For a photo shoot, we went to a village in Alaska called Bettles. About an hour and 20 minutes by small plane from Fairbanks, the plane passed through a gap in the mountains, and looking down from the window, I saw a series of undulating frozen rivers." On the "airfield" the number of people in the village is shown like a baseball scoreboard. When we were there, the population was about 30, but by 2020 it will be reduced to 23.

In winter, the river freezes over, and if you drive on it, you can reach the nearest supermarket from the village in eight hours by car. In summer, however, a small airplane is the only means of transportation, and it makes several round trips a day to bring supplies.

During the gold rush in the U.S., villages were built here and there, but when the gold stopped coming in, people left and only abandoned villages remained. We were told that there was such a village in Bettles, so we decided to go there.

We were told that the only way to reach the abandoned village was by snowmobile. I had never driven such a thing, and three years ago I could not even drive a car properly. Beside me, Mr. Yoshihara, a writer, was eager to go with his sparkling eyes, "Let's go! “ I was struck by his eyes, and my curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to go. A young woman from Oregon who lives in the village told us, "If any part of your skin is exposed, you will get frostbite immediately, so be sure to cover all parts of your body.

After being lent a pair of army boots that had been used in the Arctic, we were instructed on how to drive the snowmobiles, and we took off.

At first I was too nervous to relax, but after a while I couldn't have been happier.

After about 45 minutes of driving, we got off the snowmobiles in the middle of a frozen river and walked to an abandoned village.

The snow was piled deep, and with both my hands blocked by my camera, I was stuck, and I was buried in the snow in spectacular fashion. When I asked for help, Mr. Yoshihara, who is also from Tokyo but is wonderfully familiar with nature, gave me a helping hand with a big smile on his face.

The abandoned village stood there in the snow. We decided to go inside a house, but even though it was in ruins, we were somewhat hesitant to enter someone's house in silence. The floor creaked as I walked. The cups someone was about to drink from, the mattress that even felt warm despite the minus 20 degree Celsius, the wind coming in through the broken window, the magazines someone was about to read, the air that felt like it was empty yet I could feel its presence.

I felt a shiver down my spine, so I left and walked along the frozen river back to my snowmobile. I felt a tremendous sense of relief that the snowmobile was there, of course.

Standing on the frozen river reminded me of the movie "Into the Wild". The main character leaves his family, money, and everything else behind to move to Alaska alone, but he becomes ill from poison from a plant he mistakenly ate. He begins to walk in search of a human settlement, but because it was summer, he could not cross the river and turned back, losing his life in the process. The last words he wrote in his notebook were. "Happiness is only real when shared." 　

Happiness spreads more and more when it is shared with someone else. With these thoughts in mind, we returned to the lodge.

撮影で、アラスカのベトラスという村へ行った。フェアバンクスから小型飛行機で約１時間２０分、山の隙間を飛行機は通り過ぎ、窓から見下ろすと、うねうねとした凍った川が連なる。”飛行場”にはその村の人口数が、野球のスコアボードみたいに示してある。わたしたちが行った時は確か３０人くらいだったが、2020年には２３人に減ったらしい。

冬になると川が凍結するため、その上を走れば、村から一番近いスーパーは車で８時間で到着する。ただし、夏は小型飛行機が唯一の移動手段で、それが1日何往復かして物資を運ぶ。

アメリカはゴールドラッシュ時にあちこちで村が作られたが、金が取れなくなると人は離れ、廃墟とした村だけが残った。ベトルスにもそういう村があるというので、行くことにした。

廃墟村へは、スノーモービルでなければ辿りつかないという。そんなもの運転したこともなければ、3年前の私は車すらまともに運転できなかった。横でライターの吉原さんがキラキラした目で「行こう！」と乗り気だ。その目にやられ、そして自分の好奇心にも勝てず腹をくくった。「少しでも肌が出ていると、すぐに凍傷になるので必ずすべての部分を隠してください」とオレゴン出身でこの村に住む若い女性が教えてくれた。

北極で使用されたという陸軍用の靴を貸してもらい、スノーモービルの運転の手ほどきを受け、出発した。

初めは緊張で余裕はなかったが、しばらくするとこの上ない幸せを噛み締めていた。

４５分ほど走ってから、凍った川の途中でスノーモービルから降り、そこから廃墟村へ歩いた。

雪は深く積もっており、そして両手がカメラで塞がって身動きが取れず、私は見事に雪の中に埋まった。助けを求めると、同じく東京出身なのに見事なまでに自然に慣れ親しんでいる吉原さんは大笑いしながら手を差し伸べてくれた。

廃墟した村は、シンとした雪の中、佇んでいた。家の中に入ることにしたが、廃墟とはいえ、誰かの家に無言で入るのはどこか躊躇する。歩くとぎしぎしと床が軋む。飲みかけのカップ、マイナス２０度なのにぬくもりすら感じるマットレス、割れた窓から入る風、読みかけの雑誌、誰もいないのに気配を感じるこの空気。

背筋がぞくっとしたのでそこを出て、凍った川を歩いてスノーモービルまで戻った。当たり前だがスノーモービルがそこにあったことに、ものすごい安堵感を覚えた。

凍った川の上に立った時、「イントゥ・ザ・ワイルド」という映画を思い出した。主人公は家族もお金もすべてを捨て一人でこのアラスカへ移住するが、間違えて食した植物の毒で体調を崩す。人里を探し歩き始めるも、夏だったため川を渡れず引き返し、そのまま命を落とすという実話を元にした内容だった。彼がノートに記した最後の言葉がある。 “Happiness is only real when shared(幸せは、共有されたときのみ、現実になる).” 　

誰かと分かち合うと、幸せはもっともっと広がっていく。そんなことを考えながらロッジへ戻った。