「森盲天外－生誕1６0周年－」という節目の年に、縁あってデジタルミュージアムを開館することができました。
森盲天外（本名・森恒太郎、１８６４～１９３４）は愛媛県の地方政治家であり、20代で失明した中途視覚障がい者でありながら数々の功績を残した、日本初の盲人村長です。伊予郡余土村町長在任時に、実践した「余土村是」が万国博覧会で一等賞となり全国の模範村になり、のちに道後湯之町長として財政難を改革するなど、政治家としての手腕を発揮しました。また、私立愛媛盲唖学校設立、青年福祉事業である私塾「天心園」開設など、福祉や教育にも尽力した人物です。
一方、政治活動や社会的活動の傍ら、盲天外は俳句、随筆、自伝、評伝など多彩な文章を残しています。また正岡子規とも親交があり、『ホトトギス』にも俳句や随筆が掲載されています。代表作『一粒米』は自伝であり、失明するまでの経緯と、失明直後の絶望と混乱、自殺未遂から、自身の思想や精神に目覚めるまでが書かれています。
デジタルミュージアムを通じて一人でも多くの来館者様が、盲天外の生き方・考え方に触れることができれば幸いです。
“Welcome to the Mori Mōtengai Digital Museum“
We are pleased to announce the opening of the digital museum in this milestone year commemorating the 160th anniversary of Mori Mōtengai’s birth. We hope that this digital museum will provide an opportunity for many visitors to learn about and connect with Mōtengai’s life and philosophy.
“Who was Mori Mōtengai?”
Mori Mōtengai (real name: Mori Kōtarō, 1864–1934) was a local politician from Ehime Prefecture, Japan. He became visually impaired in his 30s but achieved numerous accomplishments despite this challenge. During his tenure as mayor of Yōdo Village (余土村) in Iyo District, he implemented the “Yōdo Village Policy,” which won first prize at the 5th National Industrial Exposition and established the village as a national model.Later, as the mayor of Dōgo Yunochō (道後湯之町), he demonstrated his political acumen by reforming the town’s financial difficulties. In addition to founding the private Ehime School for the Blind and Deaf, Mori also established Tenshinen, an organization for youth education and welfare.
Alongside his political and social activities, Mōtengai was a prolific writer, leaving behind a diverse body of work such as haiku, essays, autobiographies, and biographies. He was acquainted with Masaoka Shiki, and some of Mōtengai’s haiku and essays were published in Hototogisu. It is said that Shiki himself gave Mōtengai his pen name. His representative work, Ichiryūmai (A Grain of Rice), is an autobiography that vividly recounts his journey from the events leading up to his blindness, the despair and turmoil following his loss of sight, and a suicide attempt, to the eventual awakening of his personal philosophy and spirit. The preface of the book was written by his friend Nitobe Inazō. As a result, Ichiryūmai carried significant social meaning and messages as the autobiography of Japan’s first blind village mayor, rather than just a personal narrative. The book garnered much attention and was published up to its eighth edition.
Mōtengai’s candid accounts of his visual impairment and creative approaches to expression distinguish him as a pioneering figure among Japanese writers with disabilities. During the same era, Takagi Masatoshi, Japan’s first visually impaired member of the House of Representatives, also published an autobiography. While Takagi’s written work was limited to his autobiography, Mōtengai’s writings, including his anecdote about wanting to pursue a literary career in Tokyo, suggest a strong drive for writing stemming from his desire to educate and inspire. Consequently, Mōtengai stands out as a pioneering and distinctive figure among writers with disabilities in Japan. A portion of this digital museum was created with the support of a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 22K00357)
