It’s cold this morning.  It is 1 degree below freezing. It’s Daikan(the coldest period between about January 20 and February 4, the first day of spring) yesterday, so the cold should be at its peak, but I don’t know.  Recently, it is often said that everything is breaking records or the first time in the history of observation, so I don’t know if there will be even colder days.  However, the surrounding trees and flowers are definitely preparing for spring.  Sasanqua has begun to drop a lot of petals, but there is still momentum.  White sasanqua flowers are blooming on the promenade that has not dawned yet, and it looks like a road lantern.  A faint scent of plum blossoms drifts from the nearby plum garden, which makes me feel more spring.  We want to overcome the coronavirus and have a hopeful spring, aren’t we?

今朝は寒い。氷点下１度です。昨日(1/20)は大寒ですから、寒さもピークのはずですがわかりません。最近は何もかもが記録破りだとか、観測史上初めてと言ったことが多いから、さらに寒い日があるかも分かりません。しかし、周りの木々や草花は確実に春の準備を進めています。山茶花も花びらを沢山落とし始めていますが、まだまだ勢いがあります。まだ開けやらぬ遊歩道に真っ白な山茶花が咲いていて、道灯籠の様です。近くの梅園から仄かな梅の香りも漂って来ますから、いっそう春の気分を盛り上げます。コロナウイスに打ち勝って、希望に満ちた春を迎えたいですね。

Every day with Sankan-Shion(three cold days and four warm days).  The plums that have begun to bloom are lightly covered with snow.  Its snow looks like a white muffler and even looks warm. It’s just like the expression of a frolicking child singing “Yukiya Konkon, Arareya Konkon”.  Maybe it looks like it’s because I feel good.  Even if you look at the same scenery, there are various ways to receive it.  Even one person will be different depending on the mood of the day.  January 17th is also “Omusubi Day”.  This day was set up to thank the 130,000 rice balls that the volunteers who gathered at “JA Kobe Nishi” sent to the victims of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake 26 years ago.  They said they made 6,000 pieces a day, desperately for three weeks.  Even if you look at one rice ball, if you hear such a story, your perspective will be different.

三寒四温の続く毎日。綻び始めた梅に雪が軽く被さっています。白いマフラーの様で暖っかそうにさえ見えます。「ゆーきやこんこん、あられーやこんこん」とはしゃぐ子供の表情です。多分こちらの気分がいいのでしょう。同じ景色を見ても受け取り方は人様々。同じ人でもその日の気分で違ってきます。1月17日は「おむすびの日」でもあります。26年前の阪神淡路大震災時に、「JA神戸西」に集まったボランティア達が被災者達に送り届けた13万個のおむすびに感謝する為に設けられた日です。１日に６千個、必死で３週間作り続けたそうです。１個のおむすびを見ても、こういうお話を聞いたら、また見方も違ってきます。

I received a red and white Kabura(turnip) from a nearby farmer.  When I asked him what kind of seedlings it was when he was planting seedlings before, he answered it was Kabura. He promised me that he would give me it when it would grow, but I have thoroughly forgot it. But now I received it.  I’m grateful for him and I’m just moved for the wonderful red and white turnips.  I’m wondering how to cook it now.  By the way, “Kabura” is a Kansai language, which is the originator, but the standard language is “Kabu”.  It’s a Kanto dialect, so to speak.  A long time ago, the women of Court used to say “Okabu”, but the “O” was removed and it became “Kabu”.  There are many examples of saying this, such as “Nasu(eggplant)” for “Nasubi”, “Kabocha(pumpkin) for “Nankin”, “Hasu(lotus root)” for “Renkon”, and so on.

近くのお百姓から紅白のかぶらを頂きました。以前苗植えをしている時に何の苗かとお聞きしたら、かぶらだと。できたら上げますよと言われたのですが、忘れていたら頂戴した次第。ありがたくて、しかも紅白の立派なかぶら、ただただ感謝です。どうしたものかと思案中です。ちなみに「かぶら」は関西言葉で、これが元祖ですが、標準語では「かぶ」。言ってみれば、関東の方言です。昔、宮中の女房達が「おかぶ」と言っていたのが、「お」が取れて「かぶ」になったわけです。こう言った例は沢山あって、「なすび」が「なす」、「なんきん」が「かぼちゃ」、「れんこん」が「はす」等々。

Izu is already a spring landscape.  The early blooming Kawazu cherry blossoms are in full bloom, and rape blossoms are spreading in the countryside.  There are some places where it is hard to clear snow due to heavy snow, other places which has already reached spring.  Thinking about this, it seems that Japan is also wide. It is a characteristic of Japan that is long from north to south and surrounded by the sea.  The scenery of the four seasons is rich in variety and blessed with abundant ingredients, and it is inevitable that the Japanese born and raised there are rich in emotion. While, natural disasters such as the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake are not odd.  Catastrophes that kill thousands and tens of thousands of people at once continue to occur.  Ironically, this also purifies the Japanese mind.

伊豆はもう春の景色です。早咲きの河津桜は見頃を迎え、菜の花が田園に広がっています。大雪で雪掻きが大変という所があるかと思えば、こうしてもう春を迎えている所もある日本は意外に広いんだと胸を張りたい気分です。南北に長く、周りを海に囲まれた日本ならではの特徴です。四季折々の景色は変化に富み、豊かな食材にも恵まれ、そこで生まれ育った日本人が情緒豊かなのも必然です。そうかと思えば、阪神淡路大震災のような自然災害も半端ではありません。一度に何千人、何万人の命を落とす大災害も起こり続いています。皮肉なことにこれもまた日本人の心を浄化します。

Twenty-six years ago, the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake struck today, killing nearly 6,500 precious lives.  We pray for the souls.  On the day when the memory of that time revives vividly, the fruit that seems to be a cherry blossom is spreading in the blue sky.  Eventually, when this fruit also falls, it sprouts and young leaves spread in the sky.  I feel impermanence and hope in the life that lasts forever. Now,   the “The Tale of the Heike” tells us the proverb that “Great talent shows itself early in childhood”, and this proverb has been passed down to this day, but “Sendan” here means “Ofuchi”.  There is almost no scent that can be said on the Ofuchi.  Sendan originally refers to Byakudan(sandalwood), which is not found in Japan, so Sendan is not found in Japan either.  The illusion that the author of The Tale of the Heike thought that the Ofuchi that resembled Sendan was mistaken for Sendan and that the Sendan had a nice scent has been passed down to this day as the saying “Great talent shows itself early in childhood”.  That’s right.

26年前の今日、阪神淡路大震災が起こり6500人近くの尊い命が犠牲になりました。ご冥福をお祈りいたします。その時の記憶が鮮明に甦る日、栴檀が桜の花かと見紛える様な実を青空に広げています。やがてこの実も落ちると新芽を出し若葉が空に広がります。永遠に続く命の営みに無常を感じ、また希望も感じます。「栴檀は双葉より芳しとこそ見えたれ」と諸行無常の物語「平家物語」にあり、この諺が今日まで伝わっていますが、ここで言う「栴檀」は「おふち」のことで、おふちにはほとんど語られる様な匂いはありません。栴檀は元々白檀のことを指し、白檀は日本にはないから、栴檀も日本にはないわけです。栴檀に似たおふちを栴檀に取り違え、その栴檀にはいい香りがあると言う言い伝えを平家物語の作者が思い込んだ錯覚が、「栴檀は双葉より芳し」と言う諺になって今日まで伝わっているわけですね。

It’s still a little early to say Sankan-Shion(three cold and four warm), but recently cold days and warm days have repeated.  Yesterday of Koshogatsu(the First Full Moon) was weather in the middle of March.  Spring is definitely approaching.  While the state of emergency for the new coronavirus infection was issued in various places, plum blossoms began to open in the nearby park.  Every time I hear the news, I feel depressed, but at least it’s comforting.  But is it okay to let go of this too?  The average temperature in the world in 2020 was 14.88 degrees Celsius, which was the second highest in the history of observation after 2016.  Of these, the average temperature on land is said to have reached a record high of 10.09 degrees Celsius.  NASA’s research team emphasizes that “reducing greenhouse gases that cause global warming is important.”  Far from being Sankan-Shion, it is every day of Ikki Ichiyu(Now glad, Now sad).

三寒四温と言うにはまだ少し早いですが、このところ寒い日と温かい日が繰り返しています。小正月の昨日は３月中旬の陽気だとか。春は確実に近づいています。新型コロナウイルス感染症緊急事態宣言が各地で出される中、近くの公園では、梅の花がほころび始めました。ニュースを聞く度に気が滅入る思いですが、せめてもの慰めです。しかしこれも手放しで喜んでいいのかどうか。昨年２０２０年の世界の平均気温が１４・８８度となり、１６年に次いで観測史上２番目に高かったとか。このうち陸上の平均気温は過去最高の１０・０９度を記録したそうです。NASAの研究チームは「地球温暖化の原因となる温室効果ガスの削減が重要だ」と強調しています。三寒四温どころか、一喜一憂の毎日です。

Lady’s grass is a flower known as Christmas rose, meaning that it is a flower like a lady.  As the name suggests, it begins to bloom at Christmas time, and the appearance of it blooming vigorously even in the midwinter snow is like a lady.  It was surprisingly old that it was introduced to Japan, and it is said that it was in the late Edo period.  Initially, it seems that it was introduced as a medicinal plant, and it was secretly enjoyed by some tea people under the names of “Yukiokoshi” and “Kanshakuyaku”.  The original scientific name is “Hellebore”, and in Greek it means “you die when you eat.”  In fact, the roots and stems of Christmas roses are extremely poisonous, and the juice extracted from them was applied to the tip of the arrow and used when hunting animals such as deer and foxes, and was also used in warfare.  It is also a flower that is likened to “Beautiful flowers are poisonous.”

貴婦人草とは貴婦人のような草花と言う意味で、クリスマスローズで知られている花です。その名の通り、クリスマス時分に咲き始め、真冬の雪の中でも元気良く咲く姿は貴婦人の趣があります。日本に移入されたのは意外に古く、江戸時代末期とされています。当初は薬用植物として移入された様で、一部の茶人達の間で「雪おこし」とか「寒芍薬」と言う名で密やかに楽しまれていました。本来の学名はヘレボルスで、ギリシャ語では「食べると死ぬ」と言う意味があるそうです。実際、クリスマスローズの根や茎などには猛毒が含まれていて、そこから抽出した絞り汁を矢の先に塗り鹿や狐などの動物を狩るときに使ったり、戦争にも使われました。「美しい花には毒がある」の喩え通りの花でもあります。

Robai(Japanese allspice) is in full bloom now.  The flowers bloom from December to February, as it is said to have been named after the flowers that bloom in the month of the Ro-month (December of the lunar calendar).  It really blooms in the middle of winter.  The Robai, which gently snuggles up to you in the cold winter and blooms yellow flowers and gives off a sweet scent like hot water, has long been used in Japanese poems and themes.  Even in English, it is called Winter Sweet.  Like plums, it is a plant of the Rosaceae family, but it is quite distant.  Plum is the pioneering flower of spring, and the pioneering flower of that plum is Robai.  Soon, you will touch the plum blossoms, and this spring will finally come.

蝋梅が今花盛りです。臘月(陰暦の 12 月)に 花が咲くことからその名が付いたとも言われているように、12 月から２月にかけて花が咲きます。冬の真っ只中に咲くんですね。寒い冬に心優しく寄り添って、黄色い花と湯上がりの様な甘い香りを放つ蝋梅は、古くから和歌や 画題にもされてきました。英語名でも、Winter Sweet と呼ばれています。梅と同じくバラ科の植物ですが、かなり遠縁です。春の先駆けの花と言えば梅ですが、その梅の先駆けとなる花が蝋梅です。間もなく梅にバトンタッチして、いよいよ今年の春がやって来ます。

When following the path while watching the daffodils in Izu Tsumekizaki, I hear a whistling sound.  I found a white lighthouse over there.  This is Tsumekizaki Lighthouse.  The cold sea breeze just then hits the lighthouse and makes a whistling sound.  The azure sea and the pure white lighthouse.  This looks just like a picture scroll.  It is said that there are more than 3,000 such lighthouses in Japan, an island country.  There used to be a movie called “Times of Joy and Sorrow”, and all the lighthouses scattered around Japan left an impression on me.  This lighthouse is also replacing GPS with the passage of time, and many lighthouses are destined to be demolished after their role.  Indeed, the world is impermanent.

伊豆爪木崎の水仙を鑑賞しながら先を辿ると口笛の様な音が聞こえてきます。向こうの方に真っ白な灯台が見えます。爪木崎灯台です。折りからの冷たい潮風が灯台に当たり口笛の様な音を出しているのです。紺碧の海と真っ白な灯台。これだけでもう一幅の絵です。こうした灯台が、島国である日本には3,000以上あるそうです。昔、「喜びも悲しみも幾年月」と言う映画がありましたが、日本各地の辺地に点在する灯台はどれも印象に残りました。この灯台も時代の流れとともに、GPSにとって代わりつつあり、多くの灯台がその役目を終え、取り壊される運命にあります。まさに、世は無常ですね。

The New Year has passed in no time.  Until a while ago, the 15th was the day of the Seijin-shiki(the coming-of-age ceremony), but since 2000, the day of the Seikin-shiki was set on the second Monday of January, and the Ko-Shogatsu(the first full moon) is also changing to this day.  This day is also the day when the Okagami(the rice cake like the mirror) is opened, and the Okagami that was displayed on New Year’s Day is crushed into small pieces and made into the final ozoni or put in Zenzai to close the New Year’s Day.  These old traditions are disappearing, especially in urban areas, and some people throw them away, thinking that the packed Okagami are just decorations.

お正月もあっと言う間に過ぎました。少し前までは15日が小正月で成人式の日でしたが、2000年から成人式の日が１月の第二月曜日に定められてからは、小正月もこの日に変わりつつあります。この日は鏡開きの日でもあり、お正月に飾ったお鏡を細かく砕いて、最後のお雑煮にしたり、善哉に入れたりしてお正月を閉じます。こうした昔からのしきたりは、特に都市部では消えつつあり、パックされたお鏡は単なる飾りだと思って、そのまま捨てる人もいるそうです。