産土 ubusuna
2006年6月20日－26日
東京新宿 Nikon Salon
Tokyo Shinzyuku Nikon Salon
産 土
遠州灘の砂防林は、西は浜名湖の南岸から東は御前崎まで100kmほど連なっているが、奥行きは最大でも200mしかない。そのわずか200mの森を行きつ戻りつしながら2年が経ってしまった。
産土（うぶすな）という言葉がある。もともとは〈産土〉ではなく〈産砂〉だったとも言われている。ヒトの誕生は海と陸の境目が深く関わっている。魚類から両生類への進化がその海岸で繰り広げられたからだ。日本の神話の中にも浜辺に建てられた産屋の話が出てくるが、ヒトの誕生がイメージされる興味深い逸話でもある。その産屋は、明治の頃まで日本各地に残っていた。深い山中にある集落の産屋の中には、海沿いの集落のそれと同じように、必ず白いきれいな砂が敷かれていた。浜名湖の北岸にも屋根が萱で葺かれた美しい産屋が、一つだけ残っている。
砂防林はヒトが植林して造ったものだが、下草が生い茂ったところはヒトの侵入を拒む密林のようになっている。しかしそのようなところでも、ほんの少し枯れ枝や落ち葉を除ければ、すぐに白砂が顔を出す。はるか以前にヒトは、進化の過程で海からこの浜を通って陸に上がってきた。浜は、ヒトの誕生と深く関わる“場”だが、同時に死の“場”でもある。多くのヒトが、このかりそめの森に死に場所を求めて迷い込んでいく。海と陸の間で、ヒトの生と死が静かにくり返されている。
Ubusuna
Erosion control forests in Enshu Nada run from the south coast of Lake Hamana to the east of Omaezaki for about 100km, but their depth is only 200 m at most. I often walk back and forth in the 200m-wide forest, and already two years have passed since I started doing this.
There is a word "Ubusuna", and its characters mean the land (sand) that gives birth. Some people think it originally meant "sand" rather than "land". The birth of human beings is closely related to the boundary between the sea and land. The evolution of fish to amphibians took place on the coast. Japanese mythology describes a story about maternity houses that were built on beaches, which was also an interesting anecdote about the birth of humans. The maternity houses remained in various parts of Japan until the Meiji era. Like the maternity houses on the beaches, in the maternity houses in villages deep in the mountains, there was always white, clean sand laid on the floor. On the north coast of Lake Hamana, there is only one beautiful maternity house with a thatched roof remaining.
Forests on beaches were created by humans by planting trees, but the dense forests where grass on the ground is overgrown looks like it is refusing entry to humans. However, even in such places, if I remove only a few dead branches and fallen leaves, I can immediately find white sand. Long ago, humans came up from the ocean to the land through beaches during the process of evolution. Beaches are "places" that are deeply related to the birth of humans, but are also "places" of death. Numerous people lose themselves in this quasi forest in search of a place to die. The life and death of humans is silently repeated between the sea and land.
