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

“Owara Kaze no Bon Festival” is held from 1 st to 3 rd of September in Yatsuo in Toyama city (central Japan); it is a nationally famous one. It is a rice harvest season and a typhoon season simultaneously. Locals dance for praying for prevention from a natural disaster . "Kaze" means wind. When I visited in 2024, the typhoon actually hit Japan. However, it didn’t rain at the area, so they could dance and I could see. Unhappily, the number of spectators was 130,000 which is two-thirds of average year. The well-practiced lads and lasses dance not only sophisticated but also a bit alluring  at night . It is understandable that they have gotten a friend of a different gender during the festival. The museum helps us to understand the festival. おわら風の盆は、稲の刈り入れ前に 二百十日の風害を鎮めることを願って踊られる 祭りです。「盆」は休みの意味だそうです。 町の人びとが練習を重ねて ９月１日から３日に披露 されます。私が訪れた年は、本当に台風が来てしまい前年より７万人少ない 13 万人の人出、訪問した最終日は３万人でした。しかし、台風は八尾を避け、雨に邪魔されず三日間とも踊りが行われました。 洗練された夜間の踊りで艶っぽく 、踊りの夜にカップルができたということを今も感じさせるお祭りでし...

Washoku means Japanese (wa) Food (shoku) , which is also defined as “the traditional dietary cultures of the Japanese”. It is a traveling exhibition which started at Tokyo; it will end at Kumamoto in September of 2025. There were many exhibits including attractive replicas of dishes; it’s enough info to know washoku well. I saw it at Matsumoto City Museum in central Japan. Let’s start our tour. 世界的に人気がある和食。 2023 年 10 月に 国立科学博物館からスタートした巡回展 です。私は松本市立博物館で拝見しました（博物館の前に井戸があります）。現在は愛知、その後、京都と熊本を巡回し、 2025 年 9 月に終了します。 展示品、特に食材や食品の模型が豊富！ 　さて、見ていきましょう。   What is “ washoku ”? 　「和食」とは？ The map on the left shows main ingredients of each region before the Industrial Revolution (from 17 th  to 18 th  century). In Japan, those were  “rice and fish” . 17 ～ 18 世紀（産業革命前）、世界各地では何から栄養を取っていたかという世界地図が掲げられています（左）。本州と九州・四国は、 「米と魚」 でした。   Ingredients the Archipelago Provides 、列島が育む食材 The water is exhibited at the beginning. It is  soft water  which extracts components o...

Contents 1 ． Fun of working 、五つの楽しみ（ Part1 ） 2 ． Four foundations in order to have a fun & full life 、人生を楽しむために必要な４つの土台（ Part2 ） 3 ． Just enjoy today without money (but with pals) 、そこにある「時」を楽しむ生き方（ Part3 ）… this article/ 本記事 1 ． Ordinary people even in the old times in Japan enjoyed daily life 、日々を楽しんでいた江戸・明治時代の人たち There were  not useful goods such as a car, nor convenient services s uch as an internet.   But they enjoyed life . I could mention that the ordinary people didn’t desire to get too much money, to rise a high position, to get goods nor to enjoy services, unlike us . It was a feudal era . Basically, they stayed at the same class as their parents. Difficulties are always unavoidable in our life. So, they also had to struggle more than us. The difference is that they seemed to accept their life, to be satisfied with what they owned and to feel happy spending their time peacefully. It means they just enjoyed the time with pals and family members...

Contents 1 ． Fun of working 、五つの楽しみ（ Part1 ） 2 ． Four foundations in order to have a fun & full life 、人生を楽しむために必要な４つの土台（ Part2 ）… this article/ 本記事 3 ． Just enjoy today without spending (but with pals) 、そこにある「時」を楽しむ生き方（ Part3 ）   1 ． Ordinary people even in the old times enjoyed daily life 、日々を楽しんでいた江戸・明治時代の人たち There were not useful goods such as a car, were not convenient services such as internet. However, they enjoyed life. I can mention that there are four crucial foundations for them and for us to enjoy life; they are shown in the figure below . 出典  (Source) ：自著 (My book)『定年後を豊かにするシンプルライフ』 ごきげんビジネス出版 Sold in  Amazo n (Kindle / Book) :  https://amzn.to/40GFdaq 不便でモノやサービスも少なかった江戸時代・明治時代でしたが、農民や漁民たちは日々の暮らしを楽しんでいました。しかし、 人生を楽しむための上の図の 4 つの土台が必要だと考えます。   We have to  stay healthy  at first and have to get basic necessities of life  (food, clothing and shelter/ or money to get them).   We need to have them, no matter ...