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Where did we come from and then where do we belong to...?

わたしたちは、どこからきて、どこにいるのか...?
2023、インスタレーション、サイズ可変

Where did we come from and then where do we belong to...?
2023, Installation, Size Variable

その土地には、独特の云われ、風習、習慣、信仰がある。自然が作ったもの、人が作ったもの、その間で作用するもの。

遠くの大陸から船に乗って土井ヶ浜にやってきた弥生人達は、狩猟採集をし装飾性の高い土器を焼く縄文人達に洗練された稲作と精錬技術を教えるが、同時に道具や争いも持ち込んで、呪術的な力を持ったシャーマンなどが権力を持ち始め、政治がうまれてしまった。魏志倭人伝によれば、この土地の人達は、お酒を飲むことが好きだと記述されている。弥生土器の模様は、貝殻の淵で装飾されたもの。若宮古墳をはじめ、この地域にある綾羅木古墳群から弥生時代前期の人面土製品が出土している。その顔は刺青が施され、耳に刻みの入った首から上の人の顔型で、同時にお面を被っているようにも推察できる。貝殻は呪術師が遠くの海から取り寄せた特別なもの素材、呪術師はそれを呪術用の装飾品として身につける。現在、発掘調査により集団墓地が見つかり、そこに埋葬されている300余の人骨は全て、頭を南東に向け、先祖のきた方角を示すかのように北西の海を見るかのように埋葬されていたという。南方の海でしか手に入らない貝殻でできたアクセサリーを身に纏ったシャーマン達はより厳かに葬られ、無数の弓矢が刺さったままの人骨は、この国の歴史上初めての戦争を伝える痕跡とのこと。今そこは、土井ヶ浜人類学ミュージアムが併設されている。縄文時代前後期の宮の原遺跡があり古代人の居住も確認できる彦島八幡宮の境内には、近隣から集められた７つの岩がある。その一つは、巌流島の海底から見つかった船の航海を邪魔する「泳ぐ磐」というもの。古代シュメール文字ペトログラフが刻銘され、神秘の霊力を発動すると信じられている。集められた7つの岩を解読すると「日の神や大地の女神、大気の神、天なる父神などに、豊穣をもたらす雨を、男女神にかけて、日の王（日子王＝古代彦島の王）が祈り奉った」となるらしい。

チャンコホイホイドンッパッパ　チャンコホイホイドンッパッパ」。長府にある忌宮神社の創建は199年、弥生時代後期にあたる。「20~30mの孟宗竹を担ぎ「鬼石」を3周するお祭りは、1800年ほど前に第14代仲哀天皇が九州の熊襲（くまそ、南九州に居住した種族、熊本や鹿児島あたり、大和王権に抵抗した人々）や石見神楽の演目の一つとしても登場する新羅の塵輪を撃退し、塵輪の屍体を囲んで踊ったことを起源とする数方庭（すうほうてい）。学問の神様として祀られる菅原道真は、京都から九州へ左遷させられた途中に豊浦の津（長府）に数日滞在し、井戸に移る自分の顔を眺め、二度とこの地に戻ることはないと自画像を描かれた。その井戸は御影の井戸と呼ばれている。忌宮神社の飛地境内である二つの無人島（満珠島・干珠島）は、日本のアニミズム信仰である神道の神話では、初めて摂政として70年間君臨した神功皇后（仲哀天皇の皇后、西暦240年頃）が住吉大神の化身である龍神から授けられた二つの玉から生まれたという伝説がある。瀬戸内海に浮かぶ源平合戦の源氏の拠点とされた島々。

源平合戦は日本を横断し、その島々が浮かぶ瀬戸内海、本州の果て下関にある壇ノ浦まで流転する。源平合戦の最後、壇ノ浦の戦いで、平家滅亡に際し二位尼が満６歳の安徳天皇を抱え「浪の下にも都の候ぞ」と言い聞かせて入水し、命を絶った。敗れた平家一族の亡霊が乗り移ったと言われる伝説を背負った平家蟹は赤間神宮本殿脇で見られ、その傍らには、ギリシャ生まれのラフカディオ・ハーン、日本名、小泉八雲の「怪談」によっても知られる「耳なし芳一」の琵琶の弦の振動が漂っている。長府の街中を流れる壇具川には源氏蛍の保存会があり、今でもその季節が来ると淡い光を放つ蛍がそこかしこを浮遊する。そんな蛍を船から鑑賞できるホタル船が下関の山中にある木屋川で体験できる。護岸工事で川の片側の生態系は壊されてしまったが、蛍の優美な光の舞が見られる。その大多数は源氏蛍であるが、時より体が一回り小さい平家蛍も見られることがあるという。日本の国宝認定数が最多の雪舟は大内氏の庇護を受け、遣明船で中国に渡り通訳として業務をする傍ら、水墨画の本場中国で風景画などを学び、山口に戻ってからも、一層、精力的に創作を続け、その活動は作庭にも広がっていく。下関川棚にある妙青寺本堂の裏にある雪舟が手がけた心字庭園は、県内に数ある雪舟庭の一例と伝わっている。

海を渡ってくる渡来人は、時代と目的に応じて名称を変えやってくる。時には朝鮮通信使と呼ばれ、信（よしみ）を使わす使者としてやってきた。彼らは朝鮮から日本へ派遣された外交使節団。朝鮮出兵の際には一時期途絶えた朝鮮通信使は江戸時代には再開し、大陸や朝鮮半島の最新技術や知識を伝えに来られたという。関門海峡から長州藩が撃ち放った砲弾がイギリス・フランス・オランダ・アメリカの列強四国の戦艦の船体を突き破ったかの印象を与える松本清張の詩碑が刻まれた鋳物彫刻が馬関戦争までも思い起こす。功山寺には湧水がある。幕末に功山寺に潜居していた五卿や従者、回天義挙の兵をあげた高杉晋作も、この名水を愛飲し成功を祈ったという。新たな時代を希求し明治維新のために犠牲になったそれらの志士たちは、今は桜山招魂場に神霊391柱として永眠している。伊藤博文により解禁となったふぐ料理公許第一号店である春帆楼では、1895年、日清講和談判場として、時の全権・伊藤博文等が、清国使節・李鴻章等と会見し、日清戦争の講和条約である下関条約を締結した所である。その後、伊藤博文は1909年中国のハルビンで大韓帝国の安重根に暗殺された。現存する最古の郵便局、下関南部町郵便局は西洋建築の意匠をまとった煉瓦造モルタル仕上げの2階立ての建物。そのとなりには、日清・日露戦争時に大きく飛躍を遂げた総合商社旧秋田商会ビルが現存する。「散切り頭を叩いてみれば、文明開花の音がする」という文句を思い起こさせるようなガス灯が今なお残る旧下関英国領事館。

縄文人は生まれながらにお酒が好きと魏志倭人伝に書いてあったというが、稲作は弥生人がもたらしたということなら、もともと縄文人が好んでいたお酒は何を原材料に使っていたのだろうか？煉瓦造りの煙突が創業時の大正時代を想起させる下関酒造。米のお酒がいつの間にかお神酒としても使われるほど神聖で日本の宗教と結びついた飲み物となり、日本酒として国内外で愛されている。その日本酒と切り離せないのは、島国日本の水産業。明治後期には近代的なノルウェー式捕鯨法を取り入れ、下関港は南氷洋捕鯨の基地ともなったという。長府の街を瀬戸内海の方に歩けば、丘の上に大きな鯨の形をした建物が立っている。大洋漁業（現：マルハニチロ）が建てた鯨館。今となっては想像もつかないが、ここには下関水族館が隣接していたという。水産業に従事していた男達の憩い場となっていたであろう銭湯の一つ、向洋温泉は大洋ホエールズの元本拠地と同じ地区にある。1957年頃、県公衆浴場業生活衛生同業組合が発足した頃272件の加盟銭湯は、今となっては12軒だけ。仕事や野球観戦を終えて、汗を流す人々の様子が眼に浮かぶ。

茶山通りの名前の由来は、もともと茶畑があったから。昔は賑やかな商店街として、人々が行き交っていたという。そんなノスタルジーな様子を再現したシーンが、在日韓国系の幕間芸人を取り扱った「カーテンコール」という映画のワンシーンにも出てきている。そんな人々の心の拠り所となっていた在日大韓基督教下関教会は帰国を求めて下関の港に全国から集まった在日韓国人の人たちの教会。海のこちらとそちらを結ぶ関門トンネルは本州と九州を海底より深い地下で結ぶ人道。日本郵政株式会社は船を使って人の便りや物を運ぶ。下関国際ターミナルから釜山との行き来のために発着するフェリーの名前は、関釜フェリー「はまゆう」。その花言葉は「どこか遠くへ」。下関のグリーンモールを舞台にした「チルソクの夏」は、日本と韓国の高校生達が年に一度だけ会うことのできる七夕の夏。坂の多いこの街の一角は、小さな道が無数に散りばめられた迷路のよう。海峡ゆめタワーがそびえ立つ方向へ行けば、その迷路からも抜け出せる。1977年5月に竣工した下関第一ビルは、昭和モダニズムや活気を感じさせてくれる建物。道に面した地上階の店舗には、当時の先端技術を思い起こさせるシャッターがとじたままになっていた。

下関は海と船とは切っても切り離せない歴史や物語で溢れている。アートに助成する笹川財団の母体は、公益財団法人日本財団（旧名称：財団法人日本船舶振興会）という競艇の収益金をもとに様々な支援事業を行う団体。その競艇場のひとつ、Boat Race 下関の水面を疾走するボートレースを進められるがままに1-2-3と賭け、ビギナーズ・ラックにありついた帰り際、母親を背負った創業者の石像に立ち止まるのは私だけ。日本一の水揚げ量を誇った下関漁港を湯船から見渡せる割烹旅館 寿美礼。世界的音楽家、和田薫の生まれた寿美礼には、若い頃に作曲された楽譜「Hunting of Primitive Man」や「旅立ち」が展示されている。この土地で生まれ育ったからこその洞察力と感性がタイトルに滲み出ているように思えてならない。館内のところどころで流れてくる音に敏感になってしまう。

下関の関門海峡で風を待つ船頭は、風が吹いた時、風上を見るのか、風下を見るのか...

Each region has its own unique sayings, customs, habits, and beliefs. Some are created by nature, some by man, and some by the interplay between the two.

The Yayoi people, who came to Doigahama by boat from the distant continent, taught sophisticated rice cultivation and refining techniques to the Jomon people, who hunted and gathered and fired highly decorative earthenware. According to the Gishiwajinden, the Chinese history chronicle, the people of this region are described as being fond of drinking alcohol. The patterns on Yayoi earthenware are decorated with shell abysses. Human mask earthenware of the early Yayoi period has been excavated from the Wakamiya burial mounds and other Ayaragi burial mounds in this area. Their faces are in the shape of a human face from the neck up with tattoos and incised ears, and at the same time it can be inferred that they are wearing masks. The shells are special materials brought from distant seas by shamans, who wear them as magical ornaments. The excavations have now revealed a mass grave, where more than 300 people's human bones are buried, all with their heads facing southeast, as if they were looking northwest toward the sea, as if to indicate the direction from which their ancestors came. Shamans wearing accessories made of shells, which are only available in the southern sea, were buried more solemnly, and human bones with countless bows and arrows still stuck in them are said to be traces of the first war in the country's history. The Doigahama Anthropological Museum is now located there. In the precincts of Hikoshima Hachimangu Shrine, where the remains of Miyanohara from the pre- and post-Jomon period and the habitation of ancient people can be found, there are seven rocks collected from the neighborhood. One of them is a "swimming rock" found on the seabed of Ganryu Island that was believed to interfere with the navigation of ships. It is inscribed with the ancient Sumerian script petroglyphs and is believed to invoke mystical spiritual powers. Deciphering the seven collected rocks, it is said to be "dedicated to the Sun God, the Earth Goddess, the God of the Atmosphere, and the Heavenly Father God, to pray for rain that would bring a bountiful harvest, over the male and female deities, by the King of the Sun (King Hiko = King of ancient Hiko Island).

"Chanko hoi hoi doonppppa, chanko hoi hoi doonppa." The Iminomiya Shrine in Chofu was founded in 199, in the late Yayoi period. The festival called "Suhoteisai", in which people make three laps around a "devil's stone" carrying a 20-30 meter tall moso bamboo pole, is said to have originated from a festival held about 1,800 years ago when the 14th Emperor Chuai defeated the Kumaso (a tribe that lived in southern Kyushu, around Kumamoto and Kagoshima, who resisted the Yamato kingdom) and the Jinrin of Silla, which also appears as a part of the Iwami Kagura performance, and danced around the Jinrin's corpse. Sugawara Michizane, enshrined as the god of learning, stayed at Toyoura-no-tsu (Chofu) for a few days on his way left from Kyoto to Kyushu, where he looked at his face moving to a well and painted a self-portrait, saying he would never return to this place again. The well is called Mikage-no-Ido. The two uninhabited islands (Manju-jima and Kanju-jima), which are the enclave precincts of Iminomiya Shrine, are said to have been born from two balls given to Empress Jingu (Empress of Emperor Chuai, circa 240 AD) by the Dragon God, an incarnation of the great deity Sumiyoshi, who reigned for 70 years as the first regent in the mythology of Shinto, a Japanese animistic religion. Theses islands in the Seto Inland Sea were considered a stronghold of the Genji clan in the Genpei wars.

The Genpei War crossed Japan, flowing from the islands of the Seto Inland Sea to Dannoura at Shimonoseki, at the end of Honshu. In the final battle of the Genpei War, at Dannoura, the Heike clan was defeated when a nun named Nii No Ama, holding the six-year-old Emperor Antoku, said to him, "Even under the waves, there is a capital," and dived into the water to end their lives. The Heike Crab, which bears the legend that the ghosts of the defeated Heike clan are said to have taken over the crab, can be seen at the side of the main shrine of Akama Jingu Shrine, and the vibrations of the biwa strings of "Hoichi the Earless," also known by Koizumi Yakumo's "ghost story", or Lafcadio Hearn in Greek name, are floating beside it. There is a Genji Firefly Preservation Society on the Dangu River, which runs through the city of Chofu, and even now, when the season arrives, fireflies with a faint glow float here and there. Firefly boats that allow visitors to view these fireflies from a boat are available on the Koyagawa River in the mountains of Shimonoseki. Although the ecosystem on one side of the river has been destroyed by the revetment work, the graceful dance of the fireflies can still be seen. The majority of these fireflies are Genji fireflies, but sometimes Heike fireflies, which are smaller in size, can also be seen. Sesshu, who is recognized as Japan's national treasure more than any other Japanese artist, was patronized by the Ouchi clan and traveled to China on a Ming Dynasty ship to work as an interpreter while studying landscape painting in China, the home of ink painting. The Shinji garden behind the main building of Myoseiji Temple in Shimonoseki Kawatana is said to be one of the many Sesshu gardens in the prefecture.

The people who came across the sea changed their names according to the time and purpose of their visit. Sometimes they were called "Joseon missions" and came to Japan as emissaries of trust. They were diplomatic missions sent from Korea to Japan. Although they ceased for a time during Hideyoshi Toyotomi's invasion of Korea, they resumed during the Edo period (1603-1867) and came to convey the latest technology and knowledge from the continent and the Korean peninsula. Even the Bakan War is recalled by a cast-iron sculpture inscribed with a poem by Seicho Matsumoto that gives the impression as if a cannonball fired by the Choshu clan from the Kanmon Straits pierced the hull of a battleship of the four powerful nations of England, France, the Netherlands, and the United States. There is a waterspring at Kozanji Temple. It is said that the five feudal lords and their followers who resided in kozan-ji Temple at the end of the Edo period, as well as Shinsaku Takasugi, who raised an army in the Kaiten Gikyo campaign, loved to drink this famous water and prayed for their success. These warriors, who sacrificed their lives for the sake of the Meiji Restoration in pursuit of a new era, now rest in eternal peace at the Sakurayama Sacred Souls Memorial site with 391 graves of the Sacred Spirits. In 1895, Hirobumi Ito and others met with the Qing envoy Li Hongzhang and his fellows at Shunpanro, the first restaurant officially licensed to serve fugu (blowfish), where the Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty was concluded in Shimonoseki. Later, in 1909, Hirobumi Ito was assassinated in Harbin, China by An Jung-geun from the Korean Empire. The Shimonoseki Nanbu-cho Post Office, the oldest existing post office, is a two-story brick and mortar building with a Western architectural design. Next to it is the former Akita Shokai building, a general trading company that made great strides during the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese wars. The former British Consulate in Shimonoseki still retains its gas lamps, reminding one of the phrase, "Bang your head and you will hear the sound of civilization blooming".

If rice cultivation was brought by the Yayoi people, what were the raw materials used to make the alcoholic beverages originally favored by the Jomon people? The brick chimney of the Shimonoseki Brewery recalls the Taisho period when it was founded. Rice liquor has somehow become a sacred drink and associated with Japanese religion, and is loved both in Japan and abroad. Inseparable from sake is the fisheries industry of the island nation of Japan. In the late Meiji period (1905-1912), Japan adopted the modern Norwegian whaling method, and Shimonoseki Port became a base for whaling in the Southern Ocean. If you walk through the city of Chofu toward the Seto Inland Sea, you will see a large whale-shaped building standing on a hill. It is the Whale Museum built by Taiyo Fishery (now Maruha Nichiro). It is hard to imagine now, but the Shimonoseki Aquarium was adjacent to the building. One of the public bathhouses that would have been a place of relaxation for workers engaged in the fishing industry, Koyo Onsen, is located in the same area as the former home of the Taiyo Whales, Professional Baseball Team. 272 bathhouses existed when the Prefectural Public Bath Industry Sanitation Association was established around 1957, but today there are only 12 exisiting. One can picture people sweating it out after a day at work or a baseball game.

The name "Chayama-dori" comes from the tea plantation that was originally located on the street. In the past, it was a busy shopping street where people used to come and go. Such a nostalgic scene is recreated in a scene from the movie "Curtain Call," which deals with Korean interlude performers living in Japan. The Zainichi Korean Christian Shimonoseki Church, which served as a spiritual home for these people, is a church for zainichi Koreans who gathered from all over Japan at the port of Shimonoseki in search of a way to return home. The Kanmon Tunnel, which connects this side of the sea to the other side, is a tunnel for pedestrians which connects Honshu and Kyushu under the sea, deeper than the seabed. Japan Post Co., Ltd. uses ships to carry people's mail and goods. The name of the ferry that arrives at and departs from Shimonoseki International Terminal to and from Busan is the Kanpu Ferry "Hamayu". Its flower name means "to somewhere far away". Set in Shimonoseki's Green Mall, "Summer of Chilsok" in Korean means "the summer of Tanabata" in Japanese, refering a time when high school students from Japan and Korea can meet only once a year. This hilly part of town is like a maze with countless small streets in chaos. The Shimonoseki Daiichi Building, completed in May 1977, is a building that evokes Showa modernism and vitality. The ground-floor stores facing the street still have their shutters closed, reminding us of the cutting-edge technology of the time.

Shimonoseki is full of history and stories that are inseparable from the sea and ships. The parent organization of the Sasakawa Foundation, which subsidizes art, is the Nippon Foundation (formerly known as the Japan Boat Racing Association), an organization that provides humanitarian projects with a variety of supports proceeded from boat races. After having a beginner's luck by betting 1-2-3 as the race proceeded through the Boat Race Shimonoseki's waterways, I was the only one to stop at the stone statue of the founder with his mother on his back on my way home. Kappo Ryokan Hotel Sumire overlooks the Shimonoseki fishing port, which boasted the largest catch of fish in Japan, from its bathtub. Sumire, where world-renowned musician Kaoru Wada was born, exhibits his music scores "Hunting of Primitive Man" and "Tabidachi" composed in his youth. The titles seem to exude the insight and sensitivity that comes from being born and raised in this area. I became sensitive to the sounds that are played in various places in the hotel.

The boatman waiting for the wind in Shimonoseki's Kanmon Strait, when the wind blows, does he look upwind or downwind...

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