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.
