１月２４日（金曜日）２０２０
冒険家でフォトジャーナリスト、バイオディーゼルの車で地球一周し、東北の大震災以後は釜石を拠点に被災地支援をしながら自然エネルギーを使って地域作りの活動を続けメッセージを発信している山田周生さんが、今年もBDF車の車検のために滋賀に来られます。去年に引き続き今回も多賀あさひやで話をしてくださいます。冒険、旅、事故、体内記憶、UFO!?、被災地、エネルギーの自給自足,etc.山田さんの驚くべき体験を写真を見ながら皆さんでお聞きしましょう。貴重な機会です。是非お出でください！場所に限りがありますので予約をお願いします。An adventurer and photojournalist, Shusei Yamada who made his way around the world with his biodiesel car will visit Shiga this year for the maintenance and inspection of his car. He has been supporting the reconstruction following the Great East Japan Earthquake based in Kamaishi in Iwate, and will give a talk on Jan.30 (Thu) 6pm. at my cafe " Taga Asahiya" about his amazing experiences. I hope many people will come!

１月２２日（水曜日）２０２０
ご近所の和菓子屋さんから開業祝いにいただいた５色のだるまさんが水屋箪笥の上に飾ってありますが、四年前にカフェが順調にいくようにと願って片目を入れて１年後、無事に１年が過ごせたことを感謝してもう一方の目を入れ、その時に赤いだるまにもまた片目を入れて二年目の祈願をしました。が、実はその後そのままになっていたことに今日気がつきました。何ということを！と深く反省。だるまさん達をきれいにして机の上に並べて、改めて感謝を込めて赤だるまに目を入れました。そして、新たな祈願をして次なる青だるまの片目を入れました。「ダルマさんがころんだ」と言って１０数えることがありますが、「ダルマさんがならんだ」でも１０になる！…と感心しながら水屋箪笥に並んだ起き上がり小法師の縁起のいい我が家のだるまさん達を見上げました。今年もヨロシクお願いします。There are five colored little DHARUMA dolls (modeled after Bodhidharma who was a founder of Zen Buddhism) on an old style Japanese cupboard in my cafe which I received as a gift from a Japanese sweets shop in my neighbourhood for the opening celebration of my cafe four years ago. At that time, I followed the custom to paint in an eye of a Dharma praying that my cafe would run smoothly. One year later, I appreciated that everything went well, so I painted the other eye of the first Dharma and painted one eye of the red one. Today, I realized that I haven't done anything since then and I shouted in my mind "Oh my goodness!", so I cleaned all the Dharmas and put them on the table in order to paint in the red Dharma's eye appreciating everything. I also painted in the blue Dharma's eye for another goal. In Japan, there are times when we count to ten, when we say "Dha-ru-ma-sa-n-ga ko-ro-n-da (which means Dharuma] fell)" but I found that we are also able to count to 10 by saying "Dha-ru-ma-sa-n-ga na-ra-n-da (which means Dharuma lined up)" to my satisfaction. It is so nice to look at five lined up good luck Dharma dolls!

１月１９日（日曜日）２０２０
神楽の囃子が近づいて、カフェにお獅子が入ってきました。大きなお獅子が笛と鈴に合わせて一舞したあとでお札（ふだ）を手渡してくださり、こちらも包んでおいたお金を渡すと、外で一対の獅子が笛、太鼓、それに鐘に合わせて凛々しく賑やかに右左に入れ替わりながら舞を見せてくれました。カフェのお客様も外に出て見物。舞が終わると皆外と中でお獅子にそれぞれの頭を噛んでもらいました。小さな女の子に「噛んでもらった？」と聞いたらお母さんが「怖がって…」とおっしゃったのを聞いて、お獅子のお兄さんがしゃがんで「それじゃ、お獅子を撫でて…」と優しくフォロー。女の子がお獅子の顔を撫でてめでたしめでたし。大勢のお客様と賑やかな獅子舞一座のおかげで今年も清々しい神楽獅子の１日が過ごせました。Festival musicians approached, and Shishi (lion) came into the cafe. After the big head Shishi performed a short dance to flute and bell music, one of the troupe members handed an amulet to me, so I offered wrapped paper money to him. Then a pair of Shishi showed a longer dance to flute, drum and bell music outside of the cafe. People in the cafe watched the dance and had their heads bitten by Shishi. I asked a little girl in the cafe "did the lion bite you?". Her mom said "she was afraid of the lion". The young man who was holding the lion's head approached her saying "ok, why don't you stroke the lion gently". Then she did and everybody looked happy. It was a pleasant Shishi-mai day. I thank the Shishi-mai troupe and the guests who came to the cafe.

１月１８日（土曜日）２０２０
１月も半ばを過ぎ、お正月気分も去って日常に戻った方がほとんどだと思いますが、毎年１月１９日は多賀大社前絵馬通りに伊勢から獅子舞がやってきます。伊勢大神楽　山本長太夫一座です。明日は日曜日でお天気も良いようですから、獅子舞を間近で見たことがない方は是非多賀大社前の絵馬通りへいらしてください。うちへ回ってくるのはたいてい午後です。獅子舞が家の中に入ってきて舞を舞った後、お獅子に頭を噛んでもらいます。これはお獅子に私たちに付いた邪気を食べてもらうためだそうです。カフェにいらっしゃるお客様にもお獅子が頭を噛んでくれますので、この体験がしたい方はどうぞいらしてください。何とも言えないお正月らしいひとときが楽しめますよ。It's already middle of January and I guess most people have gone back to their daily routine. However, Jan.19th is a special day on which a troupe of Shishi-kagura comes to our town from Ise in Mie prefecture. According to the weather forecast, it will be a fine day on Sunday (1/19), so if you haven't seen Shishi-mai (lion dance) before, it will be a good chance to see it right in front of you. Usually the troupe comes in the afternoon and Shishi comes into a house to perform a dance with flute and bell, then the Shishi (lion) bites our heads for removing evil from our bodies. If you would like the experience to be bitten by Shishi, come to my cafe. I am sure you will enjoy the time of festive mood.

１月１５日（水曜日）２０２０
昨日は小学校へ今年初めての読み聞かせに行きました。読んだのは日本みんわ絵本から「ふるやのもり」でした。今村泰子さんの東北の方言を随所に使った民話らしい雰囲気を出している文と清水耕蔵さんの迫力ある絵が素晴らしいと思ったのが選んだ理由です。今の子供たちは民話や昔話を私たちが子供の時ほど知らないそうで、なるべくそういうものを読んでほしいと学校側から言われていることもありましたが、私にとって東北弁はチャレンジでもあり練習にも熱が入りました。「んだす、んだす、おじいさん。ふるやのもりだば、なによりおっかねす。こんやあたり、くるんでねすか。」関西の子供たちに果たしてこの意味が分かるだろうかと不安を抱えながら、ナレーター、おじいさん、おばあさん、馬どろぼう、おおかみ、猿の役を精一杯読んでみました。最初の男の子たちのざわつきはいつものことながら、途中からみんなが集中して聞いていてくれるのが分かり少しほっとして、読み終えて「…で、ふるやのもりって何か分かった？」と子供たちに聞いたところ「……」やっぱり１年生には難しかったのかな。先生がたは喜んで褒めてくださったのですが…。Yesterday morning, I went to the elementary school for the first story reading of this year. I read "FURUYA NO MORI (leaking from the roof of the old house) which is a picture book from Japanese folklore. It was written by Yasuko Imamura who used Tohoku dialect (northern part of Japan) which creates a more simple atmosphere of folk tales compared to standard Japanese. Kozo Shimizu drew powerful pictures along with the story which are really amazing. Kids these days don't seem to know many Japanese folk tales, so the principal appreciates if we read those. Reading in Tohoku dialect was challenging to me and I put effort in practicing it, which I enjoyed as well. I was wondering if kids who are living in Kansai region understand unfamiliar dialects, but anyhow I read all the parts of narrator, old man, old woman, horse thief, wolf and monkey. At first, a couple of boys showed difficulty in concentration but from the middle all kids paid more attention to listening which made me feel relieved. Then after the reading, I asked the kids "Well so what was FURUYA NO MORI? ". The kids: " ........". After all it might have been a little difficult for them although the teachers were excited and pleased about my reading.

ふるやのもり（表紙）

おじいさんとおばあさん

梁の上のどろぼう

雨漏り

どろぼう狼に飛び乗る

狼の背中に乗る

どろぼう穴へ

猿のしっぽ下がる

しっぽが切れる

顔の赤いさる

１月９日（木曜日）２０２０
新年になって久々の散歩に出ました。多賀大社で参拝を済ませて入った森の道はきれいに掃除されていましたが森の中は落ちた杉の葉や枝でいっぱい。昔はお風呂の焚き物に使われパチパチと音を立てて燃え上がっていたのを思い出しながら通過して森を出ました。風はそれほど冷たくもなく穏やかで冬の様相はどこにもありません。これから節分にかけて雪が降るのでしょうか。寒さのピークと言われる今年の大寒は１月２０日だそうですが、水仙も咲き出し、山々には雪もなく、このまま春になるのではと思ってしまいそうです。I took a walk for the first time after a long while since last year. After first visiting Taga Taisha for prayer, I went to the shrine forest. In the woods, the pathway was cleared off neatly, but everywhere else was covered with fallen cedar leaves and branches. When I was a child they used to be burned for heating up the water for bath and I remember the fire making a crackling sound. Going out the woods, I felt the wind was not very cold and it was mild temperature for winter. I wondered whether we will have snow days during the winter. According to the calendar, the coldest of the year will be Jan. 20th, but since I found daffodils were opening and no snow on the top of the mountains, it seems that we might jump right into spring.

１月６日（月曜日）２０２０
お正月の飾りは松の内が終わる１月７日までで「鏡開き」は１１日が一般的だそうですが、一昨年、床の間に鏡餅を長く飾っておいてお餅が石のように固くなって切り分けるのに大変苦労したので、私の勝手な判断で去年から三が日が終わったところで、お餅を下げています。鏡餅をいつまで飾っておくのか調べようとネットを見たら、そもそも何故鏡餅を新年に飾るのかということが書いてあり興味深かったです。諸説あるようですが分かりやすいところでは、お正月には歳神様と呼ばれる神様が家にやって来られるので、鏡餅はその歳神様におそなえするためのものだとか。お正月の間に歳神様は鏡餅に宿ってくださるそうです。そして鏡開きをして神様の魂が宿ったお餅をいただくことで歳神様の運気や力を分け与えてもらうとともに一年の無病息災を願うという意味があるとのこと。「鏡開き」は鏡餅を切り分けることですが、「切る」ということばを避けて「開く」というそうです。でも実際は刃物でお餅を切ります。４日目なら切るのはそう難しくないと思いましたが、これが結構大変でお餅の中は包丁が入るのですが、外側が固くなっているのと、まるい形をしているので滑りやすく大変で、怪我をしなように慎重にゆっくり力を入れてどうにか切り分けました。やれやれ ！Decoration term for New Year is usually until Jan. 7th and the customary "Kagami-biraki (cutting of New Year's rice-cakes) " takes place on the 11th, but I decided to remove the rice-cake from the alcove on the 3rd because I had had difficulty cutting them in slices a year before last year as they had become very hard like a stone. When I checked the day of decoration term of New Year's rice-cakes, there was an explanation about why we offer rice-cakes in the New Year and I was very interested in it. Among several theories, the easiest one is the following: God of the year is coming to our house in a New Year, so we offer New Year's rice-cakes. People believe that during the New Years celebration, God of the year stays in the rice-cakes. When the celebration term is over, we cut the rice-cakes and eat them which signifies the receival of good luck and power from God as well as prayer for a healthy year. We say "Kagami-biraki" which literally means, "opening mirror" instead of saying "cutting New Year's rice-cakes" to avoid using the word "CUT" which is not appropriate for the celebration. I thought it would be easy to make slices of the big rice-cakes in three days, but actually it wasn't. I needed to pay much attention not to hurt myself when I cut them because they were round shaped and already their surfaces had become hard but I was relieved when my Kagami-biraki was successfully done. Phew!