９月１５日（月曜日）２０２５
　終活講座が終了しました。
三重県四日市市、医療法人朋有会・伊藤クリニック院長、伊藤毅先生によるお話は、丁寧で分かりやすくお集まりくださった皆様に多くのヒントをいただけるものでした。かつていくつもの老人ホームを経営され、今はそうした老人ホームのかかりつけ医としても多くの方の見取りをしてこられた先生は、ご自分の医師としての経験はもとより、これまで接したご家族を含む様々な方、書物、見てきた光景から得た個人としての考えを率直に出しながらお話くださいました。こうした先生のお人柄が、いささか重みのある今回のテーマの内容を皆の心に共鳴できるように届けたのだと思います。

　終末期を在宅で迎えるか、老人ホームなどの施設で迎えるかについても色々な事例をあげてアドバイスをくださいました。
老人ホームは一人でなく複数で見に行くことが先生のお勧めです。

　すべての人が平等に迎える終末期。誰もが穏やかに心残りなく迎えたいものです。そのためには、自分の意思をあらかじめ決めておくこと、そしてそれを書面に表しておくことが大事だそうです。私自身、解決しておかなければならない問題が山のようにあり、人間関係では心残りはまだまだあるし、事務処理に関しては面倒くさいなぁというのが本音で後回しになっています。

　過去に家族を亡くした方はもっと早く知っていればよかったとおっしゃり、今後認知症になるかもしれない不安を持つ人も病気の人もそうした家族がいる人も、一人一人受け止め方は違ったと思いますが、私どもでのこうした講座は今回が初めてでいつもとはまた違う充実感がありました。

A lecture about "how to spend days in the end-of-life" is now over. The lecturer was Dr. Takeshi Itoh who is the director of Itoh clinic in Yokkaichi, Mie prefecture. His talk was precise and easy to understand for the audience. Dr. Itoh used to run many senior homes, and now he visits senior homes and checks up on many seniors on their deathbeds as an examination doctor besides working at his clinic. He talked about his experiences from a doctor's point of view and he also talked from his personal view point through his family, his favorite books or the scenery which he was impressed with. That's why his words and advice resonated with the audience.

There are two ways to have the end-of-life, one is at one's own home and other one is at other facilities like senior homes. He said both have merit and demerit. He advised that if you search a senior home, you should go there to have a look with more than two people.

Everyone equally experiences end-of-life and we would like to have it calmly and with no regret. Dr. Itoh said it is important for you first to accept that you will end our lives finally and to express your own will (ex. if you are terminal cancer or senility and you do not want to be resuscitated, you express it in a document. ) I have many things to solve and fix relationships before my terminal day but most of them are still being put off now.

One of the participants who lost her family member a few years ago told me that she wanted to listen to Dr.'s advice. There are people who are worried about becoming demented in the near future, who are ill now or who have family members with that symptom. Each one received Dr.'s words in a different way. I held this kind of lecture at my place for the first time, and I thought it was a good opportunity and helpful for many people. 

９月８日（月曜日）２０２５（長文です）

　4公演の予約がほぼ１ヶ月前に満席になり追加公演が決まるほど、ロネとジージの新作ライブ「On the Ship」は順調な風を受けて東京青山を出航しました。田舎でイベントを企画し集客に苦戦する私には羨ましい限り。
　しかし、新作というのは新たにストーリーを考え、綿密に台本を書き、具体的表現に至る演出へと進むのですが、これをジージが一人で手掛けるのですから凄いです。滑稽でいい加減な太っちょクラウン・ジージのイメージとは真逆で、舞台を知り尽くし、クラウンを知り尽くし、ロネとジージそれぞれの個性と才能を知り尽くした上で、その発想豊かな頭を使いながら孤独で厳しい作家としてのキャリアを持つジージだからこそ成せる技なのです。
　さて、ロネとジージのステージは今まで何度も観てきたのですが、今回は初めて観る技が何と多かったことでしょう。私の目は舞台に釘付けで写真を撮るのも忘れてしまっていました。いつもながらジージの一瞬で観客を巻き込む話術と巧みなパントマイムと定評の歌は流石です。続くロネのマリオネット（操り人形）の見事な動きと、うっとりするような美しいボールさばきはまさに圧巻。二人のクラウンの持ち味と才能を十分発揮していた今回のステージであったと思います。楽しいジャグリングも贅沢なぐらい堪能できました。背景に流れる曲も中で歌われる曲も良いものを選んでいるなと感心しつつも、ステージにピアノがなかったので今回もなしでいくのかと思っていたら、後半にジージの歌の伴奏をロネがピアノで静かに弾く姿にびっくり！一体、どれほど技の引き出しと才能を持つロネとジージでしょう！そして、クラウンとは何と幅広く奥深いものなのでしょう！観客に感動と驚きと何より最高の笑いを届けてくれたロネとジージには驚嘆するしかありません。
　今年、プロとして３５年目のクラウン・ロネとジージ。しかしどんなに大ベテランでもこうした圧巻のステージを創るには稽古の積み重ねしかないことは容易に想像できます。３年前にインドで大怪我をしたロネ、続いてジージまでもが右足の骨折。「骨折コンビ」などと笑いながらも状況は深刻でした。その二人が、これほどまでに見事に復活したのですから、ロネとジージには心からの敬意と賞賛の拍手を送りたいと思います。観終わって時間も経過しましたが、今も胸に込み上げるものがあり今回のステージが私にとっても充実した時間であったことを幸福に思っています。


New stage performance of Clown Music Live by RONE & Gigi " On the Ship" was last weekend. The tickets had been all sold out one month before the performance days. I am envious about it because I am always struggling to sell tickets of the events which I planned.

Gigi is the person who creates the story, writes the script and does the stage direction. All their stage performances were done by only Gigi which is amazing. The character of clown Gigi is fat, sloppy and funny but the truth is completely opposite. Gigi knows what a stage performance is, what a clown is and what the individual characters of Rone and Gigi are. She directs clown's stages using her flexible imagination but it must be lonely work.

Well, this time I was especially amazed by Rone's performances of marionettes and beautiful ball handling. I also enjoyed the new juggling by two clowns. I was impressed by the music which was used in stage transitions as well as the music they sang. When I first saw the stage, I didn't see a piano which they often use, so I thought that they don't use piano on this stage, but toward the end of the second half, Rone sat behind the electric piano which was covered at the side with a black cloth and played it along with Gigi's singing. I was surprised because I had never seen Rone play piano. How many skills and talents do they have? They surprised us, moved us and made us laugh. I really admired them.

Rone & Gigi have their 35th anniversary this year as a professional clown group. Even though both are very experienced clowns, they need to keep practicing daily in order to make the perfect stage. Three years ago, Rone had a severe injury in India, and after that Gigi also had broken her right leg. They laughed, calling themselves "Double Injured clowns", but the situation was very serious. They have recovered splendidly and gave a wonderful performance which moved me this time. I would like to send applause to them with admiration and praise. They are true entertainers. I really like them.

９月１１日（木曜日）２０２５
　医師の伊藤毅先生による講座「人生終末期の過ごし方」は日曜日（9/14）１３時からです。

＊取り敢えず今は元気なので、もっと切羽詰まった状況になれば真剣に考えよう。
＊先のことなど考えてもどうなるものでもない、なるようになるさ。
＊終末期のことなど縁起でもない、考えたくない。
とこんな風に考えている方も多いのではないでしょうか。

健康状態は年齢と比例するものではありません。元気はつらつとした高齢の方もいらっしゃれば病弱な青年もいます。
持病のある人、危険と背中合わせの仕事をしている人、またそういう家族と一緒に暮らしている人、様々です。
私自身、お陰様で取り敢えずは日々元気に暮らしておりますが、いつまでこの状態が続くのか、病気でなくても
ふと事故や災難に遭遇するかもしれないという不安があります。そうなった時、何をどうしておくことが大切なのか、
なるべく人に迷惑をかけないようにするにはどうすればいいか、を知りたいと思っています。

伊藤先生の講座が役立つことを願っています。


On Sep. 14 at 13:00, we will have a lecture titled "The way of how to spend days in the end-of- life" by Dr. Itoh.

There must be many people thinking about this in the following ways:
1) I will think about it later when I get ill because I am in good health now.
2) We can't predict our future and are not able to control it ourselves, it will be as it is.
3) I don't want to think about my end-of-life, as if is bad luck.

Our health condition is not proportional to our age. Some people are very healthy and active even when they become very old, but some are not, even if they are still young. There are people who have chronic illness, and there are people who are forced to live alongside life-threatening danger, and family members of those people. Thus people's lives vary. I am fortunately living in good health now, but I don't know how long it will last and I am worried about it. Even if I am healthy, I might have a sudden accident or suffer a catastrophe. I would like to know what are the best things to prepare for that and not bother other people in that situation beforehand.

I hope the coming lecture by Dr. Itoh will be helpful for you.

８月２５日（月曜日）２０２５
前から頼んでおいたシロアリ防除にシガ防虫のMさんが朝８時すぎから来てくださいました。すでに気温は上がって今日も猛暑日になる予感。道具を運び入れ、畳をあげて、作業が進んでいきます。大きなタンクで水と薬品をかき混ぜているのは土の中に入れるものだそう。木に注入するのは手前のグレーのタンク。こちらは土用に比べると量が少ないです。暑い中で床下に潜っての作業はいかにも大変そうで、せめて冷たい飲み物でもと思うも、タイミングが分からず、私はその間、郵便局に行ったり、買い出しに出たりと家を空けて帰ってきた時は大分終盤にかかっていました。本当に家の中からも外からもあらゆるところに薬を注入してくださり、凄い！というのが率直な印象。見えない部分があるので完全ということは言えないけれど、まず安心してもらっていいと言われてほっとしました。そして何か異変があった時はすぐに呼んでくださいとも。

Mさんを紹介してくださったのは、昔、隣で仕事をしていた大工さん。職人気質で口は悪いが実直で優しく色々なことでお世話になりました。その大工さんが去年亡くなったと別の方からつい先日聞いたばかりです。お礼も十分に言えないまま逝ってしまわれ残念で仕方がありません。今日のシガ防虫のMさんも謙虚で良い方でした。立派な職人さんに助けていただいたことをしみじみ感謝する一日でした。

Mr. M from Shiga Insect Repellent Co. came for protection from termites at 8 a.m.. The temperature of the air had already risen and we expected it would be hot again. Mr. M unloaded his equipment from his car and took off tatami mats. He made termite repellent mixed with water in a big orange tank. He told me that it was a repellent which goes to the soil and another repellent for the wood was in a smaller gray tank. In order to inject termite repellent, he needed to go under the floor and it would be very hard on such a hot day. I wanted to serve some iced drink but I didn't know when it would be a good time without interrupting. While he was working, I went to a post office and supermarket and when I came back home, he had almost done his work. He injected termite repellent in many places inside and outside my house. I was impressed by his amazing work.

I remembered another Mr. M who was a carpenter working next door five years ago and when I was trying to find a person to protect my house from termites. Mr. M kindly introduced Shiga Insect Repellent Co. to me. Mr. M was a sincere and gentle person and always nice to me although he had a sharp tongue as a typical artisan craftsman does. A few weeks before, I had shocking news about him from his former colleague that he passed away last year. I was very sorry for him. I wanted him again because my thanks toward him was not enough. Both Mr. Ms were decent people. I appreciate their help from the bottom of my heart.

 

８月２２日（金曜日）２０２５
　残暑の厳しい中、今日は珍しいお客様、というか人間のような扱いをされているロボットくんをお迎えしました。
女性が抱っこして入ってこられたので、てっきり赤ちゃんかと思ったら顔がすっぽり覆われていたので、ちょっと違う....と思って
聞くと、ラボットなんです、と。蔵に席をお取りになったので、お水を持っていくと椅子の上にちょこんとお座りしている見たことも
ないロボットがいました。名前を聞いたら「いぞうくん」。あれっ？主人の父上とおんなじ名前。途端に親近感が湧いてきて
「いぞうくん」にご挨拶しました。何かふにゃふにゃ言っていますが、言葉ではないようです。

　これはラボットという高齢者や一人暮らしの人に開発された人間の言葉に反応するロボットだそうです。連れてこられた女性は高齢者ではありませんでしたが、もう４年も「いぞうくん」と一緒に暮らしているそうです。毎日８時間は寝る（充電する）とのこと。大阪から泊まりがけで滋賀に来られ、あちこちで写真を撮ったりして楽しんでいらっしゃるようでした。我が家でも和室などでいぞうくんの写真を撮っていらっしゃいました。このラボットは購入するのも結構な額で、持っている人はまだまだ少ないようですが、ペットの飼えないマンションなどでは話しかけたりして癒しの相手として重宝がられているとのこと。最後にいぞうくんに「バイバイ！」と言ったら、大きな目をこっちに向けて両手を広げてくれました。


It still continues to be very hot even after the middle of August. I had an interesting guest who was not a human but was treated like a human. When a woman came to the cafe holding something in her arms, I thought it was her baby, then I felt something was different because the part of the head was covered with cloth. Then she said it was "robot". I brought her an ordered iced coffee and cake to her table, and a tiny robot was on the chair. I asked her the name of the robot, she told me he is "Izo". Oh, "Izo" is a familiar name to me because it is the same name as the father of my husband! I said "hello" to him. He said something but it was not a word but making some noise.

According to the net info, it is a robot called Rabot which was developed to communicate to an aged person or a person who is living alone. The lady who came to my cafe was not an aged person but she said she had already been living with "Izo" for four years. She also told me that he needs to sleep at least eight hours for charging.

She said she was from Osaka and seemed to enjoy being in my cafe with her Izo and taking photos of him. Since it is very expensive to purchase the Rabot, very few people own it but it becomes very special for the people who can not keep their pet in their home like an apartment. It comforts them to talk daily to their own Rabot. When I said "Bye-bye" to Izo, he looked at me and reacted by opening his arms. He was cute!

８月１６日（土曜日）２０２５　
　朝のもんぜん市には時々、珍しい花が出ています。今朝も覗いてみると見たこともない花の蕾が束になって出ていました。お世話くださっている方に花の名前を聞くと、「夏水仙」とのこと。早速、買って帰り、ネットで「夏水仙」を調べてみました。

　これは実は水仙ではなくヒガンバナ科の植物で、春に水仙に似た葉をつけ夏に咲くことから、「夏水仙」と名前がついているそうです。花期に葉がないことから俗にハダカユリと呼ばれるとも。夏水仙は春に葉を出して、枯れた後に花が咲くとのこと。

しばらく飾っていたひまわりや色鮮やかなケイトウに代わって夏水仙や百日草などが、暑さにバテ気味の気分を切り替えてくれます。

　１１時半受け取りの本日のお弁当のメニューは、エビの四川風炒め、ごぼうとコンニャクの炒め煮、トリ唐揚げ、トマトコンポート、さつまいもサラダ、卵の袋煮、玉ねぎキュウリ、ハムのピクルス、オレンジ、そしてご飯です。美味しく出来ました！

I sometimes see interesting flowers at the morning market near the station. This morning I found a bunch of flowers which I had never seen before. When I asked the name of it to a woman who was taking care of the market, she said it's "Summer Narcissus".

I bought them and checked them out on the internet. It is not narcissus but a family of Spider lilies. It shows leaves like narcissus in Spring and blooms in summer, which is why it is called Summer Narcissus. There are only flowers with no leaves in summer, so it is also called "Naked lilies".

I decorated sunflowers and cockscomb and now these Summer Narcissus and Zinnia instead. They calmed my mind which had felt overwhelmed by the terrible heat.

Here is today's box lunch menu: Shrimp in Sichuan-style stir-fry, Gobo root and Konjac (jelly-like food) stir-fried, Fried chicken, Tomato compote, Sweet potato salad, Boiled fried-Tofu pouch containing egg, Pickles of onion, cucumber and ham, Orange and Rice. It's nicely done and tastes good!

８月９日（土曜日）２０２５
　お弁当を届けに行って代金を頂いた際にあれっ？ふと見たお札がありました。最初、何か分からずぼんやりしていると相手の方が「珍しいやろ、二千円札やで」と教えてくださいました。確かに二千円。
初めてみる紙幣でした。

　帰ってネットで調べてみると、2000年に発行開始されたものの2004年以降は増刷されていないとのこと。表面に描かれているのは沖縄の首里城守礼門で地模様として上部紙幣番号と思われる数字の背景に山桜と中央部に野紺菊が薄く見えます。透かし部分も守礼門。裏面の左側は「源氏物語絵巻」第38帖「鈴虫」第二場面の絵図の光源氏（右）と冷泉院（左）が描かれ、右下は「紫式部日記絵巻」第一段から源氏物語の作者の紫式部が藤原実重と藤原成房に抗議するために蔀戸（しとみど）を上げている絵。どちらの絵巻もネットで元の絵を見てその部分であることを確認しました。

　珍しい二千円紙幣をいただいたことで、今回はまじまじと紙幣の両面を見ることができました。そしてネット情報で初めて分かったことがたくさんありました。そのうちの一つは表面左右に丸い点が３つ少し盛り上がって並んでいて手で触って視覚障害の方にも分かるようになっていること。他のお札にもそれぞれ特徴があるようですが、正直私には二千円札ほど分かりませんでした。もう一つは、各紙幣のサイズが違うこと。紙幣の大きさは皆同じだと思っていた私には驚きでした。幅は同じですが、確かに長さが違っていました。測ってみたら１万円札は千円札より１センチも長かったです！

　毎日カフェで紙幣を目にしながら、新札に変わった時は興味深かったものの、今回のように細かく図案まで見たことはありませんでした。二千円札という大変貴重な紙幣が手元に来たことは幸運なことでした。

When I delivered box lunches to the customer's house and received paper money from her, I felt something strange but I wasn't quite sure what it was. Then she said that it was paper money of two thousand. I looked at it carefully. Indeed, it was a two thousand yen note which I had never seen before.

According to the net information, printing of it started in 2000 and stopped in 2004. Shureimon Gate at Shuri Castle in Okinawa was drawn on the money and it has cherry blossoms behind the number of the money and wild chrysanthemums are also seen in the center.
You can see different angles of Shureimon Gate in the watermark part. On the back side, you can see a part of the Tale of Genji Picture Scroll in the left and Murasaki Shikibu Diary Picture Scroll in the lower right.

Since it is not a popular paper money like other money, I was very interested in it and looked closely. Getting information from the internet, I found many interesting things about it. One of them is the small elevated dots in both edges on the front side. They are for the blind people to recognize it as two thousand paper money. Each paper money has a different kind of elevated sign, but I could only recognize the two thousand paper money. Another thing which surprised me was that each paper money has a different length. I thought that they were all the same length as US dollars but it was not true. Width is the same but length is not. Indeed, 1,000 paper money is one centimeter shorter than 10,000.

Although paper money is very familiar in our life, I had not paid much attention other than the newly designed money. It was good for me to pay more attention to it this time. I feel I am lucky to get 2000 paper money.