The Dreamer  ~夢を追う男~

私の友人に阿部 雅龍（あべ まさたつ）という、「夢を追う男」とネット検索すると一番上に出てくる男がいる。

その肩書きは本物で、彼は大学在籍時から自転車で南米大陸縦断や、自作筏でアマゾン川2,000km下り、北極圏単独徒歩（総距離2,000km）など様々な冒険を経験。2019年1月には日本人初の快挙、メスナールートでの南極点 単独徒歩到達を達成。さらに今後、人類初のしらせルートでの南極点到達を目指している。

また彼は浅草で人力車業を10年以上続けており、人力車「阿部屋」として開業している。本作は、人力車を引く阿部雅龍の姿を記録したもの。彼いわく、人力車は「日本文化の勉強」「体力をつけるためのトレーニング」「コミュニケーション能力向上」これらを同時に叶えられる魅力的な仕事とのこと。なるほど、確かに冒険家にとって理想的な仕事かもしれない。そして人力車を冒険に活用してしまう発想も非常に彼らしい。尚、人力車を引いての冒険はトータル8,650kmに及ぶ（全国一宮参拝6,400km、秋田一周750km、東北一周1,500km）。

彼とは大学の同級生で、これほど力強く、真っ直ぐで、不器用な人間を私は他に知らない。人力車の冒険で見せた彼の表情や所作一つひとつから、夢を追う男としての覚悟が見てとれた。そして彼のこれまでの生き様は、多くの人に夢を与え、同時に現実の厳しさを伝えたことだろう。

One of my friends is Masatatsu Abe , a man who comes up at the top of an Internet search for "The Dreamer".

As his title implies, he has cycled across the South American continent, rafted 2,000km down the Amazon River on a homemade raft, and walked 2,000km alone in the Arctic Circle. In January 2019, he will become the first Japanese to reach the South Pole on foot alone on the Messner route. It also aims to be the first human being to reach the South Pole by the Shirase route. Furthermore, he has been in the rickshaw business in Asakusa for more than 10 years, opening his business as a rickshaw called "Abeya”. This is a documentary photo of Abe Masaryu pulling a rickshaw.

According to him, the rickshaw is an attractive job that allows him to "study Japanese culture," "train for physical fitness," and "improve communication skills" all at the same time. It could certainly be an ideal job for an adventurer. And the idea of using the rickshaw as an adventure is also very much like him. The total length of his adventures with the rickshaw was 8,650 km (6,400 km to visit all the shrines in Japan, 750 km around Akita, and 1,500 km around the Tohoku region).

He and I went to college together, and I don't know of any other human being who is so powerful, so straightforward, so clumsy. Every expression and gesture he made during his rickshaw adventure showed us his determination as a man pursuing his dreams. And the way he has lived his life so far would have given many people a dream and at the same time conveyed the harshness of reality.