013.岩手 - 動物との共生 01.南部曲り家
013.Iwate - Symbiosis with animal 01.Magariya (Japan)　

2022年10月4日

動物への優しい眼差しを感じる岩手。南部曲り家もその一つ。動物との共生を形にした曲り家が、岩手には多く残ります。

Iwate is an area where you can encounter various places with kindness to animals. The Nambu Magariya (bender house) is one of them. The houses considerating for symbiosis with animals remain in Iwate.

かつて遠野にあり、現在は、北上のみちのく民俗村に保存されている「旧北川家住宅」。山伏の家であり、柳田國男や折口信夫も訪れた家。
See the former Kitagawa House, which used to be in Tono and is now preserved in Michinoku Folk Village in Kitakami. It was the house of Yamabushi (mountain priest), and famous Japanese classic scholars, Kunio Yanagida and Shinobu Origuchi, visited there.
https://goo.gl/maps/zzdtMSmUn6ZfZpU49

急峻な岩手山地で、農耕や林業、製鉄業の運搬に大きな役割を担った牛馬。農家は、牛馬を大地主から借り受けて、使役させ、繁殖で子が生まれれば、売却した代金を大地主と折半するシステムでした。夏は山に放牧し、雪に埋まる冬は、里に戻し、大事なパートナーとして舎飼いした場が、曲り家。馬屋を別棟にすると、豪雪地の寒い気候で、牛馬がやせがちになるのも、曲り家発展の理由の一つ。

冬の寒い西風を避けるためと言われるＬ型の間取りの１辺が馬屋で、もう１辺が住居。角にあり、竃のある大きな土間を介して、住居と馬屋がひとつながりです。部分的な仕切り壁はありますが、暮らしながら、家族の一員の牛馬の様子が、つねに見えるつくり。馬屋の上の煙出しは、竃の暖気が馬屋を通って抜け、牛馬を温める効果から。

今も残る曲り家の多くは、文化財保護の観点から、馬を置いていませんが、遠野ふるさと村では、昔通り、馬を飼い、共生の様子がわかります。訪れたのは夏で、建具は開け放たれていましたが、土間には獣臭が漂い、かなりくさい。煙出しに加え、馬屋付近に空気が抜ける開口部もありますが、昔は牛馬の糞を肥料にするため、馬屋の糞が溜まると藁を敷き重ねることを繰り返したので、締め切った冬は、現代からは想像を絶するレベルの空気環境だったはず。

飼い葉を食べる牛馬を見ながら食事をした話もあり、曲り家とは、人間の居住環境よりも、動物との関係を大事にした家。

In the steep Iwate Mountains, cattle and horses played an important role in transportation for agriculture, forestry, and the steel industry. Farmers borrowed cattle and horses from large landowners to use them for work. When farmers had offspring through breeding, farmers shared the sale price with the large landowner. In the summer, the cattle and horses were grazed in the mountains. Meanwhile, in the winter when the mountains were covered with snow, they returned to the village and were housed as an important partner. One of the reasons for the development of Magariya was that if a stable was separated from the main house, the cattle and horses tended to lose weight in the cold climate of heavy snowfall.

The L-shaped floor plan was said to avoid the cold west wind in the winter. One side of it was stable, and the other side was a dwelling space. A wide earthen floor with a hearth was on the corner, and it connected the dwelling space and the stable. Although partial partition walls were between the stable and the earthen floor with a hearth, the family could always see the cattle and horses as part of the family while living in the house. A smoke vent was installed above the stable. It had the effect that the warmth from the hearth escaped through the stables to warm the cattle and horses.

Most of the Magariyas preserved now do not keep horses to protect cultural properties, but only in Tono Furusato Village, horses are kept to show how they used to live together. It was summer when I visited, and the fittings were open. But the earthen floor smelled of beasts though openings near the stables allowed air to escape in addition to the smoke vent. Once the interior must have been an unimaginable low level of air environment in the winter when it was impossible to open to the outside.

The family is said to have eaten while watching cattle and horses eating fodder. The house valued the relationship with animals rather than the living environment of humans.

旧北川家住宅 / Former Kitagawa House