I found it at my local flower shop.  The name plate of the flower is written as Yukiwariso.  From the Hokuriku region to the Tohoku region centering on Niigata Prefecture, it blooms when the snow melts from late February to April, and even under the snow in the middle of winter, it is evergreen and grows by breaking the snow, so it is said that it came to be called “Yukiwariso”.  However, there is an alpine plant with the same name as Yukiwariso, and that is the real Yukiwariso.  It is said that Yukiwariso that grow wild in Niigata Prefecture and the horticultural varieties of Yukiwariso are officially called Omitsumisou. Yukiwariso has many different flower colors such as red, white, pink, light blue, and purple at this time of year when there are few flowers. Yukiwariso, which blooms before other plants show buds, has many fans because of its lovely appearance and name.

近所の花屋さんで見つけました。花のネームプレートには雪割草と書いてあります。新潟県を中心に北陸から東北にかけて、２月下旬～４月の雪解けとともに開花し、真冬の雪の下でも常緑で雪を割って生長するので「雪割草」と呼ばれるようになったそうです。ただ雪割草には同名の高山植物があって、そちらがほんらいの雪割草で、新潟県に自生する雪割草や園芸種の雪割草は正式にはオオミツミソウだそうです。雪割草は花の少ないこの時期に赤、白、ピンク、水色、紫など色とりどりの花色があり、二段咲きや八重咲など花形もバリエーション豊富です。他の植物がまだ蕾も見せないうちに咲く雪割草は、その可憐な姿と名前がマッチして多くの愛好家がいます。

It is said that cold air will flow into the vicinity of Japan from today, just like the name of Daika(the cold weather).  And from Tuesday 24th to Thursday 26th next week, it seems that there is a possibility of heavy snow on the Sea of ​​​​Japan side, which is dangerous, and in Hokuriku, an “emergency announcement about heavy snow” was made.  This winter has finally reached its peak, and if we surpass it, spring will rapidly approach.  Hukinoto(Butterbur sprouts) from the gaps in the snow and blooms.  On a day like this, soaking in a hot spring is the best.  Fortunately, there are hot springs everywhere in Japan.  Japan has the largest number of hot spring areas and hot spring sources in the world.  There are 3,133 hot spring resorts with lodging facilities in Japan, with a total of about 28,000 sources.  Japan has the largest number of hot springs in the world, with.  China in second place with about 3,000, Turkey in third place with 474, and the United States in fourth place with about 400.

大寒の名に違わず、今日から日本付近には次々と寒気が流れ込むそうです。そして来週火曜日24日から木曜日26日ごろは日本海側で、身に危険が迫るほどの大雪となる可能性があるそうで、北陸では「大雪に関する緊急発表」が行われました。いよいよこの冬もピークを迎え、これを凌げば急速に春が近づきます。雪の合間から蕗が芽を出し花を咲かせます。こんな日は温泉に浸かることが一番です。幸いなことに日本には至る所に温泉地があります。日本は、温泉地数・源泉総数が世界一 。日本には宿泊施設を伴う温泉地が3,133ヵ所、源泉総数が約2万8,000あります。 温泉地の数は世界一で、二位の中国は約3,000、3位のトルコは474、4位アメリカは約400となっており、日本は世界の温泉大国といえます。

It’s Daikan(cold weather) tomorrow from January 20th to February 3th.  Daikan, as the name suggests, refers to the time of year when the coldest weather is severe.  The year is divided into 24 equal parts according to the movement of the sun, and the name given to each season is called 24 solar terms, but Daikan is the last solar term.  In fact, according to past observation data by the Japan Meteorological Agency, it is known that most of the days with low maximum temperatures and low minimum temperatures are in the “season of Daikan.”  The last day of Daikan is Setsubun, which is familiar with bean-throwing.  In the days of the lunar calendar, Risshun was the beginning of the new year. “Kanchumimai(winter greeting card” is served in the season of Daikan, but when the cherry blossoms and rapeseed blossoms bloom, I hesitate to serve “Kanchumimai”.

明日１月20日から２月３日までは大寒です。 大寒は、その名の通り「一年で最も寒さが厳しくなる」時期を指します。１年を太陽の動きに合わせて24等分し、それぞれの季節に名称を与えた呼び方を二十四節気と言いますが、大寒は最後の節気です。実際に、気象庁による過去の観測データによると、最高気温の低い日と最低気温の低い日どちらもほとんどが「大寒の時期」であることが分かっています。大寒の最終日（立春の前日）が、豆まきでおなじみの節分です。旧暦のころは、立春が新しい年の始まり、つまり旧正月で、節分の豆まきは年越しの行事にあたるわけです。寒中に出すのが「寒中見舞い」ですが、サクラが咲き菜の花が咲くようでは「寒中見舞い」を出すのも憚れますね。

When I visit the plum garden nearby, the red plum blossoms are blooming here and there.  The plum season is finally here.  The blossoming of plum blossoms is called “hokorobu”, and the falling of plum blossoms is called “koboreru”.  Ume, which has a pure beauty different from that of cherry blossoms, was brought to Japan from its native China for medicinal purposes.  People began to enjoy flowers in the Manyo period, and there are 118 poems about plums in the Manyoshu. However, there are 46 cherry blossoms.  After the Edo period, cherry blossoms were synonymous with flower blossom viewing, but before the Heian period, the word “flower” meant plum blossoms.  In particular, Sei Shonagon of The Pillow Book seems to have liked red plum blossoms, and sang, “Kobai blossoms are thick and thin.”  The difference between red and white plums can be seen in the cross section of the tree, and the cross section of the red plum tree is also pink.

近くの梅園を訪ねと紅梅がちらほらと花を咲かせています。いよいよ梅シーズンの到来です。梅の花が咲くことを「ほころぶ」、散ることを「こぼれる」と言う様に、梅の花は日本人にとってとりわけ身近で大切にされてきました。桜とおもむきの異なる清らかな美しさをもつウメは、原産地の中国から日本には薬用として渡来しました。万葉の時代にはすでに花を楽しむようになり、万葉集にはウメを詠んだ歌が118首もあります。それに引き換え桜は46首。江戸時代以降の花見といえばサクラですが、平安時代以前に「花」といえばウメのことでした。とりわけ、枕草子の清少納言は紅梅が好きだった様で、「木の花は 濃きも薄きも紅梅」と歌っています。紅梅と白梅の違いは木の断面で分かるそうで、紅梅は木の断面もピンク色をしています。

I was living in Ikoma, Nara at the time, and I woke up to the shaking that made my house creak.  The news say  that a large earthquake centered in the northern part of Awaji Island has caused great damage between Hanshin and Kobe.  My workplace was near Nishinomiya, so I headed to work after I had a quick breakfast.  I managed to make it to Hankyu Umeda Station, but there was a sign on the ticket gate that read, “Currently closed.”  Believing that it was just now, I decided to wait while watching the large TV next to the Kinokuniya Bookstore entrance.  The state of damage between Hanshin is projected on TV.  The telop says “50 victims right now” and “100 victims”, and the number of victims increases as I see it.  I waited for about two hours, but there was no sign of the train moving.  I decided to go home and go by car, and headed from home to work.  But it’s hard from there.  I made it all the way to Sakurabashi in Osaka, but from there I was completely stuck. ・・・・

当時奈良の生駒に住んでいましたが、家が軋む様な揺れで目が覚めました。淡路島北部を震源とする大地震で阪神間に大きな被害が出ていると言う。勤め先が西宮の近くにあったので、朝食もそこそこに勤め先に向かいました。阪急梅田駅まではなんとか辿り着けましたが、改札口には「只今不通」と張り紙が貼られています。「只今」を信じて、紀伊國屋書店入口横にある大型テレビを見ながら待つ事にしました。テレビには阪神間の被害の様子が映し出されています。テロップには「只今犠牲者は50人」、「犠牲者は100人」と見る見る内に犠牲者のかずが増えて行きます。２時間間ほど待ちましたが、電車も動く気配がありません。家に帰って車で行く事にし、家から勤め先に向かいました。しかしそこからが大変。大阪の桜橋までは辿り着けましたが、そこからは全く身動きが取れなくなりました。・・・・・

The scent of soap wafts faintly from one corner of the park.  As you get closer, the Robai(Japanese allspice) blossoms are in full bloom.  I didn’t even notice it until recently.  Robai is said to have been named “Robai(wax plum)” because the texture of the flower looks like wax.  It is said that the flower blooming season is around December of the lunar calendar, which is called Rogetsu, so it is said that the character of Rogetsu and plum are combined to be called “Robai”. The scent of Robai is sweet, and it is characterized by a faint soap-like clean scent, and is called “Winter sweet” in English.  In China, the country of origin, Robai, along with plum, daffodils, and camellias, is revered as one of the four flowers in the snow, and was brought to Japan in the early Edo period.

公園の片隅から石鹸の香りが微かに漂ってきます。近づくと蝋梅の花が満開です。ついこの間まで目にもつきませんでした。蝋梅は花の質感が蝋の様に見えることから「蝋梅」という名前が付けられたと言われています。また、花の咲く時期が臘月と呼ばれる太陰暦12月の頃だから、臘月の臘の字と梅を併せて「臘梅」と呼ばれるようになったとも言われています。蝋梅の香りは甘く、微かに石鹸のような清潔感がある香りが特徴的で、英名では”Winter sweet”と呼ばれています。原産地の中国では、蝋梅は梅、水仙、椿とともに、「雪中の四花」として尊ばれていて、江戸時代初期に日本へ渡来しました。

It became a haiku full of season words.  There are various rules in haiku, and one of the pleasures of writing a haiku is how you can achieve your thoughts within those rules.  However, sometimes we have to break the forbidden techniques.  Using seasonal words repeatedly is one of them, and it means that there are two or more seasonal words in one haiku. A famous example is Basho’s “in a lonely inn, harlots also slept_ bush-clovers and the moon.” Bush-clovers and moon are both autumn season words.  There are many famous haiku where the two words overlap.  A famous example of the overlap of three words is “Full of greens flood your sight  Little cuckoos up in the height   Fresh bonito as a seasonal delight” by Sodo Yamaguchi, a haiku poet in the Edo period.  Green , cuckoos, and bonito are all spring season words.  In this way, there are quite a few famous phrases that overlap with the seasons, and I think that it is not bad because it is overflowing with a sense of the seasons.

季語てんこ盛りの俳句になりました。俳句にはいろいろな決まりがあり、その決まりの中でいかに思いを遂げるかが作句する楽しみの一つでもあります。しかし時には禁じ手を破らざるを得ないこともしばしばです。季重なりもその中の一つで、一つの俳句の中に二つ以上季語が入っていることです。有名なところでは、芭蕉の「一家に遊女もねたり萩と月」があります。萩と月はどちらも秋の季語です。二語の季重なりは有名句にも沢山あります。三語の季重なりで有名なのは江戸時代の俳人山口素堂の「目には青葉山ほととぎす初がつを」があります。青葉、山ほととぎす、初がつをはどれも春の季語です。この様に季重なりの有名句も結構多く、季節感が溢れていて悪くはないと思います。

It is a common test (common test) for university entrance for two days from today.  Come to think of it, the university common primary exam (common primary) that began in 1979, followed by the university entrance examination center test (center exam) that began in 1990, and the university entrance common test that began in 2021 (common test),  I have many memories.  Until the start of the common test, the university entrance exam season in Kansai began with the entrance exams for private universities in early February.  However, since the common test started, the way we spend the first three days of the New Year has changed completely.  It can’t even be thought about new years days for the examinees. There were also many students who participated in the exam seminars in the hotel that was reserved for the first three days of the New Year. Still, it’s only the year at most for the examinees. For those of us who teach, the third day of the New Year has changed from that day onwards.  Anyway, good luck to all students taking the exam.

今日から二日間大学入学共通テスト（共通テスト）です。思えば、1979年度に始まった大学共通第一次学力試験（共通一次）、それを引き継いで1990年度から始まった大学入試センター試験（センター試験）、そして2021年度から始まった大学入学共通テスト（共通テスト）です。いろいろな思い出があります。共通一次が始まるまでは、関西の大学入試は、２月初旬の私立大学の入試を皮切りに入試シーズンに突入したわけです。しかし、共通一次が始まってからは、正月三が日の過ごし方がガラリと変わりました。受験生にとってはお正月どころではありません。正月三が日をホテル貸し切りの受験講習会に参加する受験生も多くありました。それでも、受験生にとってはほとんどが一年切りの事です。我々教える側の者にとっては、それからずっとそんな正月三が日に変わったわけです。
それはともかく、受験生の皆さん、精一杯頑張って下さい。

Dondo-yaki is a local event in which Matsukazari(the pine decorations) and Shimenawa that were used to decorate in Matsunouchi(the first seven days of the New Year), the new year’s calligraphy, and the amulets given last year are brought to shrines, community plazas, fields, etc. and burned.  Dondo-yaki was originally held on January 15th, but recently it has become more common to hold it on Coming-of-Age Day, Saturdays and Sundays before and after it, the last day of Matsunouchi, and Setsubun.  Dondo-yaki has long been said to have originated as a Heian period imperial court event called ‘Sagicho’ held on the night of January 15th. However, its origins are even older, and it is said that it began more than 1,600 years ago in the Kofun period, during the Little New Year’s fire festival called “Oniyo.”  Dondo-yaki is held to pray for a bountiful harvest, prosperous business, family safety, and sound health for this year.

どんど焼きとは、松の内まで飾っていた松飾りやしめ縄、お正月にしたためた書き初め、昨年に授与したお守りなどを、神社や地域の広場・畑などに持ち寄って燃やす地域の行事のことです。どんど焼きは元々1月15日に行われるのが通例でしたが、最近は成人の日やその前後の土日、松の内の最終日、節分などにどんど焼きが開催されることが多くなりました。どんど焼きの起こりは、長く、平安時代の宮中行事で、1月15日の夜に行われる「左義長」と言われてきましたが、もっと古く、1600年以上前の古墳時代の小正月火祭り行事「鬼夜(おによ)」からだと言われています。どんど焼きは、この１年の五穀豊穣、商売繁盛、家内安全、無病息災を願って行われます。

Beautiful flowers are arranged at the entrance of the restaurant.  Cherry blossoms are arranged behind the colorful spring flowers, but they are not very conspicuous.  Seen in this way, cherry blossoms are by no means a glamorous flower.  It’s amazing that in two months these cherry blossoms will become the main flowers of spring.  If you look closely, the cherry blossoms are Keio cherry blossoms. It is said that Keitaro Yoshinaga of Kurume City made Keiozakura by splicing Higanzakura with Higanzakura using Chinese Mizakura as a rootstock. It was brought to Yamagata Prefecture, where Keiozakura was forcibly cultivated by Yamagata’s climate and many years of research. It is attracting attention as a flower for special occasions such as New Year’s decorations, weddings, and graduation ceremonies.  Yamagata Prefecture boasts the largest shipment volume of Keio cherry blossoms in Japan as a cherry blossom that blooms in winter.

レストランの玄関に立派な花が生けてあります。色鮮やかな春の花々の後ろには桜が生けてありますが、あまり目立ちません。こうして見ると桜は決して華やかな花ではありません。あと２ヶ月もすればこの桜が春の花々の主役になるのが不思議なくらいです。よく見ると桜は啓翁桜です。啓翁桜は、久留米市の良永啓太郎さんが中国系のミザクラを台木にしてヒガンザクラを接いでできたヒガンザクラの枝変わりだそうです。それが山形県に持ち込まれ、山形の気候と長年の研究により促成栽培された啓翁桜は、お正月の飾りや結婚式、卒業式などのハレの日を演出する花として注目を集めています。啓翁桜は、冬に花を咲かせる桜として山形県が、今では日本一の出荷量を誇っています。