【明治期日本画の大家・橋本雅邦 旧岩崎邸探訪-12】

　日本の絵の歴史は、文化一般がそうであるように有力者の邸宅や城郭などを飾る床の間の壁絵、ふすま絵、板絵などにその画業が遺される。権力を装飾するなかで文化性は継承されていくというのが人間の世のならい。芸術作品と建築とはつねに相関的な関係を保ってきたということなのでしょう。
　この旧岩崎邸では明治期の日本画壇の巨匠とされる橋本雅邦の作品が描かれている。
　橋本雅邦氏はアメリカの東洋美術史家・哲学者で明治時代に来日し日本美術を評価し、紹介に努めたアーネスト・フランシスコ・フェノロサや明治以降における日本美術概念の成立に寄与した岡倉天心などから高い評価を得ていたとされる。
　東京芸大の前身である東京美術学校に奉職し、伝統絵画の近代化に大きな役割を果たしたとされる。門下には横山大観、川合玉堂、下村観山、菱田春草など多数の日本画家。
　そうしたかれの画業でこの邸宅でのもっとも掉尾と思われるのは広間の床の間の壁絵と思うのですが、それは２番目の写真です。現状では富士山の山頂部と推認できる部位と、たぶん「波」の様子だろうと推測される部位が辛うじて識別されるような保存状態。
　どうも下地と画面との相性がよくなかったのだろうか、このあたりは、この邸宅がたどったその後の歴史推移とも合わせて考えれば、やむを得なかった要因も推測できる。ただ、日本画もそのキャンパスは一般的に紙だろうと思うのですが、現状の様子を見るとそういうキャンバスの存在の様子は見られない。どうも視認的には壁の素材、塗り壁の上に直に岩絵の具で描画して行った可能性もありそう。あまり近寄れないように柵も置かれているので、仔細には確認もできませんでした。多くの旧岩崎邸の紹介でも「よくわからなかった」という評価が多く見られています。
　一方、上のふすま絵は褪色はしているけれど、そこそこの保存状態。画家の筆使いなどをうかがい知ることができる。こういった歴史的な画業では高松塚古墳の壁画の例のように「保存」管理ということが非常に重要なのでしょうね。このあたりは建築の長寿命性とも相関してくる部分なので気に掛かります。


　壁絵の隣には書院がやわらかい光源をたたえていますが、組子には「菱紋」をモチーフとして造形されている。こういったディテールまで重層的にデザインしていくことが、和の空間の日本人的美感に深く投影していくのでしょう。主役と助演者との微妙な掛け合いのような空気感が面白い。こういう静かな応答性が日本人は好きなのでしょうか。
　洋館と対比させてみることになる和館の空気感はやはりまったく別の空間美。明治期のスタートからこういった二元的な感覚で日本人は生きてきたのでしょうね。


English version⬇
　
Exploring the Former Iwasaki Residence of Masakuni Hashimoto, a Japanese Painting Master of the Meiji Era - 12
A tie-up between Japanese architecture and Japanese painting. The fittings master also joined in this symphony of Japanese spatial beauty with various sensitivities. Japanese sukiya. Japanese Suki.

In the history of Japanese painting, as in the case of culture in general, the artwork is preserved in alcove wall paintings, fusuma-e (sliding doors), and board paintings that adorned the residences of powerful people and castles. It is the way of the human world that culture is inherited through the decoration of power. This is probably because works of art and architecture have always maintained a correlative relationship.
　In this former Iwasaki residence, there are paintings by Gakuni Hashimoto, who is considered a master of the Japanese painting world in the Meiji period.
　Masakuni Hashimoto was an American oriental art historian and philosopher who came to Japan during the Meiji period to evaluate and introduce Japanese art, and is said to have been highly regarded by Ernest Francisco Fenollosa and Tenshin Okakura, who helped establish the concept of Japanese art in the Meiji period and beyond.
　He served at the Tokyo Fine Arts School, the predecessor of the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, and is said to have played a major role in the modernization of traditional painting. His students included Yokoyama Taikan, Kawai Gyokudo, Shimomura Kanzan, Hishida Shunso, and many other Japanese painters.
　The wall painting in the alcove of the hall is considered to be the latter end of his painting career in this mansion. Fuji and a part of the "waves" can barely be discerned.
　Perhaps the base of the painting was not a good match with the painting, but considering the historical transition of the mansion, we can assume that this was an unavoidable factor. However, although Japanese-style paintings generally use paper as their canvas, there is no indication of the existence of such a canvas when looking at the current state of the building. It seems possible that the paintings were painted directly on the wall material or painted wall with rock paints. Since a fence was placed so that visitors could not get too close to the house, we could not confirm the details. In many introductions to the former Iwasaki Residence, there are many who say that they could not understand it very well.
　On the other hand, the fusuma painting above, although faded, is in a reasonably well-preserved condition. The artist's brushwork, for example, can be seen. As in the case of the mural paintings in the Takamatsuzuka burial mound, "preservation" and management must be very important in this kind of historical painting work. This is an area that correlates with the longevity of architecture, so I am concerned about it.

Next to the wall painting, a shoin (a drawing room) is lit by a soft light source, and the "rhombus crest" motif is sculpted into the kumiko. This kind of multilayered design down to the smallest detail will be projected deeply into the Japanese aesthetic of the Japanese space. The air of subtle interaction between the leading and supporting actors is interesting. Do Japanese people like this kind of quiet responsiveness?
　The atmosphere of the Japanese-style house in contrast to the Western-style house is a completely different kind of spatial beauty. I guess Japanese people have lived with this kind of dualistic sense since the start of the Meiji period.

【江戸期以来の豪壮な和のライフスタイル 旧岩崎邸探訪-11】

　岩崎家の日常生活は、この「和館」で行われていた。江戸期の城郭建築などでも天守閣のような象徴建築の周囲に城主の日常生活が営まれる和風建築、それも甍を連ねてたくさんの居室が作られる平屋の巨大建築が建てられた。高層性は天守閣でその権力誇示の一要素として表現され、一方で日常の居室空間や政務のための空間はひたすら水平方向への広がりとして平屋の連続で建築され、２階建てのような発展の仕方はあまり見られない。それが最上級日本「住」建築の基本骨格だったのだと思える。維新によって明治の大富豪に上り詰めていった岩崎家でもそういう「伝統」が踏襲された。
　畳という床の被覆材は日本独特の住文化の基盤なのでしょう。日本人の精神生活においてこの建材の素材感ほど深く染みわたっていったものは存在しない。よく幸せな死に方として「畳の上で死ぬ」という比喩表現がふつうに成立する。たぶん日本人は赤ん坊が立ち上がってはじめて足裏に感じる質感として、この畳建材の素材感が意識下にもあるのだろうと思う。
　岩崎家でも上の写真の「広間」で一族の結婚式や冠婚葬祭が執り行われるなどしていた。床の間を背にして一族の弥栄を祝するというのが極めつけの日本住文化であったのだと思う。家系の安寧を末永く見守り続けるイエ建築のデザインとして、肌身に伝わってくるようなDNA感がそこにはある。
　明治維新という大変革、武士階級の消滅という革命によってもこの意識は変わらなかったのでしょう。


　その床の間付きの広間には書院や様式化した違い棚などが付設される。床柱・鴨居・長押・欄間・天井板などの部材には檜や杉の大木が使われている。書院造りを基調としたこうした広間、居室が旧岩崎邸の往時には全部で14室も連なっていたのだという。
　それらは、敷地が占領軍によって接収されその後日本国家の施設群が建設されることによって順次縮小されていった。現在は合計４室になっているのだという。国の重要文化財指定された建築は洋館が主体で、こちらの和館はそれほど重視されなかったのだろうと推測する。このあたりの「価値判断基準」というものもかなり時代錯誤なのではないだろうか。ライフスタイルとしては接待用の「応接」機能と思える洋館よりも、はるかに魅力的なテーマをこの和館は提示してくれている。
　高断熱高気密という住宅の性能革命がほぼ行き渡った北海道人としては、やがて住の興味分野は「暮らし方・生き方」に向かっていくのだろうと思う。現代人の普遍的ライフスタイルの注意深い検証と、その未来発展形を可能な限り見晴らしていく努力が必要不可欠なのではないかと思念している。
　わたしたち現代人は江戸期までの日本社会とも、また明治期とも違う生態系を生み出してきているのだと思う。農家住宅のように日常の特定生産手段様式に準拠しそれを反映したライフスタイルに適合した住文化からは現代の日本人ははるかに隔絶している。
　そうした未来形を探究していかねばならないけれど、明治の人びとのライフスタイルを伝えてくれているこの旧岩崎邸・和館からは、非常に面白い空気感が発出していると思える。


English version⬇

The former Iwasaki Residence, a grand Japanese lifestyle since the Edo period (1603-1868).
The Japanese-style wing, with a maximum of 14 rooms, was gradually reduced in size. On the other hand, the Western-style building is designated as an important cultural property. This may be the end of the line for exploring the Japanese lifestyle. The Japanese lifestyle

The daily life of the Iwasaki family was conducted in this "wakan. In the castle architecture of the Edo period, Japanese-style buildings, such as castle towers, were built around a symbolic structure such as a castle keep, where the daily life of the lord of the castle was conducted, and these were huge one-story buildings with many apartments built in a row of "Iraka" (roof tiles). The castle's high-rise nature was expressed in the castle tower as one element of the display of power, while the spaces for daily living and government affairs were constructed as a series of single-story buildings, spreading out horizontally. This seems to have been the basic framework of the highest level of Japanese "residential" architecture. The Iwasaki family, which rose to great wealth during the Meiji Restoration, also followed this "tradition.
　Tatami, a floor covering material, is probably the foundation of Japan's unique housing culture. There is nothing more deeply ingrained in the spiritual life of the Japanese people than the materiality of this building material. It is common to use the metaphor "dying on tatami" as a happy way to die. Perhaps Japanese people are consciously aware of the texture of Tatami as a material that is felt under the soles of babies' feet when they stand up.
　In the Iwasaki family, family weddings, weddings, and funerals were held in the "hiroma" in the photo above. I believe that celebrating the prosperity of the family with the alcove in the background was an extremely important part of Japanese residential culture. The design of the house, which continues to protect the peace and prosperity of the family for many years to come, has a sense of DNA that can be felt in the body of the house.
　The Meiji Restoration, the great revolution of the Meiji era, and the disappearance of the samurai class, probably did not change this awareness.

The hall with an alcove is furnished with a shoin-style drawing room and stylized shelves. Large cypress and cedar trees were used for the floor posts, Kamoi (gateway), nagishi (long beam), ranma (balustrade), and ceiling panels. The former Iwasaki residence was once home to a total of 14 such halls and living rooms based on the shoin-style architecture.
　These rooms were gradually reduced in size as the occupying forces seized the property and built facilities for the Japanese state. The total number of rooms now stands at four. I assume that the buildings designated as national important cultural properties are mainly Western-style buildings, and that the Japanese-style building here was not given much importance. The "standard for judging value" in this area may also be quite anachronistic. This Japanese-style house presents a much more attractive theme than the Western-style house, which seems to have a "reception" function for entertaining as a lifestyle.
　As people of Hokkaido, where the revolution in housing performance in the form of high thermal insulation and airtightness is almost complete, I believe that the interest in housing will soon move toward "ways of living" and "ways of life". I believe that it is essential to carefully examine the universal lifestyles of modern people, and to make every possible effort to identify the future development of these lifestyles.
　I believe that we modern people have created an ecosystem that is different from that of Japanese society up to the Edo period and from that of the Meiji period. The Japanese people of today are far removed from a housing culture that conforms to a lifestyle that reflects a specific mode of daily production, such as the farmhouse.
　Although we must continue to explore such future forms, the former Iwasaki Residence and Japanese-style house, which conveys the lifestyle of the people of the Meiji period, seems to emit a very interesting atmosphere.

【洋館から和のいごこちへの結界 旧岩崎邸探訪-10】

　さてコテコテの西洋文化の木造建築デザイン空間から、三菱創業家の当主は普段着の世界に移動する。和館と名付けられた別棟に「帰っていく」のですね。この感覚についての推測はわたしの感じ方です。
　この旧岩崎邸の探訪で、わたし的にもっとも惹かれていたのはこの「渡り」的な廊下空間。これから和館に移動する結界のような空間ですね。しかし、上の写真などからは幾何学的なふしぎな「還元」感、空間要素の単純化的なデザイン意図を感じる。
　たしかに日本建築って言うのは面というよりは線の方を強調する美感世界なのでしょうか。まるでモンドリアンの絵画のようなふしぎな象徴性を感じさせてくれる。むしろ洋館よりもはるかに「モダン」を感じる。こういう空間設計はひょっとして英国人建築家・コンドルがデザインしたのではないかとも錯覚する。このあたりの調査は詳らかではないけれど、ふしぎと心に強く印象づけられている。
　明治の人びとは、それまでの暮らし方の価値感から西洋の感覚・価値感を旺盛に受容した。同じ設計者のコンドルが設計した鹿鳴館などでは夜ごと、欧米的「社交」までが受容されてそれが「文明開化」として大車輪のように社会変革がされていった。
　しかし、明治人の内面について考えてみる。明治国家が欧米文化を体得させるために前途有望な若者たちに２年間欧米渡航見学させたのだけれど、その体験者である夏目漱石が書き残した日記などからは、強い葛藤が伝わってくる。司馬遼太郎はそれを「明治の悲しさ」のように表現した。
　たぶん時代の最先端を走っていた三菱創業家のひとびとも同様の心理を抱いたのではないか。
　西洋近代の合理主義的な社会進化・発展の基本には同意して、その方向で日本社会は自己変革を旺盛に推進してきていた。しかし、かれらは江戸期までの日本人的ライフスタイル文化によって精神性を形成されていた人びとであることは間違いがない。花鳥風月的なものを耽美性としてこころの基底に持っている。


　戦国期、大航海時代の西洋文明と接した後、まるで「文明の衝突」のような体験を経て、わびさび的な精神世界を作った日本人としては、この明治期の、ふたたびの西洋文明との正面からの対峙は、強烈な自己分裂を生んだのではないか。まるで心のバランスを取るように、平衡感覚を復元するかのように、和館は対置された。
　ディテールまでコテコテに人工的な装飾性主体の洋館の空間デザインに対して、庭木と陽射しが生み出す微妙な「自然との対話」、花鳥風月的な感受性にこころを解き放っていた、と感じさせられるのですね。
　さてさらに、この旧岩崎邸からもすでに130年近い時間経過後の北海道人としては、なんとも微妙（笑）。
　北海道人は進んでこうした花鳥風月的な和室文化から離脱しつつある。いまや畳を敷いた部屋は北海道住宅から消滅しそうになっている。でも、畳の部屋はほぼなくなったけれど、北海道らしい外部景観との対話、いわば素肌で感じる花鳥風月的感覚は健在でもあると思っている。柔軟にこころが変容する日本人。・・・


English version⬇

The boundary from a Western-style house to a Japanese-style comfort Former IWAZAKI Residence Visit-10
The boundary to a Japanese space that feels simple and modern like a Mondrian painting. Kacho-fu-getsu is the motivation for nature interactive eco-friendly architecture. ...

Now, from the wooden architectural design space of cottage Western culture, the head of Mitsubishi's founding family moves to the world of everyday wear. He "returns" to the annex, named the Japanese-style building. My guess about this sensation is how I feel.
　In this visit to the former Iwasaki residence, I was most attracted to this "crossing" corridor space. It is a space like a boundary that leads to the Japanese-style building. However, from the above photo and others, I feel a mysterious geometric "reduction" and a simplified design intention of spatial elements.
　Indeed, Japanese architecture is a world of aesthetics that emphasizes lines rather than planes. It gives us a sense of mysterious symbolism like that of Mondrian's paintings. Rather, it feels much more "modern" than a Western-style building. I have the illusion that this kind of spatial design might have been designed by the English architect Condor. Although I have not been able to research the details of this area, it has left a strong impression on my mind.
　The people of the Meiji period (1868-1912) were eagerly receptive to Western sensibilities and values, which had been the norm for their way of life up to that time. The same architect, Conder, designed the Rokumeikan, where Western-style "socializing" took place night after night, and social reform was carried out like a big wheel as "civilization opening.
　However, let us consider the inner life of the Meiji people. The Meiji government sent promising young people on a two-year tour of Europe and the United States to learn about Western culture, and the diary of Soseki Natsume, who experienced the trip, conveys a strong sense of conflict. Ryotaro Shiba described it as "the sadness of the Meiji era.
　Perhaps the founding families of Mitsubishi, who were at the forefront of the times, must have felt the same way.
　They agreed with the basic rationalistic social evolution and development of the Western modern era, and Japanese society had been vigorously promoting self-improvement in this direction. However, there is no doubt that they are people whose spirituality was shaped by the Japanese lifestyle and culture until the Edo period. They have an aesthetic sense of Kacho-fu-getsu (flowers, birds, winds, and the moon) at the base of their hearts.

For the Japanese, who had created a wabi-sabi spiritual world after coming into contact with Western civilization during the Warring States period and the Age of Discovery, as if they were experiencing a "clash of civilizations," this head-on confrontation with Western civilization in the Meiji period must have caused a strong self-division. As if to balance the mind and restore a sense of equilibrium, the Wadokan was placed in opposition.
　In contrast to the Western-style building, which was designed to be highly decorative and artificial down to the smallest detail, the garden trees and sunlight created a subtle "dialogue with nature" that freed the mind from its sensitivity to the beauty of flowers, birds, winds, and the moon.
　As a Hokkaido native, I find it hard to believe that nearly 130 years have already passed since the former Iwasaki Residence was built.
　Hokkaido people are willingly moving away from this kind of Japanese-style room culture. Nowadays, rooms with tatami mats are almost disappearing from Hokkaido houses. However, although tatami rooms have almost disappeared, I believe that the sense of dialogue with the outside landscape that is typical of Hokkaido, the sense of "Kacho-fu-getsu," or "bird-and-flower-and-gaze" sensation felt on the skin, is still alive and well. Japanese people's minds are changing in a flexible manner. The Japanese mind is changing flexibly.

【1795⇒1896年「一族の家」100年の推移 旧岩崎邸探訪-9】

　この旧岩崎邸は明治29年（1896年）建築とされている。いまから127年ほど前ですが、日本人というのは「家系」としてのイエ意識が非常に強く意識するもの。
　岩崎弥太郎の生家は土佐の高知から40kmほど東に位置する安芸市に保存されている。〜岩崎彌太郎の先祖は安芸国虎の家臣だったようで、のち長宗我部の安芸支配の時代は長宗我部に仕え、山内氏が土佐入国後は開墾に従事し農業を営んでいました。〜という市のHPでの記述。写真もそちらから参照した。
　で、この「生家」は以下のような経緯でいまから228年前、1795年に建てられた。〜この家は、彌太郎の曽祖父 弥次右衛門が郷士の株を売って1795年ごろ建築したもの。〜
　いかにも「郷士の株を売って」帰農した経緯を体現したような農家住宅。土佐では旧国主の長宗我部家の家臣たちは、占領軍として入国した山之内家家臣（上士）からは一段、家格の低い「郷士」という特殊な身分とされた。そうだけれど、武士階級ではあるということで、江戸期にはその身分が株として売買されたのですね。
　身分を売ったことで得られた金額が家一軒に相当したということなのですが、普通に考えれば農家としては領主に対して年貢を負担する役務を負った自作農なので、そういった身分ごと入手したことになる。住宅としての家の建築費用とは言えないのでしょう。そもそも江戸期には地方の藩の支配構造のなかでは、家の建築費が商品化されることはなかっただろう。弥太郎の曾祖父はそういう経緯で家を得たのでしょうね。
　その後、岩崎弥太郎は実家に加えられた理不尽に憤って反抗して罰を受けることになるけれど、この「郷士の身分を売った」ことが屈折した身分意識への感情として潜在・持続し続けていた家系だったのではないか。
　ふつうの感覚から言えば素朴なたたずまいが感じられる農家住宅であり、ステキだと思うけれど、弥太郎さんにはこのような屈折した心情が、想像すればあったのかもしれない。
　安芸市の農家住宅は、建坪約30坪の藁葺きの平屋。表が８帖、その脇に４帖半２間、茶の間９帖になっていて、その左が通り庭、通り庭から茶の間の床下をのぞくと芋壷（芋貯蔵穴）がみえる。また風呂と便所は別棟に設置されている。
　一方の100年後に一族が入手した上野の邸宅は、建築面積531.5m2、二階建、煉瓦造地下室付（撞球室及び大広間との接続部を含む）、玄関部塔屋付、スレート葺という大豪邸。

　そういう意識を持った上で「おまんは経済をやれ」と言われ、強烈な家系意識を燃やし続け、そこから100年後に東京上野の高台に広大な邸宅地を購入したように思える。住居と家系の日本人的「イエ」意識の心理的な相関関係が立ち上ってくるように思える。　
　こういった施主としての心理領域みたいなものはあんまり記録がないだろうけれど、岩崎弥太郎さんという人物と一族の経歴から類推すると、こんな消息が浮かんでくるように思えてならない。


English version⬇

1795⇒1896 "The Family's House" 100 Years of Transition: Exploring the Former Iwasaki Residence - 9
Residence architecture and the Japanese people's strong sense of "Ye". The strong attachment to his birthplace, which he obtained by "selling" his samurai status, and his subsequent economic success. ...

This former Iwasaki Residence is said to have been built in 1896 (Meiji 29). It is about 127 years old now, but Japanese people are very conscious of their yeh consciousness as a "family lineage".
　Yataro Iwasaki's birthplace has been preserved in Aki City, about 40 km east of Kochi in Tosa Prefecture. 〜Yataro Iwasaki's ancestors were vassals of the Aki Kunitora, and later served Chosokabe during Chosokabe's rule of Aki. 〜The description on the city's website. The photo was also taken from there.
　The house was built 228 years ago in 1795 as follows. 〜The house was built around 1795 by Yataro's great-grandfather Yajiemon, who sold his shares in a local merchant family. 〜The house was built around 1795 by Yajiemon, Yataro's great-grandfather.
　This farmhouse embodies the story of how Yataro returned to farming after selling his shares in his hometown. In Tosa, the vassals of the Chosokabe family, the former feudal lord of the country, were considered "goshi," a special status that was a step lower than that of the Yamanouchi family vassals (joshi) who entered the country as part of the occupying forces. Yes, but they were still of the samurai class, and their status was traded as stocks during the Edo period.
　The amount of money obtained by selling the status was equivalent to a house. If we think about it in a normal way, as a farmer, you are a tenant farmer who owed tribute to the lord, so you obtained the entire status as such. It would not be the cost of building a house as a residence. In the first place, the cost of building a house would not have been commercialized in the ruling structure of a local clan during the Edo period. Yataro's great-grandfather must have obtained a house through such a process.
　Later, Yataro Iwasaki would be punished for his rebellion against the unreasonableness inflicted on his parents' family, but this "selling of the status of a township samurai" must have been latent and persistent in the family as a refracted emotion toward status consciousness.
　From an ordinary point of view, this farmhouse is a beautiful and simple house, but Yataro may have had these refracted feelings, if we can imagine them.
　The farmhouse in Aki City is a straw-thatched one-story house with a building area of approximately 30 tsubo. The front room is 8 square meters, flanked by two 4.5 square meters rooms and a 9 square meter tea room, and to the left is the street garden. The bathroom and toilet are located in separate buildings.
　On the other hand, the Ueno residence acquired by the family 100 years later is a large mansion with a building area of 531.5m2, two stories, brick construction with a basement (including the connection with the chess room and the hall), an entrance tower, and a slate roof.

With this awareness, he was told to "take care of the economy," and it seems that he continued to burn with a strong sense of family lineage, from which he purchased a vast mansion site on high ground in Ueno, Tokyo, 100 years later. The psychological correlation between the residence and the family's Japanese "yeh" consciousness seems to emerge.　
　Although there are probably not many records of this kind of psychological realm as a client, by analogy with Yataro Iwasaki and his family's background, it is hard not to think that such a story might come to mind.

【明治期建築テラス「異世界」と和館 旧岩崎邸探訪-8】

　旧岩崎邸では表玄関側の表情以上に、庭園に面した裏側の外観表情がまことに異国風。
　いかにも西洋人の建築デザインの素性を表しているのではないかと思う。日本建築でも庭園との視覚的な一体感というのは追究されてきたけれど、それは「よく似た」感覚であっても西洋には「高さ」への強い希求があって、その高い地点から「広大に見晴るかす」という心情への強い思いを感じる。
　庭から見る洋館外観には建物全面にテラスが回され江戸から変貌しつつある首都東京の街並みが広大に、江戸城から目的変化した皇居までもが一望されたに違いない。
　明治期に来日した多くの西洋人たちは江戸期の統一された屋根瓦の街並みを見て、その美感に圧倒された感想を「ためいき」にも似た感覚で伝えてくれている。いくつか残っている街並み写真には、たしかに日本人とその社会が大切にしてきた価値感が凝縮されているように思える。
　そういう江戸の街を見晴るかし見下ろす心理、いわば征服者的な視線が西洋社会の「支配的」感覚であったのか。このテラス外観からはそういった思いが迫ってくる。
　一方で日本建築での庭園との一体感には、庭木と同じ目線でいわば「自然と共生する」感覚への追究心が強く感じさせられる。


　岩崎家は日常生活は「和館」と名付けられた別棟で起居していたと伝わる。この上の写真はその和館での庭園との「一体感」の様子。一方、そのすぐ下の写真は洋館２階からの眺望。
　見比べてみれば、和洋の建築とその使い方・生活目的性において明確に違いがあると思える。
　「おまんが経済をやれ」と明治の志士たちからその才能を認められた三菱創業家として、このビジネス上の応接接待専門館で西洋のビジネスマンに対しては「わたしたち日本社会はこういうあなたたち西洋の価値感を共有できますよ」とアナウンスし、同時にごく少数の文化理解者に対しては、「和館」にも特別に招待することもあったように想像できる。
　「そういうわたしたちですが、ホンネとしてはこういった価値感を大切にしてきたのです」と、現代にまで至る日本社会の２面性を伝えたように思うのです。

　このような明治人の西洋の受容にかかわる心情について、夏目漱石の心理に即して司馬遼太郎は「街道をゆく〜本郷」において深層分析している。西洋文明が十数世紀かけて作ってきた価値感を、人間世代１世代ほどで柔軟に受容するということの日本人の屈折した心情に迫っている。
　しかし文学者・夏目漱石ともまったく違う日本人類型として、岩崎家はいわば「先覚者」としての成功を築き上げていったのだと思える。
　応接が終わったあと、和館にもどった岩崎家当主は、湯漬けなどを食しながらこの灯籠の火明かりに映える静かな庭木たちと、どんな対話をしていたのだろうか。


English version⬇

Meiji Period Architectural Terrace "Another World" and Japanese-style House: Exploring the Former Iwasaki Residence-8
A Meiji man who meets for business overlooking the old Edo district from the Western-style building of reception and entertainment that amazes the eye, and returns home at midnight to view the garden lanterns. ...

The exterior of the former Iwasaki residence looks more exotic on the back side facing the garden than it does on the front entrance side.
　I believe that this is a true expression of Western architectural design. Japanese architecture has also pursued a visual unity with the garden, but even though this is a "similar" feeling, there is a strong desire for "height" in the West, and I sense a strong desire for a "vast view" from a high point.
　The exterior of the Western-style building, viewed from the garden, must have had terraces all around the building, offering a vast view of Tokyo, the capital city that was being transformed from Edo to the Imperial Palace, which had changed its purpose from Edo Castle to the Imperial Palace.
　Many Westerners who came to Japan during the Meiji period (1868-1912) expressed their overwhelming impression of the beauty of the uniform roof tiles of the Edo period (1603-1912). The few remaining photographs of the cityscape seem to reflect the sense of values that the Japanese people and their society have cherished.
　The "conqueror's" view of the city of Edo, so to speak, may have been the "dominant" sense of Western society. The exterior of this terrace gives us such a feeling.
　On the other hand, the sense of unity with the garden in Japanese architecture strongly suggests the pursuit of a sense of "coexistence with nature" from the same perspective as the garden trees.

It is said that the Iwasaki family lived in a separate building named "Wadokan" for daily life. The photo above shows the "unity" of the Japanese-style house with the garden. On the other hand, the photo immediately below shows the view from the second floor of the Western-style building.
　Comparing the two, there seems to be a clear difference between the Japanese and Western architecture and their usage and purposefulness in daily life.
　As the founding family of Mitsubishi, whose talents were recognized by the Meiji era patriots, who were told by the Meiji era patriots to "do business with the economy," this building specializing in business reception and entertainment was used to announce to Western businessmen that "we Japanese society can share your Western values," and at the same time, to the very few who understood the culture, the "Japanese-style building" was also used as a special place to entertain guests. At the same time, it seems that a small number of people who understood Japanese culture were invited to the "Japanese-style pavilion" as a special guest.
　I think he was conveying the duality of Japanese society that has continued to the present day: "We are such people, but in truth we have cherished these values.

Ryotaro Shiba analyzed in depth the sentiments of the Meiji people regarding the acceptance of the West in "Kaido yuku - Hongo" in line with the psychology of Soseki Natsume. In "Hongo," Ryotaro Shiba examines the Japanese people's refractory feelings of flexibly accepting values that have been created by Western civilization over more than a dozen centuries in the span of one human generation or so.
　The Iwasaki family, however, seems to have built their success as "pioneers," so to speak, as a type of Japanese that is completely different from Soseki Natsume, a literary scholar.
　After the reception, what kind of conversation did the head of the Iwasaki family have with the quiet garden trees reflected in the firelight of the lanterns as he returned to the Japanese-style house to eat hot-spring pickles and other dishes?