Is it possible to live a self-sufficient life with a family in a residential area near Tokyo? Indeed, it would be more difficult to achieve self-sufficiency in the city while maintaining some degree of social interaction, rather than deep in the mountains in the middle of nowhere. The author sometimes makes trips to hunt deer and large mice (nutria). He bought chicks to raise and keep for their eggs with his family. Of course, when a hen gets weak, they eat it. His wife is reluctant to eat it, but his daughter, who is the youngest in the family and takes good care of the hens, cries and loves to taste it.

This book is a collection of his essays. He writes monthly columns for magazines. He wanted to become a famous mountaineer when he just graduated from university. He succeeded in climbing to K2. However, he changed his mind and started to manage his mountain climbing with minimum belongings. In other words, his new goal is self-sufficient climbing. He said, "Survival mountaineering is a term I coined. It is simply defined as 'taking no battery-powered devices or fuel into the mountains. The only food I take is rice and spices.'".

I like the episode about his daughter. He and his daughter had been participating in a local ekiden relay race since she was in the second grade of elementary school. She eventually became the captain of the track and field club in junior high school and made it to the national Ekiden championships.

I was impressed to read about a week-long bicycle trip he took with his children at the age of twelve as the passage from childhood to adulthood.

『サバイバル家族』服部文祥を読んで

東京近郊の住宅地で、家族と共に自給自足生活なんてできるのだろうか。確かに、人里離れた山奥よりも、ある程度社会生活を送りながら街中で自給自足生活する方が、難しいだろう。著者は時々、鹿や大ネズミ・ヌートリアを狩るために旅に出る。卵を採るためにひよこを買ってきて、家族で鶏を飼う。もちろん、鶏が弱ったら、締めて食べる。彼の妻はあまり食べるのは気がすすまないが、鶏を一番かわいがっている彼の末娘は、別れに涙をながしながらも、おいしいと言って食べる。

この本は彼の雑誌などに掲載されたエッセイをまとめたものだ。大学を卒業したばかりの頃、彼は名の通った登山家を目指していた。彼はK2登頂にも成功している。しかし、彼は考えを改め、最小限の装備と食糧での登山への挑戦を開始する。彼の新たな目標は自給自足登山とも言える。サバイバル登山とは彼の造語で、簡単に言えば「電池で動くものと燃料を山に持って行かない。食料は米と調味料だけ」ということらしい。

私は彼の娘さんのエピソードが好きだ。小学2年から地域の駅伝レースに著者と参加し続けた彼女は、中学陸上部のキャプテンになり、陸上部の駅伝チームは全国大会出場を果たした。

彼が子どもが小６の時に行なう、親子二人の人力元服旅行の話も印象に残った。