一昨日は多賀町共栄会による視察研修で岡山県倉敷市の美観地区の見学があったので朝からカフェを閉めて新幹線で岡山に出かけました。街の歴史や風情を守るために丁寧に作られた街並を先ずは人力車で元気な車夫の説明を聞きながら回る事になりました。人力車に乗るのは気恥ずかしさもあって抵抗がありましたが、結果的に街全体を見るのにはとてもよかったと思います。車上から美しい街並の写真を撮ろうとしたら何とバッテリー切れ。情けないことこの上無し。隣に乗ったY.Sさんの写真を後でいただくことにしたので、受け取ったらここに載せます。美味しい昼食を皆でいただいた後は自由行動だったので倉敷中央病院に設置されている鍛 フォージワークスの石倉兄弟制作のベンチを一人で見に行きました。屋内に造られた蓮池の周りに石倉さんたちが造った鉄のしっとりと素敵なデザインのベンチが確かに置かれていました。ただ、そばにあるカフェが出しているのか丸いテーブルと白木の背の椅子がベンチの数よりも多く出ていて、蓮池や落ち着いたベンチとは色彩的にもバランス的にも邪魔していると思いました。ヘムスロイド祭りの時に見せていただいた病院内に設置されたばかりの池とベンチの写真があまりに美しかったのでその後の無神経な場所の使い方に正直残念な思いでした。The day before yesterday, I went to Okayama with the members of Taga town shop association to visit Kurashiki Bikan Area. It is a beautifully preserved historical district in Kurashiki city of Okayama prefecture. When we arrived at the entrance of the area, the organizer of the group gave a tour of the area by Jin-rikisha (man-powered vehicle) for us in pairs. I was hesitant to get on it because I felt embarrassed, but eventually it was good opportunity to have an overview of the whole area and I enjoyed the tour. I wanted to take photos of the area, but I noticed that my camera was out of battery. I was so disappointed with myself. I asked Ms. Y.S to get some photos for the blog so when I receive them later on I will put them here. We had a very good lunch with the group and after that it was free time, so I went to Kurashiki Central Hospital to see iron works by Ishikura brothers of Tan Forge Works. Inside the hospital building, there was a man-made lotus pond and around it there were iron benches made by Ishikura brothers. The benches were so nice and elegant. I was glad to see them. However there were other tables and chairs which were probably placed by the cafe located in the corner of the area and they did not match the lotus pond and iron benches. When I first saw the photo of the scene at Ishikura's studio which appeared to have been taken just after they had set it up, I was so impressed because it was so beautiful and I thought that it was not in Japan. Now I was bit disappointed by the scene because the beauty was ruined by many other things.
