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

 “ Manzai” is the New Year’s performance , and there were many performers in Mikawa region in central Japan. The performers visited residences, played comically, celebrated the New Year and prayed for the prosperity of the family .  They played not only in their area but also in Edo (old name of Tokyo); they played it in the Edo castle and daimyo lords’ mansions.   Anjo City Museum of History which is in Mikawa has collected items about Manzai, and they showed most of all collections in the special exhibition (from December of 2021 to January of 2022). It was written “We hold this exhibition with a prayer for breaking the feeling stuck by the COVID19 pandemic.” I felt curators' strong intention.  Btw, the origin of “Manzai” ( 漫才 , comic dialogue) is “Manzai( 万歳 )”. “Manzai” ( 漫才 ) is one of the most popular entertainments in Japan. Movie of Mikawa Manzai https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLl_iOodlaE : 9 min in total, the dancing starts at 3 min and 30 sec. ht...

 Anjo City is around 30km southeast of Nagoya in central Japan. The museum shows us not only many historical exhibits but also folklore ones . Happily, I could find many fun things for people in the old time.  Moreover, there was a special exhibition of a local performance “Mikawa Manzai”. It is introduced in the next post .  愛知県の「安祥文化のさと」の一角にある巨大な博物館です。  古代から現在まで、多くの展示品があり、しかも庶民にも目を向けています 。人々の楽しみが沢山見つかりました。しかも、訪問時には三河万歳の企画展が開かれていて、そちらも豊富な展示でした。 次の記事 で紹介しています。  The museum is located at the ruin of the castle. The ancestors of Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616), who was the founder of Edo Bakuhu, based in the castle. The manga of four ancestors who were war lords are put at various spots. It’s a popular display method now. (The photo above is the  entrance of the permanent exhibition room .)  博物館は、徳川家康の先祖の安成松平氏四代の拠点・安成城の跡 にあり、四代の武将キャラが所々に置かれています。流行りの見せ方ですね。上の写真は常設展示室の入り口です。   Primitive age: the source of their livelihood were foods in mountains and se...

 The huge museum is in Kariya where is near Toukaidou (highway) and is the established place of TOYOTA. Toukaidou has been the major highway since the Edo period (1603 ～ 1868). The museum has two large exhibition halls about the history and the festivals. The fun things for people are absolutely festivals. The actual festival floats and videos show us.  巨大な博物館がある愛知県刈谷市は、東海道にほど近く、そして、トヨタ創業の地でもあります。 「歴史ひろば」と「お祭りひろば」の展示スペース がありますがいずれも立派。人々の楽しみは、何といってもお祭りですね。山車などの実物とビデオが、吹き抜けの大空間で展示されています。   Festivals 、お祭りひろば  The photo above is  Mando  which are lanterns  made from bamboo frame and Japanese traditional paper ( washi ). The height of the largest one is 5 meters and its width is 3 meters.  A man lifts the lantern and dances . How powerful he is! We can try to lift one of them.  万燈 （まんど）は張り子の人形で、大きなもので高さ 5 ｍ、幅 3 ｍにもなります。 これを一人で担いで、舞います 。すごいですね。見学者が担げる万燈もあります。 The energy of the characteristic festival  Mando  has been conveyed to us. 実...

 Chiryu city is around 25 km southeast of Nagoya in central Japan. It was a post town of Toukaidou highway in the Edo period (1603 ～ 1868). The municipal museum comprehensibly shows the traditional festival, the defunct post town and lives . It’s new for me that the old lifestyle using straw and bamboo as materials of utensils is considered to conform to SDGs. *SDGs: The Sustainable Development Goals which were adopted by the United Nations is a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.  知立市は、 東海道の宿場町 でした。名古屋から 25km です。 祭り、宿場だったころの様子、人々の暮らし、良く分かる展示 です。 昔は当たり前だった竹や藁の利用を SDGs に合致しているという捉え方 も新鮮でした。人々の息吹が伝わってきました。   Chiryu Shrine and Chiryu festival 、知立神社と知立まつり The exhibition begins with the most enjoyable event which is the festival.  Floats, which perform traditional puppet show ( Bunraku ), parade in the city . 楽しいイベントから展示がスタートします。山車＋文楽とからくりの賑やかなお祭りです。 Those magnificent  floa...