開催間近っ！/ Just around the corner!
GUTS2026の開催が近づいてきました。You can find the English version below.
執行部改編とほぼ同時に企画を発表したので、ここまでわずか二か月あまり。短い期間ではありましたが、案外まとまるものですね。
その一方で、この短い間にも世界の混沌はさらに複雑さを増しているように見えます。戦争を止めようとしていた人が、今度は戦争を仕掛ける立場に立つ。そして、それが思わぬ連鎖を生み、とばっちりのように新たな火種が生まれていく。
コロナ禍のとき、我々はこの星がひとつの密室であることを痛いほど思い知らされたはずでした。しかし昨今のコンフリクトを見ていると、その経験が本当に生かされているのか、少し心許なく感じてしまいます。
便利さを追い求めすぎたのでしょうか。科学技術の発展ばかりが先行し、それを使う側の成長が追いついていないのかもしれません。気づく間もなく技術はさらに加速し、人々は翻弄されながらも、それを使いこなしているつもりになっている。
最近、STORM SHELTERのロフトに飾ってあったカヤックのフレームを下ろしました。もう一度スキニングして、水に浮かべてみようと思っています。
下ろしたフレームをまじまじと眺めていると、カヤックが人々の生活の中心にあった時代のことを思わずにはいられません。きっと当時の暮らしは、今よりもずっと豊かだったのではないかと。もちろん、ここでいう豊かさは物質的なものではなく、精神的な意味での豊かさです。
カヤックという道具は確かに革新的でした。しかし、ハードとしての発展には限界があります。その先を補うのは、いつも人間の側でした。ハードとソフトのバランスが自然に保たれていたのだと思います。ポテンシャルを最大限に引き出すために、多くの犠牲があったであろうことも想像に難くありません。
家族のために命がけで狩りに出るハンター。
その帰りを信じて待つ家族。
この二つの間には、離れていても確かにつながっている「何か」があったはずです。そして、その「何か」がこの星のあちこちで繰り返されることで、人々の暮らしや社会の静かな均衡が保たれていたのではないでしょうか。
生活の水準を下げることは簡単ではありません。おそらく多くの人にとっては無理難題でしょう。しかし、不便を不便と思わずに生きてきた人たちの生活や文化に、ほんの一瞬でも思いを馳せることができれば、この殺伐とした世界にわずかな潤いを取り戻すことができるのではないか。そんな一縷の望みを持ち続けたいと思っています。
GUTS2026では、ハープーンスローやウォーラスプルなど、シーカヤックの視点から見れば「なぜ、こんなことをするのだろう」と思ってしまうようなメニューを用意しています。
けれど、それらは決して奇抜な遊びではありません。カヤックという道具が、もともとは狩りのための道具であり、家族を守るための手段であったことを、ほんの少しでも感じてほしい。自分自身もまた、それを強く再認識したい。そんな思いからです。
小指の先ほどでも構いません。
GUTS2026から、極北のハンターたちを思う気持ちを持ち帰っていただけたなら、とてもうれしく思います。
エントリーはコチラから。
大貫の海でお会いしましょう。お待ちしております。
GUTS2026 is approaching.
We announced the event almost at the same time as our new leadership team was formed, which means we have had just a little over two months to prepare. It’s a short time, but somehow things have come together.
During these same two months, however, the world seems to have grown even more complicated. People who once tried to stop wars now find themselves starting them. Conflicts trigger new conflicts, and the consequences spread far beyond where they began.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we were reminded—painfully—that this planet is, in many ways, a closed room. What happens in one place eventually reaches everywhere else. And yet, looking at the conflicts we see today, it sometimes feels as if that lesson has already been forgotten.
Perhaps we have pursued convenience too far. Technology continues to advance at great speed, while the people using it struggle to keep up. Before we have time to understand it, the next wave of technology arrives. We are carried along by it, often believing we are in control.
Recently, I took down a kayak frame that had been hanging in the loft of STORM SHELTER. I plan to skin it again and put it back on the water.
As I looked closely at the bare frame, I found myself thinking about the time when kayaks were not a hobby, but a central part of daily life. People in those days may well have lived richer lives than we do today—not in terms of material wealth, but in something deeper.
The kayak was certainly an innovative tool, but there was only so far the tool itself could evolve. Beyond that point, it was the human being who had to grow. Perhaps that is why there was once a natural balance between the tool and the person using it. To draw the full potential from that balance must have required many sacrifices.
A hunter goes out onto the sea, risking his life for his family.
At home, the family waits, believing he will return.
Between these two exists something invisible, yet undeniably real. Even when separated by distance, they remain connected. Perhaps it was this invisible connection—repeated countless times across this planet—that quietly sustained human life and kept the world in balance.
Lowering our standard of living is not easy. For many people, it may be nearly impossible. But if we can take even a brief moment to imagine the lives and cultures of people who lived without seeing inconvenience as a problem, perhaps that thought alone can bring a small sense of calm to this increasingly harsh world.
At GUTS2026, we have prepared activities such as harpoon throwing and the walrus pull. From the perspective of modern sea kayaking, you might wonder, “Why would anyone do this?”
The reason is simple. The kayak was originally a hunting tool. It was a means of protecting and providing for one’s family. Through these activities, we hope to feel—even if only a little—what that reality might have been like.
Even something as small as the tip of a little finger is enough.
If you leave GUTS2026 carrying even the smallest thought for the hunters of the far north, we will consider the event a success.
Click here to enter.
See you at the sea in Onuki — we’ll be waiting for you!
We announced the event almost at the same time as our new leadership team was formed, which means we have had just a little over two months to prepare. It’s a short time, but somehow things have come together.
During these same two months, however, the world seems to have grown even more complicated. People who once tried to stop wars now find themselves starting them. Conflicts trigger new conflicts, and the consequences spread far beyond where they began.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we were reminded—painfully—that this planet is, in many ways, a closed room. What happens in one place eventually reaches everywhere else. And yet, looking at the conflicts we see today, it sometimes feels as if that lesson has already been forgotten.
Perhaps we have pursued convenience too far. Technology continues to advance at great speed, while the people using it struggle to keep up. Before we have time to understand it, the next wave of technology arrives. We are carried along by it, often believing we are in control.
Recently, I took down a kayak frame that had been hanging in the loft of STORM SHELTER. I plan to skin it again and put it back on the water.
As I looked closely at the bare frame, I found myself thinking about the time when kayaks were not a hobby, but a central part of daily life. People in those days may well have lived richer lives than we do today—not in terms of material wealth, but in something deeper.
The kayak was certainly an innovative tool, but there was only so far the tool itself could evolve. Beyond that point, it was the human being who had to grow. Perhaps that is why there was once a natural balance between the tool and the person using it. To draw the full potential from that balance must have required many sacrifices.
A hunter goes out onto the sea, risking his life for his family.
At home, the family waits, believing he will return.
Between these two exists something invisible, yet undeniably real. Even when separated by distance, they remain connected. Perhaps it was this invisible connection—repeated countless times across this planet—that quietly sustained human life and kept the world in balance.
Lowering our standard of living is not easy. For many people, it may be nearly impossible. But if we can take even a brief moment to imagine the lives and cultures of people who lived without seeing inconvenience as a problem, perhaps that thought alone can bring a small sense of calm to this increasingly harsh world.
At GUTS2026, we have prepared activities such as harpoon throwing and the walrus pull. From the perspective of modern sea kayaking, you might wonder, “Why would anyone do this?”
The reason is simple. The kayak was originally a hunting tool. It was a means of protecting and providing for one’s family. Through these activities, we hope to feel—even if only a little—what that reality might have been like.
Even something as small as the tip of a little finger is enough.
If you leave GUTS2026 carrying even the smallest thought for the hunters of the far north, we will consider the event a success.
Click here to enter.
See you at the sea in Onuki — we’ll be waiting for you!
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