イザベラ・バードと—パート6：平取への道 – 日本を巡る旅
[Music] Hakodate, the northern treaty port, a flourishing city of 37,000 people, is naturally the capital with its deep and magnificent harbor well sheltered in all winds. Situated on a grally hill slope with a sunny exposure and splendid natural drainage, it is fitted to recruit energies which have been exhausted by the damp heat of Yokohama and Tokyo. What I have just read was about Hakodate Hokkaido over 140 years ago. The person who wrote this book was a British female traveler named Isabella Bird. Next to me here is a church and it is said that is a place in which Isabella Bird may have visited. This is how Hakodate looked when Isabella Bird stayed there. The houses huddled together with stones holding down their roofs. Because fires were frequent, the town was later rebuilt in brick. The main reason that Isabella Bird came to Hokkaido was to meet the Anu, the indigenous people of the land. This time I will be traveling to Pirati to experience Anu culture for myself. [Music] British traveler Isabella Bird visited Japan about 140 years ago. Ah, it’s more spacious than I imagined. On this edition of Journeys in Japan, Bird’s travels in Hokkaido will be followed by Tiana who is from Australia and lives in Saporo. Hakodate lies about 700 km north of Tokyo. This is where Bird’s journey in Hokkaido began. [Music] Leaving Hakodate, Bird made her way to an area of scenic beauty that is now preserved as Onuma Quai National Park. With the peak of Kagatake rising in the north, she visited Junai Numa, one of the lakes in this area. Mount Kumagatake is a symbol of this region and Isabella used this mountain as a landmark as she rode around here alone on horseback. This beautiful place is only 30 minutes by train from Hakodate. And Isabella was also captivated by the scenery. I am once again in the wilds. The sunset colors are pink and green. On the tinted water lie waxing cups of great water lilies, and above the wooded height, the pointed, craggy, and altogether naked summit of the volcano of Kumagatake flushes red in the sunset. Bird’s book, Unbeaten Tracks in Japan, is a record of what life was like in Japan 140 years ago. She wrote it in the form of letters home to her sister. Isabella Bird was born in Yorkshire in the north of England. She was 47 when she arrived in Japan and later went on to travel elsewhere in Asia and the Middle East. From Yokohama, she journeyed to Niko, Nigata, Akita, Almori, and finally to Hokkaido. She also visited western Japan. In all, she stayed 6 months in the country, of which 3 months were spent traveling in northern Japan. From Hakodate, Bird set off for her destination, Biri. After crossing Uchiora Bay by boat, she continued eastward along the coast, mainly traveling on horseback. Wow, there’s so many horses. Hello. You’re so cute. I have arrived at this horse ranch where I have made a reservation to learn about horseback riding. I wonder if we can find out about how things were back then. At this ranch on the outskirts of Hakodate, visitors can enjoy horseback riding. It lies about 25 km south of Lake Onuma. Horses were essential for bird’s journey. In Hokkaido, she was finally able to ride saddle horses rather than just pack horses. [Music] do are thought to be descended from horses that were brought across to Hokkaido from the Japanese mainland from the 15th to the mid-9th century. Large numbers of horses were brought in for use in cultivating the land. At one point, there were over 90,000 horses in Hokkaido. Today, by contrast, the figure is only about a thousand. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] In Hokkaido, Isabella Bird came across many dosanko horses. She saw horses carrying loads following the front horse which would be carrying a rider. [Music] [Music] [Music] Ranch owner Iikada Shigu says His ancestors used that same method to carry loads. His family worked with pack horses for generations. Although I’s family stopped working with horses when he was still a child, he never forgot about the doseno horses. So from about 35 years ago, he started keeping them himself. [Music] There are no muggle. A man rides the front horse and goes at whatever pace you please. Or if you get a front horse, you may go without anyone. [Music] after crossing Uchia Bay by boat, Bird continued eastward on horseback or by rickshaw. After another 40 km or so, she finally reached Shidoi on the Pacific Ocean. [Applause] We have arrived at the beautiful coast of Shi and the Hamanasu are in bloom. Isabella referred to these as roses and mentioned them several times. It is said that these flowers bloomed all over the sand. This place is also very beautiful. This was where Bird first encountered I knew people. They had villages along this coast fishing in the sea and rivers or hunting deer in the forest in summer. [Music] The Inu have lived in and around Hokkaido since ancient times. They are the indigenous people of Japan and have a language and culture that are quite distinct from those of the Japanese. [Music] While traveling along this area, Isabella met many young au men and women. She admired their natural charm and innocence. [Music] They had masses of soft black hair falling on each side of their faces. I think I never saw a face more completely beautiful in features and expression with a lofty, sad, far off, gentle intellectual look. We overtook four Anu women, young and calmly, with bare feet striding firmly along. And after a good deal of laughing with the men, they took hold of the Kuruma and the whole seven raced with a at full speed for half a mile, shrieking with laughter. [Applause] Some 60 kilometers east of Shiraoi, Bird reached the Hidaka grasslands. From here, she and her party rode north on horseback through thick forest. Today though, this area is famous for breeding raceh horses. There were a new villages dotted along the banks of the Sodu River. One of them was Nibbutani which is now part of Biratori town. Here an a new community has been recreated. It’s called the Nibutani Kotan from the AU word for village. [Music] I can see so many uniquely shaped houses here and I really think that they look exactly like the ones illustrated in Isabella Bird’s book. [Music] Bird arrived at the Kami Biri Kotan. The leader of this community was a man called Penlyuku. [Music] Many foreigners came to visit this Kotan to find out more about the Anu. Penliuku met with them and taught them the Inu language and customs. Bird stayed in his house for three nights. We stopped at the chief’s house where, of course, we were unexpected guests. But Shinandi, his nephew, and two other men came out, saluted us, and with most hospitable intent helped to unload the horses. Indeed, their eager hospitality created quite a commotion. One running hither and the other thither in their anxiety to welcome a stranger. [Music] Ah, it’s more spacious than I imagined. The word chise is Anu for house. Each chise has a fireplace as well as a space where valuable objects would be displayed. Bird writes that the Inu chise reminded her of houses in the Scottish Highlands. [Music] Soch. [Music] [Music] ritual objects known as ina play various roles in the kot. For example, as offerings to the kamui, the au gods. In her book, Bird refers to Ina as household gods. [Music] Someone They also had traditional Japanese lacquerware storage containers known as Shintokco. For the Inu, these were a status symbol which they like to display inside their houses. In fact, Shintoko have an interesting history. [Music] Shinto were mostly used as containers for preserved foods, but in some rituals they were used for holding sake. And people also use the lids as percussion instruments. No offers, however liberal, can tempt them to sell any of these antique possessions. They were presents, they say in their low musical voices. They were presents from those who are kind to our fathers. No, we cannot sell them. They were presents. Although she documented many of the customs of the Inu people she met, their culture was far deeper than she was able to write about. [Music] [Music] [Applause] She was received warmly during her stay and was welcomed with traditional songs and dances performed for her. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] This costume has a traditional Inude design that bird almost certainly would have seen. Their clothes were made from fabrics which they wo using threads made from tree bark. They decorated them with embroidery or applique by sewing on strips of cotton cloth. The specific design motifs have become renowned as a new patterns. [Music] Wow, this garment is very beautiful with a lot of really intricate designs. [Music] Please get them. Kaizawa Miwako is keeping alive these embroidery skills and other traditional designs. Although Kaizawa was born in the far south of Japan, she fell in love with Nibutani, moved there and married an Inu man. She learned the traditional embroidery skills from a local woman. Kaizawa was told by her teacher that Inu motifs have the power to ward off evil. Don’t understand. [Music] In the past, if an Inu woman obtained a secondhand kimono made on the Japanese mainland, they would upcycle them by incorporating traditional Inu designs. Over time, the patterns have become more complex using a variety of designs and fabrics. [Music] The women have a perfect passion for every hue of red and I have made friends with them by dividing among them a large turkey red silk handkerchief strips of which are already being utilized for the ornamenting of coats. [Music] [Music] The center of Biratori town lies about 6 km south of Nibutani. The Kotan that Isabella visited is said to have been over there. She also visited a shrine located somewhere over there. [Music] Yoshune shrine stands on the side of the former Kami Biri Kotan which bird visited. She was brought here by the community leader Ben Leyuku in return for curing a villager who was sick. She is said to have been the first non-Japanese woman ever to visit the shrine. [Music] A statue of the famous samurai leader Minamoto no Yoshitsune is enshrined here. Yoshitsune is a tragic hero in Japanese history. A great warrior who is said to have died young, committing suicide after being chased by his elder brother. Hiramoro Tetsuro was born in Biri. For the past two decades, he’s been tracing the footsteps of Isabella Bird in his area. I know. [Music] However, there are many legends that Yoshitsune did not in fact take his own life, but may have escaped to Hokkaido. And he even came to be worshiped by Inu people. [Music] They have no traditions of intimacy strife and the art of war seems to have been lost long ago. I asked Bendy about this matter and he says that formerly fought with spears and knives as well as with bows and arrows. But that Yoshin, their hero god, forbade war forever. And since then, the two-edged spear with a shaft 9 ft long has only been used in hunting bears. [Music] After leaving, Bird returned to Hakodate, bringing to an end her stay of about a month in Hokkaido. [Music] [Music] Reading Isabella Bird’s book, I realized that a lot of people at that time wanted the Inu people to assimilate and become more like themselves and because of this the Inu people lost immeasurable aspects of their culture. [Music] Although many people in Biri have a new heritage, I believe that it is important to carry on these traditions with support from outside of the community. Reading this book gave me a great opportunity to learn more about Hokkaido, where I live now, and the culture is something I find very interesting. It’s definitely something I want to continue learning more about in the future. To reach Hakodate, the starting point for this journey, it takes about 2 hours by plane from Tokyo and then by shuttle bus to the city center. [Music]
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Travelling through Hokkaido, 19th century explorer Isabella Bird experiences the hospitality and culture of the indigenous Ainu people.