【職人たちを師と仰ぎ、堅守する伝統の流儀】
東京スカイツリーを間近に望む、とある下町。往来を行けば、高層ビルの乱立する都心部ではもう見ることのなくなった、畳屋や布団屋といったこぢんまりとした個人商店が軒を連ねる。間口の狭い自転車屋を覗けば、老年の店主が椅子に腰掛けて何をするでもなくぼんやりと通りを眺めている。
街並みこそ建て替えで新しく生まれ変わりつつあるが、ここには東京の原風景が未だ息づく。互いに強い地元愛を持つ川向こうの隣町とは、馴染みの蕎麦屋の味で張り合うというエピソードもどこか小咄のようで微笑ましい。
Not all of the areas near Tokyo Skytree are new and modern. There is a certain town in the midst of the growth that still houses old independently owned shops and old businesses such as tatami makers or futon shops; most of which are long forgotten industries in the heart of busy Tokyo.
As I pass these shops I noticed a bicycle shop, which might as well have been from an earlier time, and its old owner absentmindedly looking out into the street. The scene was reminded me of how much this particular area of Tokyo, just several miles from a bustling metropolitan, still remains in the good old days.
そんな下町に育ち、今なお誇りを持ってその地に仕事場を構えるひとりの彫り師がいる、芳柳氏である。祖父、父ともに橋梁を専門とする溶接工いわゆる“鍛冶鳶”で、それぞれ東京タワーやベイブリッジなどに携わった現場の華だ。幼い頃には祖父から「降りるのが面倒なんで小便は鉄骨の上からした」と聞かされたと笑う。
職人が当たり前に彫り物を背負う文化が根付く土地にあって、漫画を模写することを好み、絵心のあった芳柳少年がその美しさに惹かれたのは必然であった。
One tattoo studio that fits in well in this scene from the past, is owned by Houryu, who also grew up in this part of Tokyo. Both his father and grandfather were kaji-tobi (the welder specializing in bridge) and worked on huge projects during the modernization of Tokyo, like Tokyo Tower and the Bay Bridge.
This area is known for many kinds of Japanese artisans and they still proudly wear horimono. As a young child, Houryu was attracted to these individuals and the beauty of the tattoos.
元々鳶職に就いていた芳柳氏は、身体を任せていた彫り師が住居兼仕事場を失ったと知り、深く事情を聞かずに自身が住んでいたワンルームアパートに招き入れた。日中は仕事で留守にするので、その間、彫り場として使ってもらって構わないというわけだ。
この奇妙な共同生活はしばらく続き、雨などで現場に出られない日には傍らでその作業に見入る内に、芳柳氏の中でひとつの心が堅固になっていった。文身師になる決意である。
As a young adult, he started working in scaffolding and also decided to entrust an artist with applying a traditional horimono on him. When he heard that the artist had suddenly lost his studio and residence, he agreed to let him work and stay in his one-room apartment.
On days when Houryu was not able to work outside due to rain or other unforeseen issues, he would sit by and watch the work being done. Each day he watched, it became clearer and clearer that he wanted to be a tattooer.
では、その人物が師匠に当たるのかと問うと、芳柳氏からは意外な答えが返ってきた。下町の職人たちが師だと言うのである。曰く、基本的な技術や道具の扱い方はその彫り師から教わったが、こと肝心な彫り物の流儀に関しては世代を超えて守り継いできた職人たちから学んだのだそうだ。
辺りを見回せばひと世代ふた世代前の名人の作品を背負った職人が少なからずおり、教材には事欠かない。父から子、子から孫へと彫り物の何たるかが慣習として連綿と受け継がれてきた町は、伝統を実践するには最適の環境だった。芳柳氏は「床屋のおばさんにすら『あんた彫り師らしいけど、貼るやつ（ステンシル）使ってないでしょうね』と釘を刺されるような場所ですから」と破顔する。
I asked him if this person was his teacher, and his answer was very interesting. He said the tattooer that stayed with him showed him how to use the tools needed to tattoo though, it was the artisans in the neighborhood that truly showed him what horimono is. Horimono is so engrained in the neighborhood that everyone is protective and understanding of its beauty from the generation to the generation.
Houryu recalls a time when even a local lady from a nearby barbershop found out he was a tattoo artist and said to him, “I hear you are a tattooer, you’re not using stencils, are you?”
油煙墨と朱、緑、べんがらのみを用い、手彫りで仕上げられる彫り物は正にアナクロニズムの極み。しかしこれは過去の遺物を掘り起こしたものではなく、ここ下町にあっては江戸の世から絶えることなく続いてきた“生きている”彫り物なのだ。
それ故、文身文化の中心を担った火消しの習わしを色濃く継いでおり、纏を振り上げたときに半纏からチラリと覗く七分が最も粋であり、九分は良しとされてこなかった。芳柳氏もこれを守り、よほどの頼みでない限りは七分袖以上を彫ることはない。
His hand-poked horimono are done in an extremely traditional way, completed using only basic black made with lamp soot, vermillion, green and bengara a shade of brown. However this is not a relic from the past, but a “living” horimono that has been surviving since the Edo period (1603-1868) here in particular area of Tokyo.
A lot of the old tattoo customs came from hikeshi (firefighters), who played a central role in the horimono culture. They said shichibu (three quarter sleeve) tattoos that would slight peek out from their hanten coats as they swung their tools of the trade is the chicest. During that period a full sleeve tattoo was not considered elegant and Houryu adheres to this tattoo beauty standard and basically never tattoos anything more than shichibu.
芳柳氏の作品は豪快な太彫りで人物像は四頭身に描き、見切りを太く、濃淡の差を明瞭に表す伝統的な趣きだ。明治大正に名を馳せた東京の先達の風情を今に残していると言えるだろう。
しかし氏はただ古典を模倣しているわけではない。当時の技術力の限界から来る粗さを味としては好ましく観察しながらも、悪しき点は悪しき点として捉え、平成令和を生きる文身師として今の自分が到達しうる最善を常に目指しているのだ。かつての名人たちもそうした気概で彫り物に取り組んでいたに違いあるまい。
His style is very bold and traditional using strong lines, and focusing on simplified powerful images. Also, his mix of broad mikiri (bands of gaku), and bokashi (shading) show a mastery of light and dark contrasting. The masters of the past eras including Meiji (1868-1912) and Taisho (1912-1926) have been preserved and perfectly represented in his work.
But he is not just imitating those masters of past generations. While observing the roughness that comes from the limitations of the techniques of the time as a tasteful aspect, he sees the negative points, and always aims for the best that he can achieve as a tattooer living now.
芳柳氏の人間味に溢れた彫り物は国内外を問わず多くの愛好家を惹き付け、その作品が欲しいがためだけに日本に定住する外国人もいるほどだ。だが当の本人に気負いはなく、「名が通るのは嬉しいですが、忙しくなり過ぎて大好きな酒を呑む時間がなくなっては本末転倒」と大笑する。
多くは望まず、身の丈に合った生活の中でただ己の研鑽を積む。その姿勢は、芳柳氏もまたひとりの下町の職人なのだと物語っていた。
Houryu’s human-touch horimono attracts many enthusiasts both from inside Japan and from abroad. Some of his clients have gone so far as to take up residency in Japan in order to complete a large scale bodysuit. But he is not after fame. He laughs, “ If I get too busy and am unable to enjoy shochu, then it is not worth it.”
He is always looking to improve his artwork and grow as an artisan. He is truly a craftsman and holds the old school attitude that came before him in his traditional part of Tokyo.
