Fun of Good Old Japanese - 江戸・明治に学ぶ　楽しむ生き方

    October 、 10 月  On the 3 rd , five villagers helped Yoshino and he could finish harvesting.  On the 12 th , his father got sick at H.Shibazaki’s house. He sent a palanquin soon to carry his father to his home. Surprisingly enough, many people visited his father with gifts such as soba noodles. Someone presented a goose. He was so popular. I reckon he was an enjoyable character to have around. He had often stayed in Edo (old name of Tokyo, and entertainment city) and might have enjoyed a lot ( Yoshino’s daily life 08, 1849 ). He had many interesting stories probably. The head monk of Choufukuji temple also came. Good thing was that he recovered later. Japanese palanquin for a doctor 、医師の往診用駕篭（復元）＠ Iwatsuki Saitama Local History Museum さいたま市立岩槻郷土資料館  ３日、村人五人が助けに来てくれ、稲の刈り入れが終わりました。  12 日、芝崎半右衛門さんの家で、 主人の父の具合が悪くなりました 。すぐに、駕籠で迎えに遣り、自宅に戻りました。以降、 見舞客が続きます 。蕎麦切りや干し饂飩を持って来てくれました。ガチョウも頂いています。父は、かつて江戸の入り浸っていた人です （ Yoshino’s daily life 08, 1849 （嘉永 2 年） ） 。くだけた方で人気者なのでしょう。長福寺の住職も

    Intercalary July 、閏 7 月   Lunar calendar was used back then and it happened that there was an additional month in that year.  On the 22 nd , Mr. and Mrs. Yasugorou started staying at the ryo (community center). They were from Nagoya in central Japan, and they pilgrimaged various places such as Mt. Minobu. It was interesting that there were traveling people then.    On the 27 th , Okono, who might be a wife of the master, went into labor . However, it was a difficult one. The master called three doctors; he did his best. Her mother and villagers came to support her. But, she lost her life  the next morning sadly.  On the 29 th , the coffin was carried out. Villagers, relatives and the monks sent it off. She did rice planting in May; it was tragedy, but he recorded in a calm manner. Funeral procession in Wakayama 、和歌山串本町の葬儀の行列 ＠ National Museum of Japanese History 、国立歴史民俗博物館  22 日、村方寮に、名古屋の安五郎夫妻が来た。身延山など 霊場各所を巡っている人 で、しばらく、寮を使いたいということです。こういう生活をしている人達がいたのですね。    27

   April 、 4 月  On the 1 st , Riuemon came with a catfish . People eat catfish in this area, but I think on that day was the first time since 1849 that this fish was introduced, so it was special.  On the 5 th , Choubei’s house in Kanasugi village was burned. The master visited soon, but he didn’t contact afterwards. It was different from the fire in Nonoshita village last month which his pals went to help; Kanasugi was out of the mutual aid area.  Btw, there were already two fires. It was a dry season, because they had a ritual for rain at the temple in Omoi on the 23 rd . People gathered from six villages, and drank sake (alcohol) from the ritual. The offering money was written; member of a middle-sized village (several hundreds of people lived) paid around 1000 mon which was equivalent to several hundred dollars in current value. The amount of donation is similar to it of nowadays. It rained a bit since 10 am on this day, and rainy days increased after the ritual. It’s good

   On the 16 th of January, U.S. fleet led by Perry came to Japan again . There were nine warships which were enough force strength to attack Edo (old name of Tokyo). The shogunate abandoned the national isolation policy and concluded a treaty which promised to supply fuel and food to U.S. ships. Two ports (Shimoda and Hakodate) became the bases and U.S. consul's stations. Perry finished his mission very fruitfully and left Japan on the 1 st of June.  Yoshino resided near Mito highway which was one of the five great highways back then. The traffic of people (mainly samurai officers) became busy to deal with the U.S. fleet. Until the Edoperiod ( ～ 1868), shukuba (post town) assumed transportation; workers and horses in a post town brought passengers and luggage to the next post town. Mr. Yoshino was told to supply workers and horses to Kogane post town . It was a paid job but an unprofitable one.  Meanwhile, a huge earthquake (Ansei Toukai earthquake) hit eastern Japan i