Hirokane mansion、広兼邸
The view of the mansion from the carpark looks like a castle. Hirokane family was a village head and they thrived on mining copper and manufacturing material of red iron oxide (pigment) which is called “Japan-red” or “Bengara”. It was built in 1810 and was the filming location of “Burn up, my sword” (Moeyo, ken) and ”The Village of Eight Graves” (Yatsu haka mura). The building was donated to Okayama prefecture, and the descendants live in Tokyo now.
駐車場から見上げた広兼邸、城郭のような外観に圧倒されます。「八つ墓村」や「燃えよ剣」のロケにも使われました。ベンガラの原料(ローハ)と小泉銅山で巨富を成した庄屋さんが1810年に建てました。建物は岡山県に寄付され、御子孫は東京に住んでいるそうです。
I walked to the gate. There is a door before the gate, which was an outlet of fertilizer (livestock manure). It’s a huge house but it’s also a farmhouse.
石垣に沿って登り、門を目指します。手前の建物では農耕用の家畜を飼っていて、落とした肥は通路に近くの扉から取り出されました。巨大ですが、農家です。
Inside the gate, a receptionist and a local had green tea while talking. It was a peaceful scene and time went by slowly; it was a same scene in the past, I guess.
門の内側では受付の方と地元の方がお茶を飲んでいました。時間の流れがゆっくりとした平和な風景ですね。かつても同じだったと思います。
It is the view of the village from the mansion.
屋敷から村を見下ろしました。
Inside the main house (the guest room in front and the entrance room in behind)
客間から玄関を見通します。
Through the passage in front of the annex, I went to a fireproof storage. The roof tiles on the wall are also colored by Bengara.
座敷がある離れの前を通って土蔵へと向かいました。塀の上にもベンガラの瓦があります。
In the storage, utensils, clothes and so on are displayed. They enjoyed wealthy days.
土蔵には料理を運ぶ行器(ほかい)や食器、裃などが展示されています。余裕のある生活を楽しんでいたのだと思います。
I proceeded to the kitchen space which has an earthen floor. A god of a cooking stove is enshrined on it (lower left).
土間へ進みました。竈の神様が祀られています(左下)。
View of the living space from the kitchen.
土間からは普段の生活スペースが見えます。
They used the water from the mountain behind. They also enshrined a god at the water source.
山からの水を汲んで使います。ここにも神様が祀られています。
There is a bathroom for employees at the southern-west part of the house. Although they took bath after dark, I think it’s a good location.
母屋の南西には、使用人さん用の浴室があります。日が暮れてからの入浴でしょうけど、明るい場所でいいですねえ。
The wooden building was used as employees’ rooms, a livestock barn and a workshop.
西側には使用人の部屋や家畜小屋、農作業場があります。
The room in front is for employees and the one in behind is for a head clerk. It is a tatami mat floor and sunlight comes into. The master treated them politely.
手前が下男部屋、奥が番頭部屋。畳が敷かれ南側から明るい陽射しが入っています。使用人を大切にしていたのだと思います。
It’s easy to find a house with a well-made stone wall in the area. People have a technology to make it, so they can build a house and a field on a slope. They have spent their energy to make their land.
この地域を走っていると立派な石垣をしばしば見かけます。石積みの技術があって、斜面に平坦地を作り出し、家や田畑を立ててきたようです。家にお金を注いでいますね。
Bengara museum、ベンガラ館
It is written on the sign board “Bengara is a copper sulphate coloring agent used in a variety of dyes and coloring processes. This Bengara museum recreates the 17th century Yoshikawa factory which stood on this site up to the late 1960s.” Not only the Bengara is used to protect exterior against weather, but also is used to color clothes and ceramics. We can understand how to make it well. Power-driven machinery was not used except for a water wheel; it was a hard work.
Fukiya is the birthplace of Bengara, which
had been manufactured since 1707 to 1974. Imported Bengara is used for roof
tiles at present.
ベンガラは外装の耐候性を上げるだけでなく、衣服や陶器など様々な用途に使われる赤色顔料です。
1707年、全国に先駆けて吹屋でベンガラが作られ、1974年まで続けられました。ベンガラ工場があった場所に、明治の頃の工場を復元していて、作り方がよく分かります。水車の力を借りる以外は手作業なのでたいへん。現在の瓦に使われているベンガラは輸入品でした。
The photo above is Yoshikawa factory (the former one). It was in a mountainous area; it was probably a hard job.
資料室に、工場の全景写真が展示されています。山中でのたいへんな仕事だったと思います。
People collected stones which included iron sulfide at the copper mining site. Samurai commissioner (daikan) supported the manufacturing and the selling in the feudal era, and Fukiya had been the sole Bengara production area for two hundred years. It made Fukiya thrive. It was an excellent utilization of byproducts of the mining site.
There are three small factories. The building in front is the kiln facility.
吹屋では、銅山の捨て石から硫化鉄鉱を拾い出して製造していました。代官が製造販売を支援し、二百年にわたり日本で唯一の産地になり、吹屋に富をもたらしました。見事な副産物利用ですね。製造室が三室立っています。手前は窯場室です。
The material was heated at the kiln facility.
窯場室ではローハを焼きました。
Intermediate product was grinded and became fine powder.
水洗碾臼(ひきうす)室では、焼いたベンガラを細かくしていきました。
The acid was removed from the intermediate product by rinsing. Water was changed around a hundred times (dozens of times at least). Then it was dried in the sun (upper left). The Bengara is made by chemical reaction at present.
脱酸水槽室では、水で酸を除きました。数十回から百回、水を替えました。最後は天日干しです(左上)。現在は、合成で作る酸化鉄がベンガラの色を出しています。
Visited in November, 2022
Official website (吹屋ふるさと村) https://www.city.takahashi.lg.jp/soshiki/9/fukiya4240131.html (in Japanese), accessed in April, 2023
Previous post (museum in the same town): Fukiya Folk Museum、ベンガラの町・吹屋の郷土館と旧片山家住宅
Next post (Old towns in the neighboring prefecture): Tomokan and Yunotsu in Shimane、鞆館(鞆ヶ浦)と温泉津(ゆのつ)
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