有島武郎の遺した住宅探訪篇ですが、きょうはかれが東京からやってきて触れた札幌の当時の街の雰囲気について考えて見たい。旧邸に展示説明されていたなかに、有島がこの札幌の街に惹かれていった写真類があり、それが気分的に飽和点を超えて迫って来てしまうのです。
上の写真が有島が通った札幌農学校（のちの北海道大学）周辺の様子。農学校のすぐ近くに時計台があって、その鐘の音色が毎日の句読点としてかれの心理のひだに染みわたっていたことと推測される。日本人と「鐘の音色」というのは一考に値するテーマだと思うけれど、東京から来た感受性豊かな青年には、それまで経験していた仏閣の鐘楼からの梵鐘とはまったく違う受け取り方だったに違いない。今日でこそ、日本三大がっかり観光地とされる（笑）時計台だけれど、有島の年代の人びとにはまさに人生を基調的に彩った音色だった。かれはそういう文章を遺している。
1896年に来札した有島の時代から60年以上はるかな後世、1955年ころ幼年期、札幌の街に移住してきたわたし年代とは、かなり違う心象世界だと思います。
札幌市民憲章というのが少年期に読み上げされられたけれどそこには「わたしたちは時計台の鐘が鳴る札幌の市民です」という初句があった。しかし、わたしの住んでいた札幌市中央区北３条西１１丁目周辺ですら当時すでにその鐘の音色を聞くことはまずなかった。たぶん直線距離にして１km程度なのだけれど、そういった感性は育たなかった。むしろ近接の「北大植物園」で飼育されていた「オオカミ」が夜空に向かって咆哮する声が幼年期〜少年期、心象に残像として残っている（笑）。自分としては心理に深く吸い込まれた音楽性とは、あの咆哮だったと思っている・・・。
しかし、札幌という街のイメージを日本人に造形してくれた有島武郎には市民として、その恩義を忘れることは到底できない。ここに書かれた「藻厳山」というのは「藻岩山」といまは一般的に表記されるけれど、札幌の市民として一気にこころに染みわたる表現で激しく同意させられる。
空気感の共有という心理が強く襲ってくるのだ。
時計台にしろ藻岩山にしろ、音楽的にもビジュアル的にも日本人の多数派に対してそれを訴求してくれた大恩人と思わされるのだ。かれが札幌のまちを深く愛してくれた様子が汲めども尽きぬように伝わってくる。東京に生を受け軽井沢で死んだかれの表現力で、札幌の街は独特の余韻をもって日本社会にイメージ伝達されていったのですね。まことに感謝しかない。
English version⬇
The City of Sapporo and the Sensibility of Youth Former Takehiro Arishima Residence-5
The expressive power of Takehiro Arishima is a very significant factor in the image modeling of the city of Sapporo. It makes us deeply grateful to his predecessors of about 80 years chronologically. ・・・・.
Today, I would like to consider the atmosphere of Sapporo, the city he came from Tokyo to live in. Among the exhibits at his former residence, there are photos of Arishima's fascination with the city of Sapporo, and I feel that I am approaching a point beyond saturation point.
The photo above shows the area around Sapporo Agricultural College (later to become Hokkaido University), where Arishima attended school. There was a clock tower near the school, and the sound of the bell must have been a daily punctuation mark that seeped into the folds of his psyche. The Japanese and the sound of bells is a theme worth considering, but for a sensitive young man from Tokyo, it must have been a completely different experience from the bells he had heard from the bell towers of Buddhist temples and shrines. Today, the clock tower is considered one of the three most disappointing tourist attractions in Japan (laugh), but for people of Arishima's age, it was the tone that set the tone for their lives. He left behind such a sentence.
I think that the world of Arishima's time, which was more than 60 years after his arrival in 1896, is quite different from the world of my generation, who moved to Sapporo as a child in about 1955.
When I was a boy, the Sapporo Citizens' Charter was read out loud, and it included the first phrase, "We are the citizens of Sapporo, where the clock tower bell rings. However, even in the area around Kita 3-jo Nishi 11-chome, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, where I lived, it was rare to hear the sound of the bell. Although the distance between the two places is about 1 km, I did not develop such sensitivity. Rather, the sound of wolves roaring in the night sky at the nearby "Hokkaido University Botanical Garden" remained as an afterimage in my mind's eye during my childhood and adolescence (laugh). For myself, I believe that the musicality that was deeply absorbed into my psyche was that roar....
However, as a citizen of Sapporo, I can never forget the debt of gratitude I owe to Takeo Arishima for shaping the image of Sapporo for the Japanese people. Moigonzan" is now commonly referred to as "Mt. Moiwa," but as a citizen of Sapporo, I can agree with this expression that deeply touches my heart at once.
The psychological feeling of sharing a common sense of atmosphere comes over me strongly.
Whether it is the clock tower or Mt. Moiwa, I feel that he is a great benefactor who has appealed to the majority of Japanese people both musically and visually. His deep love for the city of Sapporo can be felt endlessly. He was born in Tokyo and died in Karuizawa, and through his expressive power, the image of Sapporo was conveyed to Japanese society with a unique aftertaste. I am truly grateful to him.
