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

 “En” is a kind of relationship with the gods or Buddha, and “nichi” means a day. For example, the day when the god was born became the en-nichi. We celebrate the day in a form of a fair or a festival. It is said that we are given a lot of happiness and benefit from deities if we go to shrines or temples on the en-nichi. Many people visit shrines or temples on the en-nichi, therefore fair stalls are opened in front of the shrines or temples. They sell candies, foods, drinks, toys, plants, charms and talismans. Some of them became permanent restaurants or shops. Show tents are also opened in the big en-nichi fair.   It is a big entertainment especially for children to go to the en-nichi with their parents, because parents buy things such as candies for their children. It is a big fun for young people too, because the en-nichi is a good reason for guys to invite girls especially at night. En-nich at Ueno, Tokyo （上野辨天堂 ）  Stalls in the temple on the New Year...

June; Udon noodle party  It was no attractive event in this month, but the udon parties were held. Udon is a kind of Japanese noodle which is made of flour. June is a harvest season of wheat.  Udon and soup （肉つけ汁うどん・うちたて屋）  It was written that the master was invited to “udon and sake” party on the 9 th of May. On the 12 th , he was invited to other udon party. On the 18 th , he invited five people and treated them with udon. The master would have used the wheat from his field and served homemade udon.  On the 9 th , he went to Edo in order to buy a medicine for a child. He left early in the morning, and got back at the same day. He walked about 50km a day, What a good walker!   A messenger from Katori shrine which is the greatest shrine in this prefecture came and asked for donation. Another messenger from Zenkoji temple which is the one of the most famous temple came and asked for donation to repair the building which was damaged ...

 Bon is the Buddhist event in summer. We Japanese welcome the spirits of our ancestors who return from the other world. It is held from the 13 th of July in the lunar calendar. We offer foods and flowers to the Butsudan which is a kind of altar dedicated to family ancestors.  Bon dance event is held in the evening, it is also offered to ancestors.  On the 16 th , we see off the spirits of ancestors with burning fire and so on. The famous one is the bonfire in Kyoto. The firewood is set in the five mountains. They are lit one after another. Each of them forms a Chinese character. The photo shown below is “Dai” which means “big.”    京都五山の送り火 / 京都観光協会 https://www.kyokanko.or.jp/okuribi/enkaku.html It is holiday during the Bon, so many events are held across Japan. Many people would go back to their parent houses where the Butsudans are, and they also have family reunion parties. Butsudan Next post : Farmer's diary, Bon was really important...

April; visiting Tsukuba shrine  There were several jobs related to O-shishigari . They had meetings, and they also signed and sealed on official documents. However, their ordinary daily life resumed.   Three people visited Mt.Tsukuba, which is 43km away and 877m high, in order to visit Tsukuba-san shrine. It was before farming season, and they could have a three day trip. I think it was a great pastime for them.   By the way, master’s father visited Edo and stayed for four nights. What do you think he did in Edo?   Mt.Tsukuba （水海道からの筑波山） ・ 4 月（筑波参詣） 　まだ、鹿狩りの手続きがあり、寄合や請書調印がなされるが、普通の日々が再開する。 　江戸からの来客、筑波への参詣（孝助ら 3 名、 3 泊）、農繁期前で楽しかったであろう。流山からは筑波山が見える。 　父は、 2 日に出府、 4 泊して戻る。江戸で何をされているのか。 Uruu-April; rice planting, farming season had started  We used a lunar calendar at that time, so about every three years, we had thirteen months in a year. This month was added to April and called Uruu-April.   Since the 16 th , rice pl...

流山の講－流山市立博物館調査研究報告書 8 （流山市立博物館、 1991 ） Very good : ★★★ 人の楽しみの発見度： ★★★ Drawing of Ise-taitai-Kou at NagareyamaCity Museum  ( 伊勢太太講の絵馬 流山博物館 ) http://www.city.nagareyama.chiba.jp/life/1001505/1001749/1001773.html The Kou looks like a mutual aid group in which people enjoy their group activities such as parties and travels. This book is a research report from Nagareyama City Museum . The research was consisted of interviews from elderly people. It reports Kou's activities from the mid-19th century to mid-20 th century. There were more than 300 Kou in Nagareyama, 86 of them remain at the time of the research.   There are two kinds of Kou. The first one is to visit the shrine outside the village. Fuji-Kou visits Mt.Fuji. Ise-Kou visits Ise shrine which is 330km away. Other Kou visit Oyama, Mitsumine and so on. Osugi-Kou is held in 11 villages. They visit Osugi shrine which is the guardian god of epidemic disease and natural disaster of rivers an...