新宿・中井の「染の小道」 / Some no komichi (Alleys for dyed cloth) in Nakai, Shinjuku

２月末の週末に開催された、新宿・中井の「染の小道」というイベントに足を運んだ。前回の投稿では街並みを紹介したが、こちらでは主役の染め物を紹介したい。

川に欠けられた反物も美しかったが、店の入口に掛けられたのれんがよかったな。店に合わせて仕立てられたのれんを見て、調和を楽しんだり、ときに何の店か考えてみたり。

ガラス戸の店の中に掛けられていることがあって、どこまでカメラを向けていいやら考えたこともあった。一番困ったのは銭湯ののれんだったな。

On the last weekend of February, I went to an event called Some no Komichi, which means alleys for dyed cloth. I posted some photos of the town in the previous blog post, so here, I'd like to share some photos of dyed cloth hanging over the river, and some shop curtains made for the event.

I especially liked the shop curtains which were hanging only during the event weekend. It was fun to guess what shop or restaurant it was judging from the curtain.

When a curtain was hanging inside the shop, I was not sure if it was ok to point my camera to the inside of the shop. The most troubling curtain was the one at a public bath. I didn't want to be pointing my camera at it when wind lifted up the curtain ...

風が吹くとなかなか撮れない。
It was hard to capture it when wind was blowing.

いらっしゃいませ。
Irasshaimase.

間違いなく飲み屋。
It was a bar. Apparently.

インド料理屋っぽい。
It must be an Indian restaurant.

左の幕もイベント限定だろうか。
I didn't know if the left one was for the event.

銭湯。のれんがめくれると中が見えてしまう。
This is the curtain at the entrance of a public bath ...

外に掛けてほしかった。
The curtain should have been outside of the shop ...

もともとののれんとの調和。
I loved the harmony of the original curtain and the one for the event.

今回の機材

85mm散歩。中井という街を初めて歩く。/ Walking in the town of Nakai, Shinjuku for the first time with the 85mm lens

前に友人たちが投稿した「染の小道」というイベントの写真を見て知った街。西武新宿線に乗ることがほとんどないから、この付近は歩いたことがなかった。

ちょうど前の日に新聞に今年のイベントの話題が載っていたので、思い立って出かけてみた。街を抜ける妙正寺川を彩る反物は美しかったが、使い古された（という表現がいいかどうかわからないが）街並みの方に惹かれた。

人が写っていなくても人の気配とか痕跡とか、生活を感じる普段の風景がいいな。

I knew about this place through photos from friends of mine. They posted photos of an event called, Some no Komichi, meaning Alleys of Dyed Cloth. I seldom take the Seibu Shinjuku line so I don't have a chance to walk around the area.

I happened to see an article about the event on the newspaper on the previous day, so I decided to to go see it myself. The view of various pieces of dyed cloth along the Myoshoji River was impressive. But the colors of daily life I saw in the streets attracted me even more.

Even if there is no one captured in the photos, I still can feel and see people living in the town.

何とも言えない褪せた生活の色がいい。反物もきれいだったから、次回に少しだけ紹介しようと思う。

I fell in love with such faded colors of life. Of course, the dyed cloth hanging over the river and the storefronts were great, so I'll show you some of them in the next blog post.

今回の機材