写真・構成：岩崎量示
The English translation follows after the Japanese text.
〈黒い川面に春を見る〉
ちょうど15年前の今日、2015年3月16日。音更川をはさんで対岸に立つタウシュベツ川橋梁を撮っていた。すでに湖を横断して橋まで行ける時期は終わり、川面に開けた水の流れや、空にぼんやり浮かんだ雲が、春が近づいていることを知らせていた。
黒々と流れる雪解け水に乗って、上流で割れた氷のかたまりがいくつも運ばれてくる。湖底の一部にはもう土がのぞいているものの、ここから完全に雪が消え去るのはまだ先のことだ。
Fifteen years ago today, on March 16, 2015, I was taking pictures of the Taushubetsu Bridge from across the Otofuke River. It was already too late in the season to walk across the lake to reach the bridge. The open water on the river’s surface and the hazy clouds overhead both hinted that spring was on its way.
Dark meltwater carried chunks of broken ice downstream from the upper part of the lake. In some spots on the lakebed, you could already see patches of soil, but it would still be a while before all the remaining snow disappeared. It was that in-between time when winter’s end is almost here, yet spring hasn’t fully arrived.
Ryoji Iwasaki