea or not. I would like to continue to play golf in a small way and fulfill my duties respectfully, and afterwards, I would like to take great revenge for the humiliation of playing golf this time.

【緑と暮らしのバランス ＆ 多地域「居住」最適化】

　人間はイキモノのひとつであり、類人猿の出自から言って緑の植生に対して無意識のうちに「回帰」するような心性を持つ存在なのだろうと思います。
　現代生活では都市化・コンクリートジャングル化が進展してその「機能性」の進化ぶりもすさまじいモノがあるけれど、その機能性最重視の環境だけでは心理的に「砂漠」化する。そういう基本的な動物心理に適合するように「都市計画」というものが立案されてその両立が図られていくのでしょう。
　たまに超都市環境である首都圏地域との間を行き来する人間としては、その「バランス感覚」について最適解を求めてみたくなる。まぁそのときの自分が置かれた条件によって可変するものでしょうが、いまの自分的にはどういうバランスがいいのかと考える感覚領域があると思う。
　そういう意味では早朝散歩というのは、そういった心理との適合性の判定行動なのだろうと思っている。そこでの環境感受、そのここちよさがひとつの指標になってくるものだ。わたしの場合、札幌の住宅街・西区山の手という環境がベースで、そこでは西区琴似という繁華街が歩５分ほどの近さにあった上で、そこからやや離れた西区図書館と相似する位置に家が立地している。家の前には中学校のグランドがあって視線は比較的に「抜け」が確保されている。
　そういう環境に対して、ときどき移動する関東圏で「ほどよい」場所を探してみるということになる。人間の行動パターンにおいて現代人は面白い領域に近づいているように思う。２地点居住、３地点居住というような選択肢も可視化してきているということかも知れない。
　ホームグラウンドとそれ以外の「馴染み」のゾーンの複層的「くらしごこち」というテーマなのかも知れない。ホームグラウンドの選定・決定にはさまざまな決定因子があるだろうけれど、そういう追究テーマ領域と、ときどき移動してなかば「日常化」する環境についても、それを感受性領域で検討するということが人間環境のテーマになって行く可能性がある。
　自分自身でもそうなのだけれど、知人のなかには２箇所３箇所のそういった環境を定時的に移動しながら生活しているひとも居る。人口減少と既存住宅の相関関係で、こういったテーマ領域も着目されてくるかも知れない。わたし自身ではメインとサブの住環境があり、そのほかに首都圏や関西圏への移動拠点というような選択がある。そのそれぞれでの最適環境選びであったり、最適化努力であったりというテーマ。
　すこしづつ、そのそれぞれを考えて見たいと思っています。


English version⬇

Balance between greenery and living & optimize multi-regional "living".
The correlation between population decline and the existing living environment. In an environment where there are too many houses and not enough people, will the theme of an optimal human environment emerge? Green & Living

　Humans are one of the unique creatures, and given our ape-like origins, I believe that we have a mentality that subconsciously "returns" to green vegetation.
　In modern life, we live in an urbanized, concrete jungle, and the evolution of "functionality" has been tremendous. Urban planning" will be developed in order to conform to such basic animal psychology and to achieve a balance between the two.
　As a person who sometimes comes and goes between the metropolitan area and the hyper-urban environment, I would like to try to find the optimal solution to this "sense of balance. Well, it may vary depending on the conditions in which I am placed at the time, but I think there is a fundamental area of sensation in which I think about what kind of balance is best for me at the present time.
　In this sense, I think that taking an early morning walk is a factor in determining the compatibility with such a psychological state. The feeling of comfort becomes an indicator. In my case, I live in Yamanote, Nishi Ward, a residential area of Sapporo, and my house is located in a similar position to the Nishi Ward Library, a short walk from downtown Kotoni, Nishi Ward, which is about five minutes away. In front of the house, there is a junior high school ground, which provides a relatively clear line of sight.
　In response to such an environment, we will try to find a "moderate" location in the Kanto area, from which we sometimes move. It seems to me that we are approaching an interesting area in terms of human behavior patterns, and we may be visualizing options such as living in two or three locations.
　This may be a theme of multilayered "living comfort" between home ground and other "familiar" zones. There may be various determinants in the selection and determination of one's home ground, but there is a possibility that one theme will be to examine the environment that sometimes moves between such a thematic area and the "everyday" environment in the sensitivity area.
　As is the case with myself, some of my acquaintances live in two or three such environments, moving from one place to another on a regular basis. The correlation between the declining population and existing housing may also attract attention to this thematic area. For myself, I have a main and a sub residential environment, and in addition, I choose to live in a base of operations in the Tokyo metropolitan area and the Kansai region. The theme is to choose the best environment for each of these, and to make efforts to optimize them.
　I would like to consider each of them a little at a time.