【札幌中央市場で年末の買い出し♬】

　さて本日は12月も押し迫っての30日。きのうも札幌市内から岩見沢方面へと移動往復していましたが、札幌から北のこちら方面では吹雪で、帰りには案の定、高速通行止め。途中では片側２車線のメイン国道道路がほぼ前線で車線になっておりました。なかには大きく雪煙を上げて道路脇の雪山に衝突して停止しているようなクルマも散見しておりました。とくに道路の左側はどこに雪山があるか、前走車の走りっぷりから判断するしかないので、注意深く観察していなければならない。そういう経験知の少ない方には過酷な条件。しかし経験豊富なわたしも、さすがに高齢化で疲労感はいや増してくる。きのうはお隣の国で航空機の墜落事故でほぼ全員落命という情報。なんといっても安全最優先で、年末を過ごしたいですね。
　なんですが、一方で年末時期には早朝からわが家恒例の年末買い出しで、北海道中の海産物が集まってくる「札幌中央市場」にここ何日か通っております。札幌市内全域の魚屋さんやお寿司屋さんなどの「業者向け」の市場なのですが、わたしは少年時から食品事業を営んでいた家業の関係から中央市場にはその「空気感」に深い馴染みがあって、わざわざではありますがこの時期の買い出しには血が沸き立ってしまうのです。
　中央市場には、一般客も買い出しに来る店舗のほかに「場内」と呼ばれる業者向け専門の店舗区域もありますが、少年時からそういう店舗に「配達」などで手伝いに駆り出されていたので新鮮な魚介類や野菜類が活発に取引される現場感覚が、時間を超えて蘇ってくる部分があるのですね。
　とくに地元産の魚類の取引では、その生産者の仕事ぶりがなまなましく伝わってくるものが大きい。津軽海峡で水揚げされたマグロの巨大な魚体が冷凍された状態で捌かれていく様子などは、目を瞠るほどに刺激的。シンプルな漁場の名前が印字された魚箱の様子から、その海の空気がリアルに感じられたりする。想像力、とふつうに書くけれど、そのようなイキモノの鼓動感がそこに籠もっているように感じているのですね。
　で、買い出しなので当然カミさんといっしょにああだこうだと掛け合いしながら。
「このマグロの中トロ、なかなかウマそうだなぁ」
「でも、ちょっとこっちの方がもう少し赤身が強そうだから、いいんでない？」
「サケはどうせ毎日食べるから、この箱ごと買っちゃうか？」
などと品評しながらの楽しい買い出し。
　厳しい寒さの続く、それも早朝の買い出しですが北海道という地域の元気そのままが、全身に一気に駆け巡ってくるようで、なんとも楽しい時間であります。


English　version⬇

I'll make love to you at Sapporo Central Market for year-end shopping.
The market is filled with the vitality of fresh fish and shellfish caught in the northern seas, despite the bitter cold. The market is a vibrant place where you can buy seafood from all over Hokkaido. ...

　Today is the 30th of December. Yesterday, I was traveling back and forth from Sapporo to Iwamizawa, but there was a blizzard in this direction north of Sapporo, and as expected, the highway was closed to traffic on the way home. On the way home, the main national highway, which has two lanes on each side, was almost completely closed to traffic. Some of the cars were stopped after crashing into snow piles on the side of the road, sending up a large plume of snow. Especially on the left side of the road, one can only judge where there is a snowbank by the driving style of the car in front, so one has to watch carefully. These are harsh conditions for those with little experience and knowledge. However, even I, who have a lot of experience, am feeling more and more tired due to my advanced age. Yesterday, I heard that almost all of the crew members lost their lives in a plane crash in a neighboring country. I would like to spend the end of the year with safety as my top priority.
　On the other hand, I have been going to Sapporo Central Market, where seafood from all over Hokkaido gathers, for our family's annual year-end shopping from early in the morning for the past few days. The market is for fishmongers, sushi restaurants, and other “traders” from all over Sapporo, but I am deeply familiar with the “atmosphere” of the central market because my family has been in the food business since I was a boy, and it makes my blood boil to go there for shopping during this season.
　In addition to the stores where ordinary customers come to buy, the Central Market also has a special area for vendors, called the “in-place” area, and since I was sent to these stores as a boy to help out with “deliveries” and the like, the feeling of being on the spot where fresh seafood and vegetables are being actively traded has come back to me beyond time.
　Especially in the trade of locally produced fish, the work of the producers can be felt in a very vivid way. The sight of huge tuna landed in the Tsugaru Straits and processed in frozen form, for example, is blindingly exciting. The simple name of the fishing grounds printed on the fish box gives the viewer a realistic sense of the atmosphere of the sea. I usually write the word “imagination,” but I feel as if such a sense of the heartbeat of the living creature is contained in these boxes.
　And of course, I was shopping, so my wife and I were talking about this and that together.
“This medium fatty tuna looks pretty tasty,” she said.
But this one looks a little leaner.
I eat salmon every day anyway, so why don't I just buy this whole box?
We were having a good time shopping while evaluating the products.
　It is a very enjoyable time, as the energy of the Hokkaido region seems to rush through my body all at once, even though it is early in the morning when the bitter cold continues.