木地屋のはなし

 

炭焼き　話者　春日で残る生産者　新川　茂至　さん

昔は、山のあらゆるところで炭を焼いた。１００万俵なんて校歌にある。それはおおげさだが、炭窯の煙が美束のあらゆるところで上っていた。

In the past, charcoal was burned in various places in the mountains. The school song even mentions a million bags of charcoal. While that may be an exaggeration, the smoke from charcoal kilns used to rise throughout the area of Bibukambe４月、雪が融4月けると山に入る。秋は12月、雪が降っていけんようになるまで行った。炭焼きはおじいさんに教わった。春日では、山がない人は、根尾や京都の丹波まで炭焼きに言ったという。新川さんは、竹屋谷や小白谷で炭を焼いた。１俵が12キロだった。３００キロは出た。

In April, we would enter the mountains once the snow melted. Autumn activities continued until December when it became difficult to navigate due to snow. I learned charcoal burning from my grandfather. In Kasuga, those without mountains went to places like Neno or Tamba in Kyoto for charcoal burning. Mr. Shinkawa, for example, burned charcoal in Takeyadani and Kobiradani. One bag of charcoal weighed 12 kilograms, and we would produce around 300 kilograms.

その土地にあわせた窯をつくる。石がない場合は、歪んだ木で炭もならないような、例えば栗の木を伐ってドイにした。石垣の代わりだ。細かい石がないと、木を割って板がわりにし、そこに赤土を入れてどんどんたたき、板をはずして中からけずり形をつくった。焼けるので天井と同じように固くなった。

We would build kilns according to the terrain. If there were no stones, we would use warped wood to create a DOI, for instance, by felling chestnut trees. It served as a substitute for stone walls. In the absence of small stones, we would split wood to use as boards, fill them with red soil, compact them vigorously, remove the boards, and shape the inside by cutting. The kiln would become as sturdy as the ceiling when it was fired.

窯をつくるときは、遠いところから泥を負んでもらわなならん。そういう時は人を呼んで運んでもらった。茅で編んだ俵をのせて、運んだ。泥も木も何もセタで運んだ。

When building the kiln, we had to get clay from distant places. In such cases, we would call people to help carry it. We transported it using baskets woven from straw. We carried everything—mud, wood, everything—on our backs.