I came across a signboard of an old historic folk house on the way to our hotel. It was getting dark, but I traced the signboards on the narrow path and got to the house. There was no one, even a caretaker. He/she might not think that someone would come in such a time slot. The house was open to the public. Looking at various folk arts that were actually used for living, I recalled the lives of those days. Their lives would have been inconvenient, though inconvenient lives are not always unhappy.
I read a few records about the relationship and communication between the locals and those who were saved from wrecked ships in 16th and 18th centuries. I can perfectly declare that the locals were absolutely kind and I thought that such a characteristic of the locals would never be produced by unhappy lives.
We were going to visit some other places tomorrow which we didn't visit yet. Then we were supposed to return our car at the airport and leave the island. The hotel served us local dishes on the last night on the island. Everything was new to us.
To tell the truth, I thought that we had already visited all the popular spots at that time, but I happened to find very important sites on the next day. This trip memo will still continue for some time.
(Vocabulary)
caretaker (家・土地などの) 管理人
古市家住宅という看板を見つけたので立ち寄った。種子島の伝統的な家屋できれいに保存されていた。夕方だったためか、観光客など来ないと思ったか、管理人はいなかった。今から100年も前のこの島での生活を想った。さぞかし不便だったろうなあと。宿では最後の夕食。島の名物をいろいろと出してもらった。
Comments