５月２２日（水曜日） 
ご近所のお料理屋さんの奥様から芍薬をいただきました。 あまりに美しい芍薬の花。何度見てもはっとします。特にこの白さは何と表現すればいいのでしょう。 こんな美しい、夢のような白さがほかにあるでしょうか。透き通っています。ピンクの花も深い緑の葉も すべてが品よく清楚に輝いています。 I received peony from lady who is running a Japanese restaurant near by. The flowers are so beautiful, and no matter how many times I see, they catch my heart. I don't know how I can express this whiteness. Can you find anything like this breathtakingly dreamy whiteness? They are so clear. Those pinkish flowers and deep green leaves also look gracious and are shinning cleanly.

５月２０日（月曜日） 
先週の土曜日は大安で多賀大社で結婚式を挙げた若いカップル両家のご親族が 披露宴会場に向かう前に当店で１時間半ほど休息をなさいました。予めカップルが 来店なさって皆様にいなりセットをと注文をいただいていたので、先日購入した日野の陶芸家、 竹村嘉造さんのお皿にのせてみました。いなり寿司はアメリカ風に言うならスナック菓子か サンドイッチといったカジュアルな食べ物だと思うのですが、こうやって竹村さんの作品、 黄瀬戸手大陶板印刻文に並べて座敷に置いてみると何だか我が家のいなり君たち、お行儀 良い子に見えます。晴れの日に座敷も離れも正装の皆様で一杯になりました。Last Saturday （5/18) was Taian ( luckiest day in the six-day Buddhist calendar), and we had a group who held a wedding ceremony at Taga Taisha, and consisted of family members of both the bride and groom. They gathered at my cafe and rested for about one and a half hours before they headed for the reception place.The couple came to my cafe beforehand and ordered an Inari set. I prepared Inari-zushi and put them on the plate which I bought from ceramic artist, Mr. Takemura in Hino, the other day. Inari-zushi is a casual food like a snack or kind of a sandwich in America, but when I put them on Mr. Takemura's artistic plate "KIZETO TEDAI TOHBAN INKOKUMON", they looked like "well mannered elegant boys". All of the tatami rooms were full with guests who were formally dressed for the wedding on a beautiful fine day.

５月８日（水曜日） 
五月晴れの一日となりましたが、表通りは連休の賑やかさはどこへやら、また元の静けさに戻りました。 下の方で道路工事の音が響いています。さて、そんな朝に嬉しい贈り物が高知から届きました。愛知県刈谷市にお住まいの T.Tさんは滋賀の地酒屋さんにいらっしゃる度にご友人をさそって私どものカフェにお寄りくださるのですが、 そのTさんは毎年、高知県の馬路村にいらっしゃるとのこと、去年も色々なお土産をお持ちくださったのですが、今年は 現地から直接宅配便が届きました。馬路村の農協が出しているものと思われますが、その情熱が伝わる パッケージと贈り物の数々です。きっと全国でもこの馬路村のことは有名になっていることでしょう。 Tさんは毎年馬路村に行かれて村の人々の温かさを実感なさっているのでしょうが、贈り物を受け取る側にも この村がゆずの村として一丸となっている様子が伝わり楽しくなります。馬路村の愉快な贈り物と一緒にいつも お気遣いくださるTさんの温かいお気持もいただきました。Today is a beautiful fine day in May. During the holidays, the front street was lively with people visiting Taga Taisha, but now it has turned back to the usual quiet street. I can hear the noise of road construction from down the street. This morning I received a gift shipped from Kochi prefecture. It was from Mr. T.T who is living in Kariya in Aichi. Everytime when he comes to local sake shop in Shiga, he also stops by my cafe with his various friends. I heard from him that he travels to Umaji-mura (Umaji village) in Kochi every year. Last year he brought many products for me from Umaji-mura after he returned from the trip. This year, I received a package directly from the village. It was shipped by Umaji-mura agricultural cooperatives and it made me pleasantly surprised because everything such as the packages, messages and things inside were so warm and full of passion of the people in the village. They refer to the village as the Yuzu (citron) Village. This village must be already known widely by many people in Japan because it is so unique. Every year when Mr.T goes to the village, he must receive their warm welcome. Although I haven't been there before, I still I imagine that they are active and put so much effort in letting people know of their products and selling them.  I received these funny, pleasant and warm gifts, and at the same time received Mr. T's thoughtfulness as well. 

５月６日（月曜日） 
日野の陶芸家、竹村嘉造さんの福始窯陶展＜http://fukushigama.jp/?p=1032＞に行ってきました。近江線で多賀から日野駅まで約１時間。そこからしゃくなげ渓谷行きバスで藤の寺停留所下車。ご自宅までは遠いと言われて電話して迎えにきていただきました。近江鉄道は、カメラを持った男性が駅や車内に多く、また沿道でカメラを設置して待ち構えている人がいるので何かと思って日野駅に着いて駅の人に尋ねたら近江鉄道の７００型「あかね号」 が引退する日だとか。私の乗った電車は「あかね号」ではなかったのですが、それでもお目当ての駅に向かうためか車内は鉄道ファンの 熱気で満ちていました。近江鉄道の話しはまた別の機会に写真と一緒に話したいと思います。竹村さんは工房を別に構えていらっしゃり 今日はそこへは行かずに展示会場のご自宅へ。まず、その風情あるお宅に感激し、展示されている趣のある作品の 一つ一つに誠実な竹村さんらしい味わいが出ていて素晴らしいと思いました。永源寺の野田さんののれんがあちこちに掛けられて立派な古民家と作品の引き立て役になっていました。竹村さんには焼き物について色々教えていただき、展示会に訪れていたご友人たちとしばし楽しい会話が続きました。最後に私にはいささか贅沢と思いつつ、竹村嘉造さん作の大きなお皿を購入し、展示会が終ってから届けて下さるというお申し出に甘えることにし会場を後にしました。I went to the exhibition of Fukushigama by ceramic artist, Yoshizo Takemura in Hino ＜http://fukushigama.jp/?p=1032＞. It took about an hour from Taga to Hino by Ohmi railway line, then got on a local bus bound for Shakunage ravine, and got off at Fuji no tera. Since a local old man told me that it would be far to get to Takemura's house where the exhibition was held, I asked Mr. Takemura for a ride by his car. I saw many men with their cameras at the station and inside cars, and there were people standing by for a chance to take photos along the railroad line. I was very curious about what was going on today, so asked station staff about it. One staff member said it was because today is the last day for the railway vehicle of 700 type "Akane". The railway vehicle which I got on was not it but still many railway fans were inside the car and full of enthusiasm. It was fun but I will talk about it another day and get back to Mr. Takemura. He has his own work studio but today's exhibition was held at his home which is a very old Japanese house. First, I was very impressed by his elegant house. When I entered the house, big earthen pots, vases, dishes were displayed with presence and they each expressed different things but I could see Mr. Takemura's sincerity in all of them. Mr. Noda's spirit curtains were hanging here and there effectively. Mr. Takemura kindly taught me about pottery and I could join the pleasant conversation with his guests. In the end, while it was too luxurious to me, I bought a big rectangle dish created by Mr. Takemura. He kindly offered to bring the dish to me after the exhibition. I accepted it and left his house.

５月５日（日曜日） 
今年は長い連休で、まさにゴールデンウィークでしたが、そろそろ終わりです。今日は「こどもの日」。 晴天に恵まれ表通りも朝から何かしら明るい雰囲気でした。昔は祝祭日は旗日（はたび）といってどの家も門口に国旗を掲げていたもの ですが、今はそういう家もほとんどなくなりました。私が長くいたアメリカでは年がら年中星条旗が敷地内のポールに掲揚してあったり 玄関に掛かっているのは普通に見られますが、日本人はナショナリズムを嫌うのか、いつの間にか門口に国旗を掲げるのが 珍しい風景になってしまいました。私は「旗日」の習慣が何となく気に入って国旗を掲げています。「憲法記念日」「みどりの日」そして 「こどもの日」と３日連続で祝日。我が家の国旗も連日出番となりました。５月に入って座敷の床の間には武者人形を飾っています。 掛け軸は平井東庵の絵。平井東庵（ひらいとうあん）は実業家で万延元年（1860年）に滋賀県で生まれ、後に京都、西陣の 織物卸商に養子に入ったとWikipediaにあります。絵や茶道に精通していたそうです。手前の白い動物は何だろうと、ちょっと不思議な 気持ちで眺めています。 This year we have long consecutive holidays which we call "Golden Week in May", but it will end soon. Today is "Children's Day". It was a clear day and the main street was somehow a bright atmosphere since the morning. When I was a child, I remember every house displaying the national flag outside the front door as they called it "flag day", but nowadays the majority of houses don't do it. In the US where I had been living for many years, it has been seen commonly that people put up the US national flag in their yard or entrance area all year round. I don't know why Japanese people don't display the flag nowadays. it probably is because many people dislike nationalism. I just like the custom of "Hata-bi (flag day)" and display the flag on the festive day. We have three consecutive national holidays as " Constitution Day", "Greenery Day" and "Children's Day" and the flag appeared outside of my house on these days. Since it is May, I also displayed warrior dolls in the alcove for the Children's Day (originally it was boy's day). The hanging scroll is by Tohan Hirai. He was born in 1860 in Shiga prefecture and became a businessman in Kyoto. He was also well known as a painter and a master of tea ceremony. When I look at this scroll, I am always wondering what the white animal is in front.

５月２日（木曜日） 
新しい元号、令和になって二日目です。昨日はあいにくの雨でしたが、それでも多賀大社に 参拝の方は多く、カフェにいらっしゃった東近江市からのお客様は、平成最後の日と令和初日の 御朱印を多賀大社でいただくために二日連続で多賀に来ましたとおっしゃっていました。 お願いして御朱印帳を見せていただいたのですが写真を撮らせていただくのをうっかり忘れてしまい、 ここに載せられないのが残念です。確かに、平成と令和の多賀大社の御朱印が立派な毛筆の字と ともに押されていました。私には思いもつかない楽しみ方があるものだと感心しました。Today is the second day of the new era, Reiwa. Even though it was a rainy day yesterday, many people visited Taga Taisha to celebrate and pray for the new era. Guests from Higashi Ohmi in Shiga stopped by my cafe and they said that they came to Taga for two days in a row because they wanted to get GOSHUIN (red ink stamp) of the last day in Heisei and the first day in Reiwa at Taga Taisha. I asked them to show me the stamps on their stamp book (Goshuin-choh). Indeed they were there but I can not show them here because I forgot to ask them to let me take photos in order to put them up on this blog. I saw the red stamps of Taga Taisha dated for two consecutive days and they were with powerful, majestic brush hand writings. I admired their way of enjoying the change of the era, which I had never thought about.

４月３０日（火曜日） 
平成が今日で終わります。明日からは令和の新しい日々の始まりです。 毎月、多賀大社はお朔日（ついたち）に多くの参拝客で賑わいます。 明日、５月１日は令和元年のお朔日であるため、絵馬通りのお店は お参りにいらっしゃる方々のために特別なおもてなしをしようと朝７時から 開店することになりました。我が「多賀あさひや」もいつもは１１時から ですが明日は７時にカフェを開けます。そして、朝ご飯がメニューに加わります。 お客様に喜んでいただけるようガンバリマス！！Heisei era ends as of today. New era, Reiwa, will start tomorrow. Every month,  many people come to Taga Taisha on the first day (we call it OTSUITACHI) and pray for the health and prosperity of themselves and their family. Tomorrow, May 1st is the special first day because new era starts on this day. Shops along the main street (Ema doori) decided to give a special service to open their doors at 7 a.m. for the people who come to the Shrine. Taga Asahiya will also open at 7 a.m. instead of 11 a.m. which is the usual opening time. Japanese-style breakfast will be served as a special service. I will fully prepare so customers will be pleased with it.