みずみずしい田園風景、雄大な立山連峰の山並み、 そして砺波平野に広がる散居村——南砺には、こうした厳しくも豊かな自然のなかで育まれてきた精神風土を表す、「土徳（どとく）」という言葉があります。
土徳とは、その土地に根付く信仰心や思想を表す言葉であり、民藝運動の創始者・柳宗悦が、南砺市城端にある「城端別院 善徳寺」に滞在し、民藝思想の集大成とされる著書『美の法門』を執筆していた折に生み出したとされています。南砺の地には古くから、自然や宇宙を生み出す大いなる力に身をゆだね、感謝とともに生きるという、浄土真宗に根ざした「他力」の教えが深く根づいていました。
他力とは言い換えれば、川の流れに沿って田を耕し、自然のリズムに寄り添うように家々を点在させた散居村の景観や、人々の暮らしと共に植生や生態系が保たれてきた里山の風景のように、自然を人間の都合で支配・改変するのではなく、その環境のなかで最適なバランスを探りながら生きていく——そうした自然との本質的な共生の作法です。
現代を生きる私たちは、もはや自然に身をまかせるだけではなく、自然の再生に向けて積極的に関与していくことが求められています。人間の営みと自然環境とが互いに作用し合いながら、よりよい状態をともに築いていく。そのような関係性を育むことこそが、持続可能で豊かな社会の実現につながるのではないでしょうか。
この場所を訪れる人々が、「土徳」の精神にふれ、自然の営みに対する謙虚さと感謝を心に抱きつつ、自らもまた生態系の一部として生きることの意味に思いを巡らせる——そんな体験を通じて、現代における「土徳」のあり方を、この場所から表現します。
The landscape of Nanto is a tapestry of lush rice fields, the majestic peaks of the Tateyama mountain range, and the dispersed settlements of the Tonami Plain. Within this land, shaped by both the harshness and abundance of nature, there exists a profound concept known as Dotoku—a term that encapsulates the deep spiritual connection between people and the Earth that has flourished here over centuries.
Dotoku, loosely translated as “the virtue of the earth,” refers to a faith and philosophy cultivated by and embedded in a specific place. The word is said to have been coined by Yanagi Sōetsu, founder of the Mingei (folk craft) movement, during his stay at Zentokuji Temple in Jōhana, Nanto. There, he penned Bi no Hōmon (The Law of Beauty), a seminal work regarded as the culmination of his thought. Long before Yanagi’s arrival, however, Nanto had been steeped in the teachings of Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism—particularly the concept of Tariki, or “other power,” which encourages surrender to the greater forces of the cosmos and a life lived in gratitude.
Tariki, in another sense, finds expression in the very landscape: the scattered villages (sankyo-son) of the region, where homes and fields are arranged following the natural flow of water, in the satoyama, the wooded foothills where the ecosystems have been preserved alongside human life. It reflects a mode of coexistence not based on domination or control but on seeking balance within one’s environment—a quiet, enduring practice of living with nature rather than against it.
Today, we can no longer afford to simply entrust ourselves to nature—we are called to engage actively in its regeneration. A sustainable and abundant society may emerge only when human life and the natural world are understood as interdependent forces that shape and support one another.
We hope those who visit this land might encounter the spirit of dotoku, feel a quiet reverence for the workings of nature, and reflect on what it means to live as part of an ecosystem. Through such experiences, we seek to offer a contemporary vision of dotoku, grounded in this place.
