【日本的「坐る」文化格式表現 氷川神社末社・安楽寺庫裡-5】

　昨日、日本の囲炉裏と西洋の暖炉について書いていて、家族からの率直な感想チェックで気付かされたこと。「坐る」文化と椅子の文化による違いという視点。言われてみて、あまりにも腑に落ちた次第。
　しかし日本文化の特徴である囲炉裏は「食遊」の空間でもあったことが、西洋社会の暖炉文化とは大きく相違していったということか。暖炉では、たとえば肉を串刺しして輻射熱調理して食べるという文化は優勢ではない。一方、日本の囲炉裏では灰ガラをほどよく積層させそこに串を立てて調理する文化が根付いた。日本料理では肉類はあくまでも「鍋」のうまみとして食することが主流で、魚こそがこうした串刺し料理にふさわしく、海に囲まれ多様の河川に恵まれた風土によって支配的食文化になっていった。
　暖炉には食文化涵養の痕跡は乏しいのではないか。さらに中国文化圏では囲炉裏はどうも多数派の生活文化にはなっていないように思う。むしろ暖炉の方に寄っていると思える。また朝鮮半島や北東アジアで一般的な床暖房のオンドルでの調理文化もあまり聞かない。このあたりはもうちょっと探索してみたい。
　ちなみに暖炉のWikiページには以下のような記述。「暖炉は特に西洋では部屋の格式や、席次を決める上での重要な調度品であり、暖炉周りのマントルピースなどの装飾には力が注がれる 」とある。このあたりは、日本文化でも同様で，きのう書いたように席次による格式が顕著に存在した。
　で、この「席次序列」の考え方・思考法は日本家屋全体にわたって展開していくことになる。いちばん上の写真はこの神仏習合庫裡のいちばんの格式空間、床の間付き座敷。
　今日でもこうした空間に出会うと日本人は、席を譲り合うという独特の社会儀礼がある。
「○○さんは、ぜひこちらに」
「いえいえ、わたしなぞ末席を汚させていただきます、あなたこそこちらへ」
みたいな予定調和的言葉掛け、やり取りが日本人DNAには仕込まれている。「床柱が似合う」というような人物評価の言語表現も存在している。こういう「空気感」感受性こそが日本人「らしさ」の究極かも。
　この席次序列の考え方が日本建築には色濃く伝承されていった。


　わたしは北海道生まれであり、こういう席次序列文化による間取り構成住宅からは最初期に離脱した住文化社会に属している。しかし、日本人としてのDNAはまだこういう空間に反応したくなる部分がある。畳がお尻に微妙な繊維質感を伝えて、その快感にウットリするような（笑）。
　椅子やソファでの暮らしで寒さ暑さから解放された高断熱高気密ライフスタイルに圧倒的に満たされながら、たまに外食するなら、炭火の囲炉裏端みたいな店内インテリアの空間で、できれば魚の串焼きに癒されたいという内奥からの欲求もあるのだ。ニッポン的ごちゃ混ぜ生活文化か（笑）。


English version⬇

Japanese "sitting" cultural prestigious expression: Hikawa Shrine and Anraku-ji Temple Kori-5
The family's straightforward impression became clear to me. The Japanese architectural culture of sitting, a lifestyle culture derived from Irori (hearth), deeply engraved in our DNA. The Irori-derived lifestyle culture deeply imprinted in our DNA.

Yesterday, when I wrote about Japanese hearths and Western fireplaces, I was reminded by an honest feedback check from a family member. The difference between the culture of sitting and the culture of chairs. When I was told this, it became all too clear to me.
　The hearth, a characteristic of Japanese culture, was also a space for "eating and playing," which was very different from the fireplace culture of Western society. In the fireplace, for example, the culture of skewering meat and eating it cooked by radiant heat is not predominant. On the other hand, in Japan, the culture of cooking meat on skewers in a hearth with a good layer of ash and ash residue has taken root. In Japanese cuisine, meat is usually consumed as a "nabe" (pot), and fish is the most suitable for this kind of skewered food.
　The fireplace may be a poor evidence of the cultivation of food culture. Furthermore, in the Chinese cultural sphere, the hearth does not seem to have become a dominant part of the lifestyle culture. Rather, it seems to be more in the direction of fireplaces. Also, I have not heard much about the cooking culture using ondol, a floor heating system commonly used in the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia. I would like to explore this area a little more.
　Incidentally, the Wiki page on fireplaces has the following description. The fireplace is an important furnishing in determining the prestige of a room, especially in the West, and a lot of effort is put into decorating the mantelpiece and other parts around the fireplace. As I wrote yesterday, there was a pronounced hierarchy of seating in the Japanese culture as well.
　This "seating order" concept and way of thinking developed throughout the Japanese house. The photo above is the most prestigious space in the kori, which is a combination of the Shinto and Buddhist temples, with a tokonoma (alcove).
　Even today, when encountering such a space, Japanese people have a unique social ritual of giving up their seats to each other.
"Please come this way, Mr. XX.
No, no, no, I'm sorry to make a mess of your seat, you go this way.
Such scheduled exchanges of words and phrases are ingrained in the DNA of the Japanese people. There is also a verbal expression of character evaluation, such as, "You look good in the tokonobashira. This kind of "airiness" and sensitivity may be the ultimate in Japanese "character.
　This concept of the pecking order has been passed down strongly in Japanese architecture.

I was born in Hokkaido, and belong to a housing culture society that has moved away from this type of floor plan structure in the early stages of its history. However, as a Japanese, there is still a part of my DNA that wants to respond to this kind of space. The tatami conveys a subtle fiber texture to the buttocks, and the pleasant sensation makes me swoon (laughs).
　While overwhelmingly satisfied with the highly insulated and airtight lifestyle of living on chairs and sofas, free from cold and heat, there is also a desire from deep within to eat out occasionally, preferably in a space with a restaurant interior like a charcoal sunken hearth edge, and to be soothed by grilled fish skewers. It is the Nippon way of life and culture, a mixture of the two.

【囲炉裏火力調節のお魚デザイン 氷川神社末社・安楽寺庫裡-4】

　現代生活で失われた日本人のライフデザイン要素として囲炉裏がある。囲炉裏は日常食の食卓であり、家族の中での自然な「座り位置」関係の表現まで含めて日本人の意識を潜在的に規定してきた。
　最上位の位置は、土間方向に向かっていちばん座敷側になる位置。左右に家族が座って、もっとも上座の場所に家族でのいちばんの権威者が座っていた。通常は戸主がその座を占めていた。わが家の古い記憶では家長としての祖父がその場に常にいたように記憶している。しかし、そうであっても家族団欒の象徴的な場所であることは間違いがなく、筋を通しながら、家族のいのちと共感を繋ぐ空間だった。
　そういう囲炉裏に掛ける鍋類を「腕木」で火力を調整した。煮立てるまでは火に近づけて、煮たってしまったら、今度は温度維持に変化させたのだ。言ってみれば火力の段階調整具。
　この装置のデザインでは圧倒的に「お魚」さんが主流を形成した。
　日本人のタンパク源取得が圧倒的に魚類だったことが関係しているのか、あるいは鍋料理としては基調的な味覚はさかなが支配的だったことに起因しているのか。いずれにせよ、そのデザインは魚が主流。どうして魚なのだろうか？また外国ではそもそも囲炉裏や自在鉤ってあるのだろうか、どうなのか？
　「魚は水に通じるということで火事を避けるお守りの意味があり、また魚には瞼がないことから眠らないー居眠りして火を絶やさないとか、目を離して火事を起こさないという意味がある」という説。これが主流の解釈のようです。しかし鍋料理の主役が魚であることの方がしっくりと馴染む気がする。
　またこのテーマでWEB検索してみても、中国雲南省の民家で囲炉裏が見られる程度で、欧米の場合はやはり「暖炉」であって囲炉裏という暖房兼用の調理文化は見られないようだ。
　そのように考えてくると、囲炉裏という文化自体が日本人の精神性形成に非常に大きな影響をもたらした生活文化であることが見通せてくる。欧米人と比較して「家」意識が濃厚なのが日本人だと思うけれど、個人主義とは相当に乖離のあるこうした倫理意識が、日本人の本質なのかも知れない。武士たちは、家の存続のために自分のいのちを賭けて戦っていた。自分が死んでも家が存続していくために命をなげうったのには、囲炉裏を囲んで常に家意識を高め続けた生活文化が大きいのかも知れない。
　そういう囲炉裏火力で、ユーモラスなお魚さんがキーデザインになっていることも面白い。縄文以来、海の幸、川の幸の主役として日本人の心の底に魚の残像が刻印され続けてきたようですね。


English version⬇

Fish Designs for Irori Fireplace Heat Adjustment: Hikawa Shrine's Yuhisha and Anrakuji Temple's Kori-4
Fish is the mainstay of the pot dish that hangs over the hearth as a folk tradition. This unconscious area continued to be imprinted at the base of the Japanese sense of home. The...

One element of Japanese life design that has been lost in modern life is the hearth. The hearth is the dining table for daily meals and has subconsciously defined the Japanese consciousness, including the expression of the natural "sitting position" relationship within the family.
　The highest position is the one that is farthest toward the earthen floor on the tatami room side. The family members sat on either side, and the person with the most authority in the family sat in the most senior position. Usually, the head of the household occupied this position. In my family's old memories, my grandfather as the patriarch of the family was always present. Even so, there is no doubt that it was a symbolic place for family reunion, a space that connected the family's life and sympathy while making sense of it.
　The pots and pans that hung over such a hearth were adjusted in terms of fire power with an "arm tree. The pots and pans were placed close to the fire until they were simmering, and once they were simmering, the temperature was maintained at a constant level. In other words, it is a device that adjusts the heat power in stages.
　Fish" formed the overwhelming mainstream in the design of this device.
　Perhaps this is due to the fact that fish was the predominant source of protein for the Japanese, or perhaps it is due to the fact that fish was the dominant taste in nabe dishes. Either way, its design is dominated by fish. Why fish? And in foreign countries, do they have hearths and free-standing hooks, or not?
　The theory is that "fish is connected to water, which means it is a talisman to avoid fire, and since fish have no eyelids, it means that they do not sleep - they do not doze off and keep the fire going, or that they do not take their eyes off the fire and cause it to burn. This seems to be the mainstream interpretation. However, I think it is more fitting that fish is the main ingredient in nabe dishes.
　In addition, a web search on this theme shows that hearths can only be found in private homes in China's Yunnan Province, and it seems that in the West, the hearth is still a "fireplace" and not a hearth, a cooking culture that doubles as a heating system.
　In this way, we can see that the hearth culture itself is a lifestyle culture that has had a very significant impact on the formation of the Japanese mentality. The Japanese have a strong sense of "home" compared to Westerners, but this sense of ethics, which is quite different from individualism, may be the essence of the Japanese people. Samurai warriors fought for the survival of their families, risking their own lives. Perhaps the reason why they sacrificed their lives to ensure the continuation of the family even after their own deaths was due in large part to their culture of living around the hearth, which constantly heightened their sense of family.
　It is interesting to note that humorous fish are a key design element of such hearth fire power. It seems that since the Jomon period, the afterimage of fish has continued to be imprinted deep in the hearts of Japanese people as the mainstay of seafood and river food.

【ひとをやさしく迎える食の空間 氷川神社末社・安楽寺庫裡-3】

　日本的伝統である神仏習合の寺院の庫裡住宅訪問その３であります。
　こうした寺院併設の集会機能空間は、日本人の精神性に於いては地域社会の「公民館・会所」的な役割を果たし続けてきたと思われる。公的な性格を濃厚に持った地域の「寄り合い」の空間だったのだと思う。きのう「ひとびとの倫理感の揺りかご」と表現したけれど、この埼玉県さいたま市の一地域にとってみると、神仏習合のこの空間はそのような性格を持っていた。
　わたし自身の現場体感では建築外観としてのひとつの典型をみるような思いだった。ヨーロッパ社会ではキリスト教という一神教の精神規範が常識だけれど、日本社会はまったく別の、しかし民族独特の無上な「倫理感」が支配していた。その精神性の実質が、茅葺きの大屋根、せがい造りの外観にシンプルに生きている。帰依するという感覚ではなく、身が引き締まる、こころが無私になる、というような感覚の倫理感。・・・
　そういう集会機能のためにはひとびとの食を満たす装置も不可欠。上の写真群は土間にしつらえられたカマド、正面の「流し装置」、そして囲炉裏を囲んでの食堂空間。

　無私の精神によって集ったひとびとをやさしく迎え入れる癒やしの装置群。たぶん集会者たちがさまざまな食材を持ち寄って、このカマドや流しを使って調理して、囲炉裏空間で食事したのだろう。やさしく加熱される食材から立ち上る煙、その食材独特の香りが、空間を支配してひとびとのこころを解き放っていったに違いない。この場はそういう共同体意識の結束装置の基盤であるのかも知れない。
「これ、けさ釣り上げた魚があるんだけど・・・」
「おお、それじゃぁ、朝取りの山菜と取り合わせで」
「じゃぁ〆は地鶏なべで（笑）」
　食を介した共生感がその寄り合いの度に深まっていった。そういった社会意識が日本人には強く涵養され続けてきたのだと思われる。その機縁が多様な宗教的価値観・八百万の神への信仰であり、みほとけへの尊崇のこころだった。
　そういった社会性の再確認の場として日本建築はあり続けたのだろうけれど、日本建築は木造軸組が基本であり、構造材がそのまま表れるのが一般的。正直な木組みが「筋を通して」こうした社会性を無意識下で日本人の精神性を支えていたのだと思う。建築構造もまた素朴な民族的倫理感を構成したに違いない。
　ちなみに「筋を通す」という公正性の言語表現はどうも日本独特のようにも思われる。WEBで翻訳コンニャクしてみた。「筋を通す→proceed in a logical manner」語感では日本語と違い「合理的」「ロジカル」というニュアンスが強い。日本語の「誠実さ」といったニュアンスは感じられない。
　日本人の精神性と建築の関係もまた、きわめて興味深い。
　　
English version⬇

A space for food that gently welcomes people: The Anrakuji Temple Kori, a branch of the Hikawa Shrine - 3
The Japanese sense of ethics originates from the polytheistic fairness of Shintoism and Buddhist syncretism. We will look at the traces of this in the relationship between the individual and society. ...

This is the third part of our visit to a temple kori residence in the Japanese tradition of Shinto/Buddhist syncretism.
　These meeting spaces attached to temples are thought to have continued to play the role of "community centers and meeting places" in local communities in the Japanese spirituality. I believe that they were spaces for local "huddling" that had a strong public character. Yesterday I described it as a "cradle of people's sense of ethics," and for this area of Saitama City in Saitama Prefecture, this space with its Shinto/Buddhist syncretism had such a character.
　In my own experience at the site, I felt as if I was seeing a typical architectural appearance. In European society, Christianity, a monotheistic spiritual code, is the norm, but in Japanese society, a completely different, yet unique, ethnocentric "sense of ethics" prevails. The substance of this spirituality lives simply in the exterior of the thatched roof and the segai-zukuri style. It is not a sense of devotion, but a sense of ethics that makes you tense up and your mind become selfless. The temple is not a place for devotion.
　For such a gathering function, it is also essential to have a place where people can eat. The photos above show a kamado (a bamboo stove) on the earthen floor, a "sink" in front of the house, and a dining space with a sunken hearth around the fireplace.

A group of healing devices that gently welcome the gathered people with a spirit of selflessness. Perhaps the participants brought a variety of foodstuffs, cooked them in these kamado and sinks, and ate them in the sunken hearth space. The smoke rising from the gently heated food and the unique aroma of the food must have dominated the space and freed people's minds. This place may be the foundation of a cohesive device for such a sense of community.
Here, I have some fish I caught this morning..."
"Oh, well, I'll have some of the morning's wild vegetables with it.
Then we'll finish it off with a chicken stew.
　The sense of symbiosis through food deepened with each gathering. It is believed that such a social consciousness has been strongly cultivated among Japanese people. The opportunity for this was the belief in a variety of religious values and the belief in the eight million gods, and the reverence for the mihotoke.
　Japanese architecture may have continued to exist as a place to reaffirm such sociality, but Japanese architecture is based on wooden framing, and the structural materials are generally expressed as they are. I believe that honest wood framing "through the muscles" supported the Japanese mentality of such sociality in an unconscious way. The architectural structure must have also constituted a simple ethnic ethic.
　I tried to translate the Japanese word "musu-suji" into Japanese on the web. The word "suji wo koru→proceed in a logical manner" has a strong nuance of "rational" and "logical," unlike the Japanese word "sincerity. It does not have the nuance of "sincerity" in Japanese.
　The relationship between Japanese spirituality and architecture is also extremely interesting.

【端正なフォルムと陰影感 氷川神社末社・安楽寺庫裡-2】

　この家はさいたま市南区大谷口にあった安楽寺で庫裏として使用されていた住宅。建築年代としては1858年の墨書が確認されているので、165年前のもの。江戸時代の末期に建てられたけれど、その後の明治維新によって「王政復古」されたことで同時に「廃仏毀釈」の社会運動が激しく燃えさかった時代に遭遇してしまった。
　一方で大谷口氷川神社の神主も兼ねていた神仏習合だったことで、非常に複雑な背景事情がこの家を襲ったことが想像される。結果として仏教寺院としての安楽寺は消滅し、この建物は庫裡である実質を失った。寺の住職としての立場は捨てたことで主人は「還俗」して野口氏に名前を変えたのだという。
　わたしたち現代人にとっては第２次世界大戦での対米戦争の敗戦というのが巨大エポック民族体験だけれど、この明治の政変も社会に大きな変革をもたらしたと思う。とくにこの日本人にとってこの廃仏毀釈の宗教的大変動は大きなインパクトだった。
　日本人の宗教観は歴史変動によって大きく変化してきた。縄文の世以来、自然崇拝的な信仰心は日本人の心的原風景として「八百万」の神々信仰があっただろう。そのベースに対して神武以来の王統が根付いてその正統性を証すような神社信仰が広がっていった。
　そこに王統自身による仏教の導入政策があって、聖徳太子による基本的な国家体系整備が進められた。その仏教導入時にも「八百万」信仰が柔軟な社会的受容性を担保したのだろう。
　戦国期には仏教勢力が石山本願寺など過激な行動主義と反権力という名の権力主義に取り憑かれていたと言えるけれど、それは政治体制としての幕府武力権力の確立とともに骨抜きされ収斂していった。江戸期の安定社会の実現までのプロセスではそうした民族体験の積層があった。
　神と仏という多神教社会が実現して相互に尊重し合う社会が形成されていった。政治制度としての戦後民主主義というものもこういった日本民族の多神教受容性の一環だったとも思える。
　こうした文化宗教体験の結果として日本人には同調性志向が深く根付いているのではないか。

　建築としてのこの家の特徴としては大きな屋根と、正面部分に掛かっている瓦屋根、せがい造りのプロポーションの端正さが強く感じられる。江戸期の寺院の庫裡では多様な集会、寄り合いなどの機会の場としてこの建物は機能していただろう。高温多湿な気候風土の中で安定的な室内環境を生み出す大きな茅葺き屋根のボリューム感、安定感は民族的心性の揺りかごになったように思える。
　こうした大きな茅葺き屋根の美感からは日本社会の安定、ひとびとの倫理感の揺りかごのような印象が強く感じられる。


English version⬇

Neat form and a sense of shading: Hikawa Shrine's Yuhiken Shrine and Anraku-ji Temple's Kori -2
The thatched roof and the aesthetic sense of the segai-zukuri style create a Japanese-style orientation toward a sympathetic society. It makes us feel the fundamental sense of ethics. ・・・・・・.

This house was used as a korori (storehouse) at Anrakuji Temple in Oyaguchi, Minami-ku, Saitama City. As for the building date, the ink signature of 1858 has been confirmed, so it is 165 years old. It was built at the end of the Edo period (1603-1868), but it was destroyed by the "restoration of the monarchy" during the Meiji Restoration (1868-1912), which was followed by the social movement to "abolish Buddhism" that flared up violently.
　The family was also the head priest of the Oyaguchi Hikawa Shrine, which was a syncretism of Shinto and Buddhist teachings, and one can imagine that the background of the family was very complicated. As a result, Anrakuji Temple as a Buddhist temple ceased to exist, and this building lost the substance of being a koryu. The owner, having abandoned his position as the temple's abbot, "returned to the priesthood" and changed his name to Mr. Noguchi.
　For us modern people, the defeat in World War II against the U.S. is a huge epochal national experience, but I believe that the political upheaval of the Meiji period also brought about a great change in society. Especially for the Japanese, the religious upheaval caused by the abolition of Buddhism had a great impact.
　The Japanese view of religion has changed greatly due to historical changes. Since the Jomon period, nature-worshipping belief in the "eight million" gods has been a part of the Japanese people's spiritual landscape. The royal lineage since the Jinmu period took root against this base, and shrine worship spread as a testimony to its legitimacy.
　The royal lineage itself introduced Buddhism, and Prince Shotoku promoted the development of a basic national system. The belief in "eight million" probably ensured flexible social acceptability at the time of the introduction of Buddhism.
　During the Warring States period, Buddhist forces such as Ishiyama Honganji were obsessed with radical activism and anti-authoritarianism, but these were suppressed and converged with the establishment of the Shogunate's military power as a political system. In the process of achieving a stable society during the Edo period, there was a layering of such ethnic experiences.
　A polytheistic society of gods and Buddha was realized and a society of mutual respect was formed. Postwar democracy as a political system seems to have been a part of this acceptance of polytheism among the Japanese people.
　As a result of these cultural and religious experiences, a syncretic orientation may be deeply rooted in the Japanese people.

The house is characterized by its large roof, the tiled roof over the front portion, and the neat proportions of the segai-zukuri style. This building would have functioned as a place for various meetings and gatherings in the koryu of temples during the Edo period. The volume and stability of the large thatched roof, which creates a stable indoor environment in the hot and humid climate, seems to have served as a cradle for the spirituality of the people.
　The aesthetics of these large thatched roofs give a strong impression of the stability of Japanese society and the cradle of people's sense of ethics.

【日本人の宗教実態とは？ 氷川神社末社と安楽寺庫裡-1】

　日本社会というのは本当に不思議な社会だと痛感する。先週末から一昨日まで東京・関東にいたのですが、実はSUICAカードを紛失してしまっていた（泣）。で、移動交通にさっそく支障が出るので善後処置としてすぐに紛失を届け出て、使えるSUICAを別途購入した。
　けれどその紛失カードについて２日後さっそく顛末が解明された。わたしがある宗教施設参観時にポケットから小銭入れを出して賽銭として投入したときに、同じポケットに入れていたSUICAカードが落下して気付かなかったらしいのです。そのSUICAについて、わたしが札幌に帰還した翌日のきのう、最寄りの交番から電話連絡があって詳細をお知らせいただいた次第。＜届け出たことで電話番号が判明もしたのでしょう。＞
　この面白い顛末についてはまだ進行中なので決着後、再度まとめてお知らせしたい。
　なんですが、わたしの感動は「落とし物が発見されて届け出られる」日本社会の精神性・倫理性への驚きであります。よく言われているし、わたしも数回そういう経験をしているけれど、これは本当にすごい社会成熟度を表しているのか、それともまた別の国民性に由来するのか、不思議だと思う。
　で、やはり日本に根付いた宗教性との関わりがやはり大きいと思えるのです。
　神社信仰と仏教思想ということですが、島国という特殊環境の中でそういう精神性がほぼ純粋培養されて倫理感の均一性をもたらしてきているのではないか。そんな風に思われるのです。
　八百万の神は日本の空気の中に普遍的に存在し、衆生救済のみほとけはあまねく人を救済する。神仏というように複数の宗教性を許容しながら、ひとびとの倫理感は極限まで高まっている。
　今回取材対象にした住宅は浦和にある古民家園のなかの１軒ですが、この「旧野口家」は江戸期1649年に「社領10石」を拝領した記録が残っている大谷口氷川神社（武蔵一宮・氷川神社の同名末社）の「別当寺院」安楽寺住職の庫裡であった家なのだそうです。
　神仏習合ということがごく自然にこの地域社会では継続されてきていた証のようです。
　この家自体は寺の庫裏だけれど、同時に大谷口氷川神社の神職でもあった。野口家は1864年に安楽寺の住職になり、1871年に大谷口氷川神社の祀職となり当社は村社に列した。その後、明治初期の廃仏毀釈の流れの中で還俗して野口家になったと記録に残っている。
　こういう神社であり仏教寺院でもあるという多神教世界として日本社会は熟成していた。一神教社会からは信じがたい「いい加減さ」と映るだろうけれど、しかし民のモラル意識は落とし物が多数届け出られるほどに非常に高い社会倫理を熟成させた。
　日本人と宗教、そして倫理感をテーマにしながらこの野口家住宅をあす以降、見てみたい。


English version⬇

What is the Religious Reality of the Japanese People?　Hikawa Shrine and Anrakuji Temple
Although there is no international comparison in terms of the rate of reporting lost and found items, the high level of "ethics" among the Japanese is remarkable. Let's look into it from the perspective of Shinto/Buddhist syncretized houses. ...

I am keenly aware that Japanese society is truly a strange society. I was in Tokyo and Kanto from last weekend to the day before yesterday, and actually lost my SUICA card (tears). So, as a precautionary measure, I immediately reported the loss and purchased a usable SUICA card separately, since it immediately interfered with my mobile transportation.
　Two days later, however, the details of the lost card were quickly revealed to me. It seems that when I was visiting a religious facility, I took the coin purse out of my pocket and threw in some money, and the SUICA card I had in the same pocket fell out and I didn't notice it. Yesterday, the day after I returned to Sapporo, I received a phone call from the local police box informing me of the details of the SUICA card. ＜I guess they found out my phone number when I reported the incident. ＞I am still working on this interesting story.
　I would like to report the details of this interesting incident again after it is settled, as it is still in progress.
　I am still in the process of finalizing the details of this interesting incident, so I will report it to you again after the case is settled. This is often said, and I have had this experience several times, but I wonder if this is an indication of a truly great level of social maturity, or if it stems from a different national character.
　I think it has a lot to do with the religiosity that has taken root in Japan.
　In the special environment of an island nation, such spirituality is almost purely cultivated and has brought about a uniform sense of ethics. It seems to me that this is the case.
　The eight million deities are universally present in the Japanese air, and the mihotoke, the savior of all sentient beings, provides salvation for all. While allowing for multiple religions, such as Shintoism and Buddhism, people's sense of ethics has been raised to the utmost limit.
　The house we interviewed for this report is one of the houses in an old private house garden in Urawa. The "old Noguchi family" used to house the abbot of Anrakuji Temple, a "separate temple" of the Oyaguchi Hikawa Shrine, which has a record of having received "10 koku of shrine territory" in 1649 (the last shrine of the same name at Hikawa Shrine in Musashi Ichinomiya Shrine).
　It seems to be a proof that the Shinto/Buddhist syncretism had been continued in this local community quite naturally.
　Although the house itself is a kori (storehouse) of the temple, it was also a Shinto priest of the Oyaguchi Hikawa Shrine. In 1864, the Noguchi family became the head priest of Anrakuji Temple, and in 1871, they became the head priest of Oyaguchi Hikawa Shrine, and the company was listed as a village shrine. Later, during the movement to abolish Buddhism in the early Meiji period (1868-1912), the Noguchi family was returned to the priesthood and became the Noguchi family, according to records.
　Japanese society had matured into a polytheistic world that was both a shrine and a Buddhist temple. Although this may seem unbelievably "lax" to a monotheistic society, the moral consciousness of the people has matured to such an extent that many lost and found items are reported to the authorities.
　I would like to visit the Noguchi family residence in the morning and later on, while discussing the theme of Japanese people, religion, and ethics.