　そのようなことを私は今まで想起したことがなかったが、いまあらためて考えてみると、私は家族の歴史の大きな節目のできごとに参加せずに来た。
　八総鉱山にいたときは住まいを３度移転した。大変な数の家財道具を移転しなければならなかったはずで、ご近所の人たちや会社の従業員の方々が手伝ってくださったことはまちがいないが、私はいつもすっかり片付け終わった新しい家にヒョッコリ帰った。同居していた従姉の結婚式も知らない。現在ときどき電話で長話をする従姉だ。弟たちの小学校から大学にいたるまでの入学や卒業も知らなかった。
　また、会社が一丸となって父を推薦しての２度の議員選挙出馬も知らなかった。これは鉱山業が活況を呈するにつれて坑内からの湧水による鉱毒問題がとりざたされるようになったこと、および当時の田島町の大きな税収入源が八総鉱山であったこと、さらに八総鉱山小学校が教育の先進的な位置にあったことなど、八総鉱業所の対外政策を一身に担うことであった。・・・私はそのような家族の動向などまったく知らずに、・・・知らされずに、13歳になる直前から、自分の選んだ道で独り過ごしていたのだ。

　この日記には思い出話をたくさん書いている。死を目前にして自分自身を振りかえっているのである。そして、八総鉱山について書く気になったのは、自分の家を中心にした記述ではあるが、じつは八総鉱山に住んでいた人たちおよそ1500人は、日本の歴史的な変わり目の大きな波をまとにかぶった人たちなのである。
　戦後9年目、さまざまな土地や国々から引き上げて来て鉱山労働に従事した人たちが、八総鉱山という生産量有数の銅鉱山の発見により国家の助成を得て活況を呈したのも束の間、およそ10年後には日本が国連加盟の条件として迫られた貿易自由化によって、日本の第一次産業（農業、林業、漁業、鉱業）は、ほぼ壊滅状態となり、銅鉱業も海外からの安価な銅の流入によって八総鉱山は閉山に追い込まれた。従業員はわずかな退職金を支給されて、それぞれの新たな人生に旅だったのである。それから数十年後、八総鉱山の子どもたちは、ある人は当時の父親や母親の年齢を超える年齢になり、また、会社勤めの定年を迎える歳になった。また、孫を持つ年齢になったのである。私の耳には私と同年代のあの八総の子どもたちが、立派な業績をあげられている様子も伝わってきた。私には、他人事ではあるが他人事とは思えないような感慨と嬉しさがある。・・・私はこの日記の八総鉱山回想記をそんな思いで書いていた。

　さて、と、言いながらである。私自身は子どものころから自分の家の歴史から独り離れて別の暮しをしてきたのだと、フランスの花便りに触発されてあらためて想起した。私は自分自身については気持がドライなのか、特別な感慨があるわけではない。ただ「フーン」と内心に思ったのである。

France is now in full bloom with acacia. It is often
seen as a roadside tree. I posted a haiku
in this blog diary on May 23rd. Once upon a time there
was a large acacia in the garden of a house in Sapporo
where my parents and younger brothers lived It was a
haiku that reminded me of that acacia.

By the way, while looking at the image of acacis
flowers from France, I noticed that I had never seen
acacia flowers in my house in Sapporo. I have bever
seen flowering. ... because I had never been at my
parents' house at that time. I only go to Sapporo when
high scool or college is on a long vacation. For that long
vacation, for example, I have never seen the famous

returned to Aizuwakamatsu City and Tokyo at that time
of the festival.

I had never recalled such a thing, but when I think
about it again, I came without participating in a major
milestone in the history of my family.

house three times. I'm sure I had to relocate a ton of
household items and my neighbors and company
emoloyees helped my parents, but I've always been
a new home that's been completely cleaned up. It hap-
pend just in unexpectedly if I went new home.
I didn't even know the wedding of my cousin who
lived with me in my parents' house. Currently, she is a
cousin who sometimes talks with me on the phone for a
long time.
I didn't even know the entrance or graduation of my
younger brothers's school.
Also, I didn't know that the my father's company
would work together to recommend him and run for
twice Tajima Town council elections. Thi was because
as the mining industry became more active the problem
on mine poisoning caused by spring water from the
mine began to be addressed, and Tajima Town's major
tax revenue source at that time was the Yaso Mine. The
fact that the Yaso-kozan Elementaru School was in an
advanced position in education meant that it was re-
sponsible for external policy of the Yaso Mining Works.
... I was completely unaware of such family trends, ...
without being informed, just before I was 13 years old,
I was alone on the road of my choice.

I wrote a lot of memories in this diary. I am looking
back on myself on the verge of death. And although I
was interested in writing about the Yaso mine, the
description centerd on my own house, but in fact, about
1,500 people who lived in the Yaso mine were a big
wave of Japan's historical turning point. They were the
people who were washed violently with the wave.
9th year after the WW II, the people who had been
repatriated from various lands or countries and en-
gaged in mining labor were booming with the support
of the state through the discovery of the Yaso mine,
which was one of the leading copper mine in Fukushima
Prefecture in production.
However, due to the urgent trade liberalization as a
condition for joining the United Nations, Japan's
primary industries (included agriculture, forestry,
fishery and mining) were almost destroyed, and the
copper mining industry and Yaso mine were forced to
close due to the influx of cheap copper from overseas.
Yaso mine's employees were paid a small severance
pay and traveled to their new lives.
Decades later, some of the children at Yaso mine
were older than their fathers and mothers at the time,
and they were about to reach retirement age for work
at the company. Also, they has reached the age of
having grandchildren. Inmy ears, I could hear that the
children of Yaso, who were of the same age as me, were
making excellent achivements. I have the feeling and
joy that I can't think of as someone else's affairs. ... I
wrote this diary's memoirs of the Yaso mine with that
in mind.

Well, while saying. Inspired by the French flower
news, I reminded myself that I had lived a different life
away from the history of my home since I was a child.
I don't have any particular feelings about myself, maybe
I'm dry. I just tought "Hoon" in my heart.

Tadami Yamada

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