A circle of friends connected by gootouch! The “FIST BUMP” corner of the radio program “GRAND MARQUEE” features people who live and enjoy Tokyo in a relay format.
On July 6, Nase Ueki, an illustrator and owner of the “Traveling Sewing Machine Shop,” introduced Nanase Ueki, who surveys, studies, and observes ancient roads. Kei Ogikubo, a freelance writer who has been researching, studying, and observing ancient paths, will appear. We asked Mr. Ogikubo, who has been writing for over 30 years, about how he became a writer and the various things he has discovered since becoming a writer.
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Luckily, I became a writer.
Celeina (MC): Ogikubo-san studied the road, and moreover, he is very knowledgeable about gadgets and IT-related matters.
Takano (MC): You have been a writer for more than 30 years?
Ogikubo: Yes, I have. I was originally in a computer-related department, and I thought that computers would definitely come to the world in the future, and that it would be interesting. I thought that I had to go to Tokyo to start talking about it, and while I was doing various things in Tokyo, my dream came true. I don’t care when I die (laughs).
Takano: But is it possible to become a writer so suddenly?
Ogikubo: When I was a student, I worked hard to buy a computer and ran out of money. I had to do something about it, so I made some calls from a pay phone to a number in the back of a computer magazine that was looking for writers, and asked if they would take a look at a program I had written.
Celeina: Using the phone to sell myself.
Ogikubo: I didn’t want to have my application rejected and get nothing back. I thought if I called and said I would go, they would listen to me.
Celeina: You have a lot of vitality.
Ogikubo: Then he said, “There is one page that we haven’t decided who will write it yet. I said, “I’ll do it, I’ll do it! I said, “I’ll do it!
Takano: So the timing was good.
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Discovering the charm of ancient roads through a camera
Celeina: And from there, you began to observe ancient paths as part of your research.
Takano: It means “old road” or “ancient road.
Ogikubo: When I started writing articles about digital cameras, I started going out to take pictures. When I was riding my bicycle on the main road, there was a light truck in front of me that was emitting black smoke, which was bad for my health. To avoid this, I started taking back roads and old roads, and I realized that there were many roads that were very easy to ride and had a certain elegance to them. When I looked them up in libraries, I discovered many things, such as that this was actually the Kamakura Kaido, which I thought was interesting.
Takano: You never know where you will find a clue.
Ogikubo: People think we are doing completely different things, but in my mind, we are connected.
Celeina: The dots are connected to form a line.
Ogikubo: When I was most into bicycles, if I had a meeting in Roppongi, I would definitely come by bicycle. There are many roads that are easy to ride, difficult to ride, and roads that you don’t want to ride on. This is how it gets more and more interesting.
Celeina: Do you still ride a bicycle?
Ogikubo: I am not as strong as I used to be, so I can’t ride for long distances. Recently, I’m into electric bicycles.
Celeina: You brought a lot of books to the studio today.
Ogikubo: Yes, I do. The newest one is called “Discovering Kamakura Kaido Traditions with Old Maps and Topographical Maps,” published by Yamakawa Shuppansha, a well-known publisher of textbooks! Walking the Legend of Kamakura Highway” from Yamakawa Shuppansha, a well-known textbook publisher. I actually walked along the old roads in Tokyo and Kanagawa that have remained since the Kamakura period, and wrote about the roads in Kamakura that existed in the Heian and Kamakura periods. I was saying that if we sold the book in the spring in conjunction with “Kamakura-dono no 13inin,” it would do well, but my manuscript was delayed (laughs). In the book “Edo/Tokyo: Walking the Ancient Roads of Edo and Tokyo: Discovered with Ancient Maps and Topographical Maps”, I wrote about the roads remaining in Tokyo. (Laughs).” In the book, you walk along old roads in Tokyo, comparing them with maps from the Edo period.
Celeina: What is a “tasaro”?
Ogikubo: Yes, I couldn’t convert “tasaro” into the word at once, so I was surprised that it is such a little-known word.
Takano: I was so surprised that it was such a little-known word. This cover is a seven-way street that divides into seven parts.
Celeina: I didn’t know there was such a place in Tokyo!
Ogikubo: If you think about it, you would never build such a place because it would be prone to accidents and difficult to use. But there is a historical background to it.
Takano: Interesting! Where in Ota Ward is the cover located?
Ogikubo: It is located between Kamata and Rokugo, one street east of Daiichi Keihin, and is called Nanatsuji.
Celeina: Do listeners recognize it when they hear it?
Ogikubo: I think everyone in Ota-ku knows it. It’s very famous.
Celeina: It means the road has a history and a reason.
Ogikubo: There are too many roads in Tokyo. I am very happy when I find an old road among them.
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The joy of finding something in the city
Celeina: What is the charm of old roads, Ogikubo-san?
Ogikubo: One is the pleasure of finding them. Old roads have stone Buddha statues from the Edo period by the side of the road, or the luxurious gate of an old family, or a mansion. There are also remnants of tiny Inari shrines and so on. It is interesting to encounter the casual history of the area.
Takano: It’s like collecting items in an RPG.
Celeina: It’s like solving a riddle.
Ogikubo: It’s like when you find something old that has been overlooked and left uncleaned in the midst of everyone’s modern life, and you say, “I’m glad you’re all alive,” or “How are you?” It’s like that.
Celeina: I would like to play a song around this time. I asked Ogikubo-san to choose a song that he would like everyone to listen to together on the radio at this time. What song would it be?
Ogikubo: Yesterday, when Ueki-san talked about his love of cats, I thought of this song when I thought of cats, so I made a request. It was “The Love Cats” by The Cure.
