３月１６日（日）２０２５
　３月も半ばに入り、日照時間は確実にのび、気温は日によって違うものの分厚いコートから薄手のコートに変えるほど穏やかになっています。

　朝のもんぜん市では菜花や水菜、ほうれん草など葉物野菜が豊富に並ぶようになりました。梅の枝が販売されていたので買って帰り、床の間や蔵などあちこちに挿して、日毎白い蕾が大きくなっていくのを楽しんでいます。一方、いつもは裏庭に賑やかに咲く水仙が、今年は１月に降った雪に潰されたのか殆ど顔を見せてくれません。

　先日、お客様からいただいた水仙や椿を梅の枝と一緒に花器に挿してみました。
部屋中に漂う香りがお届けできないのが残念ですが、心が浮き立つほど嬉しいです。

It's already half past March, and sunlight hours are getting longer. The temperature is milder as we change thick coats to thin ones.

We can find spring green vegetables at the local morning market such as canola flowers, potherb mustard and spinach. Since I found plum branches there, I bought them and brought them to my home. I am enjoying the tiny buds of the branches which are in the vase becoming larger day by day. I usually find many daffodil flowers in my backyard, but this year, only a few flowers appeared. It is probably because the snow which accumulated in Jan crushed daffodils.

The other day, one of my customers gave me a bunch of daffodil flowers and camellias, so I put them in vases with plum branches. I wish I could send the nice fragrance of daffodil flowers which enriches me so much.

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３月３日（月曜日）２０２５　
　以前も書きましたが、アメリカの私の街でのゴミ収集について。

　生ゴミ（燃えるゴミ）は週１回、リサイクルゴミは隔週に収集してくれます。ゴミを入れる容器が人がスッポリ入るほどの大きさなのに驚きます。黒が生ゴミ、青が資源ゴミ。決められた曜日に家の前に出しておくと、収集車が来て車に付いた大きなアームが上手に引き上げてゴミを中へ放り込み、容器を元に戻して、次の家に移動します。

　写真を撮ろうと収集車が近づいたのに気づいて慌てて外に出るのですが、作業が数秒で終わり次へ行ってしまうので、タイミングが遅れてしまいます。今回も外へ出た時は車がすでに３軒先で作業の様子が上手に撮れませんでした。写真は今回と以前のものを載せています。

　資源ゴミは缶も紙もプラスティックもみな一緒に放り込んでOKなところが何とも大雑把です。集めたゴミをどこでどうしているのか分かりませんが、運転手一人で効率化をはかったゴミ収集。随分前からこのシステムを採用しています。日本のように資源ゴミをそれぞれに区別して出す国が他にもあるのかどうか知りたいですが、几帳面な日本の国民性が表れている一つだと思います。

Today I will write about garbage collection in my area in the US which I had already written about a few years ago.

Garbage truck outsourcing by the city comes every week for kitchen waste and every other week for recycling waste. Black bin is for kitchen waste and the blue one is for recycling. Both sizes are huge and could easily fit a person inside. We place the bin in front of our house on a designated day of the week, then a truck comes. It grabs the bin with the expanded arm and after throwing the garbage into the truck, the arm puts the bin back on the ground and goes to the next house.

Since it is amazing, I tried to take a photo, but every time I failed because when I dash out of the house noticing the truck came, and I was late to take a picture. The work of the truck is so quick, taking only a few seconds. When I was out this time, the truck was already there houses away from my house.

As for recycling waste, we can put everything such as cans, papers, plastic waste, into a big blue bin in the US and the sorting seems so rough to me. I don't know how they divide these recycling waste, but the way of collecting garbage with only one person operating the truck improves efficiency. On the other hand, in Japan we divide the recycling waste separately into certain bins. I would like to know if other countries do the same way as in Japan. We can see the national character in those ways. I am interested in it.

２月２３日（日曜日）２０２５
　ARTの舞台について前の投稿で書いたのですが、劇場で興味深かったことを是非書きたいと思います。それは洗面所のことです。

　この劇場には今まで何回も来ていますが、地下にある洗面所は長年普通に男性（men）と女性（wemen）に分かれていました。それが、一昨年の夏「エビータ」という舞台を観にきた時、地下に下りていったら表示が（All genders）つまり「みんなのトイレ」というか性別を問わない空間、或いは性的マイノリティーを含む全ての人が使えるトイレになっていました。最初気が付かずにいた私ですが、外で娘を待っていたら、同じところから男性が出てきたのでびっくり！娘にサインを指摘されて初めて分かりました。去年日本でも法案が通ったばかりの LGBT理解増進法、つまり性の多様性を尊重したもので、それが実践されていると知り、正直個人的に不快でした。

今回は３時間の長い公演時間なので洗面所を使わないわけにはいかず、躊躇しつつも「経験のため」と決意して地下に下りていきました。するとどうでしょう！「Stalls Only 」(仕切られた小部屋)と「Urinals & Stalls」(小便器＆仕切り部屋)、　もう一つ「Single Occupancy」(個室)という表示になっていて、女性は左、男性はもう一つのドアから出入りしていました。ハッキリと女性用、男性用と書かないところがハーバードらしいところですが、それでも男女が分かれていたことにホッとしたのは言うまでもありません。All Gendersのトイレに反発して苦情を言った人が多かったのでしょう。

民主党から共和党のトランプ政権に変わったことで、振り子がまた大きく揺れているアメリカ社会を感じます。

I wrote previously about the ART play which I saw. This time, I will write about another interesting thing in the theatre. It is about the restroom there.

I have been to the ART theatre several times and there was a restroom downstairs. The indication of the restroom had been "Men" and "Women" but when I came to this theatre two years ago to watch the musical of "Evita", it turned to "All Genders". At first, I didn't notice it but I was surprised to see a man who came out from the same door which I exited from a few minutes ago. My daughter who was with me pointed to the sign of "All Genders", then I knew the restroom was used by both male and female. I understood it prioritized gender diversity, but personally I was uncomfortable that we shared the same restroom.

The play was three hours long this time and although I was hesitant about it, I thought that I should experience everything anyhow, then went downstairs. There, I was surprised at the sign of the restroom. It indicated "Stalls Only" , "Urinals & Stalls" and "Single Occupancy". I saw women were going in/out from the door of "Stalls Only" and men were using the other door. Although it didn't say men and women strictly, it went back to the previous system. I guess probably because many people complained about the restroom of "All Genders". In fact, I was relieved by this change.

Through this experience, I feel the US social situation has been changed by the government changing from Democrat to Republican.

２月２２日（土曜日）２０２５（長文の投稿になりました）
　先日の宮崎駿のアニメの上映前に劇団関係者が舞台に出て関連作品として上演中の「オデッセイ」を宣伝していました。その時「もし貴方がトラウマ（苦痛や恐怖を体験した後の精神的に深刻な傷）を乗り越えたなら、その後元の自分に戻れるか」を映画を見ながら考えてほしいと話しました。それで「オデッセイ」も観たいと思い切符を購入し劇場に見に行ってきました。オデッセイとはホメロスの書いた古代ギリシャの叙事詩です。

　ハーバード大学にあるART（American Repertory Theater) の劇場は開演前から熱気を帯びた空気に包まれ芝居好きの人たちが集まって来た感じです。上演時間３時間、途中２回の休息が入るこの芝居。事前に予備知識を入れて行ったにしても英語が母国語でない私が楽しめる保証はどこにもなく不安と好奇心だけでした。

　さて、オデッセイはトロイア戦争の終結後に英雄のオデッセウスが１０年かけて様々な困難を乗り越えながら故郷のイタケーに戻るという話ですが、原作を元にしたとはいえ、芝居はかなり大胆に現代風に脚色してありました。登場人物は女性４人と男性６人で主役のオデッセイ(Odysseus)と妻のペネロペ(Penelope)以外は一人何役も兼ねて演じ、このうちの一人は戯曲を書いたケイト・ハミル(Kate Hamill)自身が出ていて、演劇人の幅広さと才能に脱帽しました。

　劇中にパペット（操り人形）がシルエットとして何度か効果的に登場したり、３人の女性が羊になって「バアア、ベエエ」とテンポ良く台詞と絡みあったり、男性たちが豚になったり牛になったり、かと思えば、性的描写や暴力的な場面も多く見られました。衣装は至ってシンプルで小道具などで役柄を表し、装置も具体的なものではなく簡素で、布やロープなどが効果的に使われ、場面転換のテンポや音楽にも感心し、あっという間の３時間でした。俳優たちのレベルの高さは言うまでもありません。

　芝居はオデッセイが無事妻のもとへ帰る幸福な結末でしたが、先のミヤザキの最新映画とこのオデッセイに「人はトラウマを乗り越えた時、元の自分に戻ることができるか」という本質的な問いが投げかけられています。戦争や災害をはじめ様々な困難に遭遇し、それを乗り切ろうとする私たちへの問いかけでもあります。うちへ帰って家族で話し合う大切な一日となりました。

When I went to watch Miyazaki's animated movie, a man who was affiliated with ART (American Repertory Theater) did a short talk on the stage before the movie started. He promoted Odyssey which is currently being played by ART. At the end of his talk, he said to think while watching the movie about if you have gone through something traumatic, can you ever go back to who you were. I was curious about the play which has the same theme, so I went to the ART to see the Odyssey, too. Odyssey is an epic poem attributed to Homer.

ART is in Harvard Univ. and it was crowded with many people who love watching plays. It was said that the play runs three hours long including two intermissions. No matter how much I prepared to get some knowledge about the play beforehand, I, who is a foreigner, didn't have any confidence about whether I would understand it. I just came to the theatre with curiosity and anxiety.

Odyssey is an adventure story of Odysseus who went through many difficulties after the Trojan War and went back to his home in Ithaca after ten years. The ART play was a powerful contemporary adaptation of The Odyssey, by Kate Hamill. The actors were four females and six males, and one of the female actors was Kate Hamill. I was impressed by the wide range of talents of these theatre people.

There were many interesting scenes which attracted me very much, for example they used puppets effectively, three female actors turned to sheep saying baa baa rhythmically, and male actors turned to pigs and cows in pantomime which were very funny. They showed some adult contents such as sexual and violent scenes. The stage setting was not realistic and simple. Many ropes and clothes were effectively used.
Their costumes were very simple and expressed their characters with props and pantomime. Their scene changes were fast-moving and the music was good. I felt that the three hours play including two intermissions went fast. Needless to say, the levels of all actors were so high.

The play ended happily for Odysseus, as he returned safely to his home Ithaca and met with his wife. I was reminded of the essential question: if you have gone through something traumatic, can you ever go back to who you were. It was also a question to us who are facing various difficult situations currently such as war and disasters and trying to overcome them. It became an important day for our family to discuss it at home after the play.

２月１８日（火曜日）２０２５
　ハーバードスクエアに昔ながらの小さな古い映画館があります。ここはハリウッド映画のロードショーなどではなく、過去の名作や海外の注目された映画をみせる映画館です。随分昔ですが黒澤明シリーズを私はほぼ全作品（十数本）をここで見ました。

　さて、宮崎駿のアニメ「君たちはどう生きるか」2023作（英題：The Boy and the Heron）を見ました。同名の吉野源三郎の小説がありますが、内容が違うとのことで原作ではないようです。

　昔と変わらない狭い入り口からポップコーンの匂い漂う中に入ると、昔ながらの席が並び、スクリーンには映画開始まで携帯電話禁止などの注意事項を映画の一場面の中に何とも意気に入れ込んで場面を切り替えながら無音で繰り返し見せています。例えば「暗いのが怖いからといって携帯を開けて友達に電話をかけないで」「マスク奨励」「体調悪かったら家にいて」という注意喚起のものから「寒すぎたら何とかするからスタッフに声をかけて」「映画は何かを可能にする」なんてものまでスクリーンの画像も言葉も面白くて、楽しく言葉を追いかけました。

　「ミヤザキ」の名はアメリカでも有名な証拠に映画館は満席。二時間という長さに圧倒されながらも、これは何が言いたいのだろう、この場面はあの本のイメージと同じかな、などと頭を使いながら見ました。日本のアニメなのでセリフは全部日本語。観客はアメリカ人なので映画の題名も英語で、セリフも英語の字幕。いつもと逆転です。時々、ひょうきんなシーンが出てきてつい笑えるのですが、英語で伝えられていないのか笑っているのは私だけ、ということも何回かありました。ミヤザキのファンが多いのか映画の後に拍手がありました。

　終わって外は氷点下の凍てつく夜。同行の娘と映画についてアレコレ話しながら震えながらも楽しく家へ帰りました。

There is a small movie theatre in Harvard Sq. where they have been showing masterpieces of both the US and other countries. I watched almost all the movies of Akira Kurosawa here, more than a dozen, a long long time ago.

Now, I watched a Japanese animation film named "The Boy and the Heron" (2023) by Hayao Miyazaki here.

Going through the narrow entrance which was the same as before, I smelled of popcorn inside the movie hall.
There was still time before the movie started, and they were showing several movie pictures in which they wrote some English to get the audience's attention, for example "Please silence your cell phone" "Too cold? Please let one of our staff know and we will try to adjust it." " Please stay home if you are not feeling well" "Don't be afraid of the dark.Please keep your screen off & don't use your phone" etc.. I liked them a lot because they were so funny.

Seats were full, probably because director Miyazaki is popular in the US. It was a long film of over two hours. I had no problem with the language because it was a Japanese movie but I sometimes had to use my brain to understand the scenes and what they meant because the film was not easy to grasp. Overall, I was amazed by his beautiful new animation and I laughed at several humorous scenes. Some audience members applauded when the film was over.

It was a really cold night outside when we left the theatre, but I enjoyed talking about the movie with my daughter while we were going home in the freezing air.

２月１４日（金曜日）２０２５
　我が家には涅槃図の掛け軸があります。これはお釈迦様が亡くなられた時の様子を描いたもので、３５歳で悟りを開いて４５年間インド各地を行脚して仏法を説かれたお釈迦様は故郷に向かう途中、食中毒で体調を崩され、クシナガラの跋提河（ぼつだいが）のほとりの娑羅双樹のもとで８０歳でお亡くなりになりました。それが２月１５日で満月だったようです。釈迦の死を知って天上からは生母の摩耶夫人が天女の付き添いで降りてこられます。
お釈迦さまが横になっている宝台のまわりには多くの人物や説法を聞くために集まってきた動物たちが皆釈迦の死を知って嘆き悲しんでいます。

「涅槃」というのは元は「消滅する」の意味で、すべての煩悩が消滅して悟りを完成させた境地を指し、釈迦の死を「涅槃にはいる」ともいうそうです。涅槃に入られたお釈迦様は金色に輝いています。

　こうした涅槃図が普通の家にあるのは珍しいとうちに来られたお客様の一人がおっしゃっていたことがあります。多分その理由は祖父が一人娘の祖母のところに婿養子に来たのですが、生まれ育ったところが守山のお寺でその御縁からではないかと私は思っています。

涅槃図が家にあることは子供の頃から知っていましたが、いつ床間にかけてあったか覚えていず、学芸員の井上ひろみ先生に伺ったところ、釈迦の入滅が２月１５日なのでその頃が良いと教えていただき、以来その時期がくると取り出して掛けています。

構図は同じですが、お寺などに立派に描かれた様々な涅槃図を見ることがあります。こうした仏画を床の間に掛けると仏教徒もそうでない人も落ち着いた静かな気持ちになるものですね。

There is a scroll of Nehanzu (painting of Nirvana) in my house. After getting enlightenment when he was 35 years old, he traveled on foot to teach Buddhism for forty five years and in the middle of going back to his hometown, he got sick from food poisoning and died under Sal trees at the age of eighty. It was February 15 and the day of the full moon. Around the sacred Buddha's bed, there are many Buddha's disciples and animals are sad.

Nirvana in Sanskrit means "blowing out" and refers to the extinguishing of the fires of desire and suffering, signifying a state of perfect peace and liberation. It is said that the death of Buddha is called to enter Nirvana.
Buddha who entered Nirvana is shining gold.

One of the customers said to me before that it was rare that painting of Nirvana was kept in an ordinary house.
I don't know the right reason but I guess it is because of my grandfather. I didn't see him because he had already passed away when I was born. He came to my grandmother to get married with her. He was the second son raised in a Buddhist temple and probably brought the scroll to my house.

I knew about the scroll in my house, but when I came back to my hometown and started the cafe, I didn't know when I should hang the scroll. Then I asked Ms. Hiromi Inoue, who is a curator in Shiga. She told me it was an appropriate time this season because Budda died Feb.15th.

There are many beautiful paintings of Nirvana in many Japanese temples in which the composition of the picture is the same as the one in my house. They make people's minds calm and peaceful even if he/she is not Buddhist.