🚃 4月のコラム
🚃🚃 環境システム学専攻
🚃🚃🚃 秋月信 准教授
自宅で旅行気分
その昔研究室に所属するようになったとき、それまでは講義のありなしで春休みの存在をしっかりと感じていたが、急に存在感が薄れてしまって、友人と「大学院生に春休みなんてあるの？」などと冗談めかして話していたことを思い出す。柏キャンパスでは、大学院と研究所しかないこともあって、キャンパスから学生が急にいなくなって春休みを感じるといったこともないのだが、それはさておき3月になって気候も穏やかになり、春休みのありなしにかかわらず、旅行に出かける方も多いのではないかと思う。
旅行の楽しみは観光、食、お土産など人それぞれと思うが、私の場合は食とお土産の真ん中あたりをとって、旅先の駅で売っている駅弁をお土産に買って帰るのを楽しみにしている。少し前までは趣味と実益を兼ねた小旅行として、週末になると新潟方面や福島方面に出かけていき、移動の車内で普段はなかなか進まない書類仕事を片付けていたのだが、その際には例えば直江津駅のさけめしや郡山駅の海苔のりべんといった有名駅弁をお土産に買って帰るのが定番であった。最近はなんだか忙しくなり小旅行の機会も少なくなってしまったのだが、そんな私の強い味方が、東京駅構内にある駅弁屋である。古い言い方だがまさに駅弁のデパートといった感じで、特に東日本の各地の駅弁を好きなときに買うことができるため、自宅に持って帰って並べてみるとなんとなく旅行に行ったような気分になって嬉しくなる。最近品揃えがますます充実してきており、以前は現地でしか買えなかった駅弁が並んでないかなと探しに、機会があるとつい立ち寄ってしまう。もちろん旅行に行くのには及ばないのだが、これはこれで楽しい趣味を見つけたと思っている。
🚃 April issue
🚃🚃 Department of Environment Systems
🚃🚃🚃 Message from Associate Professor Akizuki Makoto
Travelling, from home
Back in the day, I could still properly feel the presence of Spring Break, as there would be no lectures. However, when I began doing lab work, it suddenly felt like Spring Break had disappeared; I recall jesting with friends: “Do graduate students even get Spring breaks?” Here at Kashiwa Campus, perhaps it’s because we only have graduate schools and institutes, but it never feels like Spring Break proper with a sudden outflux of students on vacations. Nevertheless, as we enter March and the weather gets milder, I’m wondering if more people may feel inclined to travel, regardless of Spring Break or not.
People travel to enjoy various things, such as sight-seeing, gourmet, or souvenirs. For me, I particularly enjoy a niche cross of gourmet and souvenirs; specifically, I look forward to buying the station bento at my travel destination and bringing it back as a souvenir. Until recently, I embarked on such short trips out of both leisure and utility; on weekends, I would hop on a train bound for Niigata or Fukushima, and while on the train, I would finish up various paperwork that had been piling up and awaiting my attention. As part of the routine, I would buy various renowned bento boxes, such as Sakemeshi (salmon rice bento) at Naoetsu Station, or Noriben (dried seaweed bento) at Koriyama Station, and bring them back with me as souvenirs. A bit unfortunately, I’ve become somewhat busy as of late, and as such I’ve been missing out on opportunities to embark on my short voyages. Nevertheless, I’ve found a dependable ally in Tokyo Station bento shops. It’s a bit of an outmoded description, but they really feel like department stores for bento. This is especially because I could buy various Station bento from Eastern Japan as I’d like, at any time, so if I bring them home and line them up, it almost feels like I really went travelling to those places, and it makes me happy. Their selection has been wider than ever as of late, and I find myself dropping by whenever I get the opportunity, searching for Station bento that were previously unavailable elsewhere to add to my collection. Of course it’s no replacement for real travels, but I feel that it has become an enjoyable hobby of mine in its own right.
