捕鯨船のお土産 / Memorabilia from Whaling Ships
青森県八戸市南郷は山の中にありながら、かつては南極海で捕鯨船の出稼ぎをした人が多くいました。1930年代から1980年代まで、冬の農閑期に捕鯨船に乗り船上で鯨の肉や脂を貯蔵する仕事に就いたそうです。南郷の内沢きぬえさんのお父さんは船大工として捕鯨船に乗ったそうです。お父さんは航海の間、クジラヒゲを使って大きな船の模型を作りました。立派な帆船の模型で、今は南郷にある歴史民俗資料館に収められています。
「鯨のヒゲとか歯とか、いろんなものがあるんです。私が死んだらもう若い人は興味がないけど、資料館に置けば永遠に見せられるでしょ」と話す内沢さんは、お父さんが持ち帰ったナガスクジラのヒゲとマッコウクジラの歯を私に持たせてくれました。
Nango of Hachinohe City, Aomori Prefecture, is a community nestled in the mountains. It is interesting to know that many people from Nango used to work as seasonal laborers abroad whaling ships in Antarctica. From the 1930s to the 1980s, men boarded whaling ships during winter, when agriculture was out of season, and took jobs stocking whale meat and blubber. I met Uchisawa Kinue in Nango. Her father was a shipwright on the whaling ships. During voyages, he built large ship models with whale baleen plates. I saw one of the sailing ship models Uchisawa’s father built, which was impressive. Today, the ship model is in the Nango Museum of History and Folklore. “There are all sorts of things like whale baleen and teeth. Young people would not be interested in those things after my death. If they are in the museum, they can be seen forever,” said Uchisawa. She gave me fin whale baleen plates and a sperm whale tooth that her father brought home from his voyages.
「鯨のヒゲとか歯とか、いろんなものがあるんです。私が死んだらもう若い人は興味がないけど、資料館に置けば永遠に見せられるでしょ」と話す内沢さんは、お父さんが持ち帰ったナガスクジラのヒゲとマッコウクジラの歯を私に持たせてくれました。
Nango of Hachinohe City, Aomori Prefecture, is a community nestled in the mountains. It is interesting to know that many people from Nango used to work as seasonal laborers abroad whaling ships in Antarctica. From the 1930s to the 1980s, men boarded whaling ships during winter, when agriculture was out of season, and took jobs stocking whale meat and blubber. I met Uchisawa Kinue in Nango. Her father was a shipwright on the whaling ships. During voyages, he built large ship models with whale baleen plates. I saw one of the sailing ship models Uchisawa’s father built, which was impressive. Today, the ship model is in the Nango Museum of History and Folklore. “There are all sorts of things like whale baleen and teeth. Young people would not be interested in those things after my death. If they are in the museum, they can be seen forever,” said Uchisawa. She gave me fin whale baleen plates and a sperm whale tooth that her father brought home from his voyages.
ナガスクジラのヒゲ板 / Fin Whale Baleen
マッコウクジラの歯（青森県八戸市南郷）
宮城県石巻市の牡鹿半島は捕鯨船の拠点となってきました。南極海へ出漁した捕鯨船が日本に戻るには1ヶ月程かかったため、船の上で船員たちは退屈しのぎにマッコウクジラの歯を彫り、ペンギンの置物や観音像、パイプなどを作ったそうです。マッコウクジラの歯の尖った形はそのまま、くちばしを空に向けるペンギンの姿と重なります。南極海ではペンギンを見かけることもあったそうです。マッコウクジラの歯を彫るには大した道具はいらないといいます。大工道具は捕鯨船に揃っていたし、ナイフと棒ヤスリ、あとは紙ヤスリがあれば十分でした。「作りたいと思っていれば、あるもので工夫して作れるものだから」と当時の様子を知る人は話します。
Sperm Whale Tooth
The Oshika Peninsula in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, was known as a base for whaling ships. It took a one-month voyage from Antarctica to Japan; thus, whaling sailors killed time by scrimshawing sperm whales. They made penguin-shaped ornaments, small goddess statues, pipes, and so on. A sperm whale tooth is cone-shaped, and it overlaps with the form of a penguin looking up at the sky, with its beak pointing up. Whaling sailors might have had a chance to see penguins in the Antarctic Ocean. No special tool was necessary for carving sperm whale teeth. Carpenter’s tools were provided on whaling ships, and all they needed were knives, rasps, and sandpaper. A man who knows about the olden days says, “Whaling sailors could think out a method with what they had, as long as they were willing to make something.”
宮城県石巻市の牡鹿半島は捕鯨船の拠点となってきました。南極海へ出漁した捕鯨船が日本に戻るには1ヶ月程かかったため、船の上で船員たちは退屈しのぎにマッコウクジラの歯を彫り、ペンギンの置物や観音像、パイプなどを作ったそうです。マッコウクジラの歯の尖った形はそのまま、くちばしを空に向けるペンギンの姿と重なります。南極海ではペンギンを見かけることもあったそうです。マッコウクジラの歯を彫るには大した道具はいらないといいます。大工道具は捕鯨船に揃っていたし、ナイフと棒ヤスリ、あとは紙ヤスリがあれば十分でした。「作りたいと思っていれば、あるもので工夫して作れるものだから」と当時の様子を知る人は話します。
Sperm Whale Tooth
The Oshika Peninsula in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, was known as a base for whaling ships. It took a one-month voyage from Antarctica to Japan; thus, whaling sailors killed time by scrimshawing sperm whales. They made penguin-shaped ornaments, small goddess statues, pipes, and so on. A sperm whale tooth is cone-shaped, and it overlaps with the form of a penguin looking up at the sky, with its beak pointing up. Whaling sailors might have had a chance to see penguins in the Antarctic Ocean. No special tool was necessary for carving sperm whale teeth. Carpenter’s tools were provided on whaling ships, and all they needed were knives, rasps, and sandpaper. A man who knows about the olden days says, “Whaling sailors could think out a method with what they had, as long as they were willing to make something.”
