白洲次郎については、彼の現役時代にはその名前も僕は知らなかったし、彼の著作は新渡戸稲造から演繹されるように読んだ「プリンシプルのない日本」が最初で、それもここ2年くらいのことだ。鎌倉近くに住むようになって、所縁のある人としていくつかの書き物を読むにつれて、とても興味深い人物だと思うようになった。言うなれば裕福に育った選ばれし人なのだが、ノブレッスたる者の社会的立ち居・振る舞いについては英国仕込みで確固たる信念を持ち、ものの道理を行動規範とする人だったようだ。とりわけ、太平洋戦争を愚かな行為と考える国際的視野と、敗戦と食糧危機を見越して田舎で農業をするためにこの鶴川の農家を手に入れ、そこを武相荘と呼んだ洒落っ気には、拍手喝采したくなる。米国の圧力に抗しながら、現憲法制定を現場で見てきた彼は、「こんな作り方があって良いものか」と言いつつ、それでも「戦争放棄などいくつかのことは普通なら実現できない賜物」とも思っていたようだ。
写真は白洲邸と今の周囲の風景だが、入館料1000円はいささか高すぎで、内容的にはせいぜい半額であるべきという気がした。館内撮影は禁止だった。
I mistakenly read in the Google Map that the distance from Buaiso (Shirasu House) in Tsurukawa to Machida Dahlia Garden was quite short and it motivated me to walk, but the fact was a rather long hiking of about 90 minutes. Tsurukawa in Machida City is a broad area with undulating hills, now fully developed as a huge bed town with quiet residential houses. Like many other new places though, I seldom see people on broad streets, and it gives me an impression that this nice area is superficially deserted.
About Jiro Shirasu, I did not know even his name while he was active, and it was only a couple of years ago when I first read his “Japan without Principles” as it was deduced from Inazo Nitobe. Since I started living near Kamakura, I read more about him as he was closely connected there, and his presence grew larger in me. In short, he was chosen to grow in an extremely rich environment, but his firm confidence in how a noblesse should behave socially was crystallized through his young ages in England. He was indeed a man of discipline and particularly applausive was his cosmopolitan vision daring to speak out that the war against USA was stupid under purely uniform situation of the nation 70 years ago, and became a farmer predicting the loss of war and the consequent food shortage. The farmer house he bought in Tsurukawa was nick-named Buaiso which meant “Unsociable House”, and the two Kanji characters were taken from the bordering two provinces of Musashi and Sagami. I think it was charmingly smart name.
He was a man watching the practical progress of forming the current Constitutions under the American occupation confronting US deputies, and he used to say that it was not totally the right way to conclude any nation’s Constitutions, but at the same time admitted that some of the elements such as Abondonment of War were Gifted achievement which would have been otherwise impossible.
The pictures shown here are Buaiso and the current surroundings. They prohibited the pictures inside. The admission of 1000 Yen sounded excessive and I thought a half should be reasonable considering their content.
No comments:
Post a Comment