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

Travel of the northernmost mainland and arrival at Hokkaido Island 青森の旅、そして函館へ LETTER 29 KUROISHI, August 5   She enjoyed a typical summer festival of Aomori prefecture. “I went out in my kimono(Japanese clothes) and without my hat, and in this disguise altogether escaped recognition as a foreigner.” She adopted herself to Japanese life style and described the festival, “Surrounding it (a central lantern) were hundreds of beautiful lanterns and transparencies of all sorts of fanciful shapes - fans, fishes, ---, the hundreds of people and children who followed all carried beautiful lanterns, ---" . Sixty floats parade today in Kuroishi festival.  Kuroishi Tourist Association: http://kuroishi.or.jp/event/summer/kuroishineputa  Neputa parade in Asakusa, Tokyo 、浅草祭での弘前ねぷた 　黒石では、着物で変装し、今では 60 台のねぷたが出るねぷた祭りに出かけ、感銘を受ける。洪水で足止めを食ったのでタイミングが合った。外国人とは分からなかったようだ。山車の周りに沢山の提灯があり、扇子や魚などが描かれていて、沢山の人が山車について歩いている、と書いている。華やかな祭りだ。イザベラは、“七夕祭” と聞いているが、ねぷたの起源は七夕祭とも言われている。 ...

Observing children and adults in Ikarigaseki 碇ヶ関で子どもの遊びと親子関係を観察 Letter 28 IKARIGASEKI 碇が関 , AOMORIKEN, August 2   She experienced heavy ra in in Ikarigaseki. The bridge was washed out. People crossed the river with water up until their shoulders, while horses also with water up until their backs .   Did she exaggerate?   She stayed at Ikarigaseki for four days because of the heavy rain. During her stay, she cured Japanese using her medicine, and mentioned hygienic status in Japan. “The absence of soap, the infrequency with which clothing is washed, and the absence of linen next to skin, cause various cutaneous diseases, --“ , it’s bad. Ikariga-seki、碇ヶ関（October, 2020） 　 橋が壊れるような大雨の中、人は肩まで、馬が背まで水につかりながら川を渡ったというが、本当かな。彼女は豪雨のために、碇が関で四日間足止めを食らう。イザベラは持参した薬で日本人を治すが、日本の衛生環境について、石鹸がない、服を洗わない、肌着がないのが日本人に多い皮膚病の原因だ、と書いている。 Japanese children   She wrote about the play of children. I guess the children whom Isabella met were probably ordered to be decent, s...

Stay in Akita and inland journey again 秋田での滞在、そして再び内陸の旅 LETTER 24 KUBOTA, July 25   She was in Akita (new name of Kubota) because of the bad weather. She had a chance to attend the wedding ceremony and she wrote in detail.   天候が悪くイザベラは秋田にとどまっている。結婚式に出て、詳細に記録する。 Japanese traditional wedding ceremony 、住吉大社 LETTER 25 TSURUGATA, July 27   She went to see a traditional Japanese festival and described “---half the people of Kubota--- hundreds of children---, little girls, formal and precocious looking, with hair dressed with scarlet crepe and flowers ---, groups of men and women, never intermixing, stalls driving a “roaring trade” in cakes and sweetmeats, women making mocha as fast as the buyers ate it” . People dressed up, went to the festival and bought various finger foods which were sold in many stalls. She added “---made up the cheeriest and most festal scene that I have seen in Japan.” Stalls in Kawasaki-taishi temple 、川崎大師のお正月 　イザベラは祭りのただなかに行く。 秋...