Sunday, July 28, 2019

7月28日(日曜日)2019 
骨董がお好きで古美術に詳しい先生ご夫妻がカフェにお見えになり、奥様からお土産をいただきました。 素敵な竹の皮のラッピングで中を開けるとお手作りの粕漬けでした。去年漬けましたとおっしゃっていましたが、なす、キュウリ、 みょうがの粕漬けが沢山お行儀よく詰まって夕食が待ち遠しくなります。酒粕は毎年、多賀で買い求めていらっしゃるとのこと。 何よりのお土産を頂戴しました。一緒にお出でくださった墨画家の横田順(すなお)さん。作品の写真集をお持ちくださいました。 心にあるものを妥協なく墨で表現し続けていらっしゃる横田さん。ご本人とお話でき、その作品を(写真集で)拝見して充実感で 一杯です。An intelligent couple who likes antiques and has a wide knowledge about them came to my cafe today and I received a gift from the wife. It was nicely wrapped with bamboo peel and when I opened it there were vegetables pickled in sake lees made by herself. She said it was from last year. Pickled vegetables were eggplant, cucumber and Japanese ginger which were cut in bite-size pieces and they invited my appetite. She said that she buys sake lees in Taga every year because she can get nice ones. I really thank her for bringing such a nice gift for me. They brought their friend and introduced her to me. Her name is Ms. Sunao Yokota who is an ink brush painter and she brought a photo book of her works. They are amazing. I was so impressed by them and by her. She has been expressing everything that has existed inside herself using her keen sense of observation. I was very lucky to meet her and talked for hours in a quiet surrounding.





Saturday, July 27, 2019

7月27日(土曜日)2019 
台風6号は雨がよく降りましたが、どうやら進路を名古屋の方へ向けて行ってしまったようです。 9月1日に企画している布谷史人さんのマリンバ公演のご案内を二日間ほど焦って書いて、昨日郵便局から 送りました。元庄屋屋敷の古民家宿泊施設「さとの宿 "一圓屋敷"」にも泊まっていただきたいので今回は遠くの方にもご案内をおおくりしました。このところ用事が重なりいささか寝不足ですが体調維持を心がけています。私の朝食をポタリングガイドのSさんが褒めてくださったので、ちょっとご紹介しましょう。自家製ヨーグルトは、東京の友人、E.Mさんから教えてもらったもので、材料の糀(こうじ)と豆乳を炊飯器で簡単に作れるので毎日果物と一緒に食べています。それから、カボチャ、キャベツ、ピーマン、人参、キノコなどにレーズンとナッツ(アーモンドとピーナツ)を一緒に蒸して温野菜を作り、そこにオリーブオイルを振り掛け、その上に乾燥イワシを一つかみ加えます。アーモンドとレーズンと紅茶が少し前にアメリカから届いたので有り難く使わせてもらっています。今回は残り物のリゾット(洋風オジヤ)も食卓に出しました。飲み物はコーヒーか紅茶。カフェの支度が終ったところで、時にゆっくり、時に慌ただしく食べています。Typhoon #6 brought a lot of rain and now it has gone toward Nagoya. As you already know, I am planning a Marimba Concert by Fumito Nunoya on September 1st and I have been busy writing the addresses of guests of the cafe for sending fliers for the concert the last two days.This time, I wanted to let them know about Ichien Yashiki (Traditional Japanese style accommodation) as well, of which I am one of the staff, so I included also a flier of it to the people who are living far from Shiga so they will use it hopefully. I am trying to pay attention to my health condition especially my daily food because I feel a bit short of sleeping time due to several matters. Since Mr. S of Pottering Guide praised my breakfast, I will introduce you what I am eating in the morning. First, I eat home-made yogurt which I learned how to make using rice bran and soy milk from Ms. E.M in Tokyo. Second, I steam vegetables (cabbage, buttercup squash, green peppers, carrot, muchrooms etc.) with nuts and raisins and put olive oil and dried tuna before eat. I got almond nuts, raisins and tea from the US recently, so I appreciate to eat them. Today I added risotto which was left over from last night. Coffee or tea is my drink. Every day after preparing Mochiko-cake and Inari-zushi, I eat this breakfast sometimes in a relaxed way or sometimes in a hurry.





7月26日(金曜日)2019 
夏日の始まった本日、S.Kさんから目の覚めるようなカサブランカをいただきました。一輪一輪の花の見事なこと!直径が20センチもあります。以前、別の方から白い芍薬をいただき、その柔らかな夢のような白さに驚きましたが、このカサブランカの白さは何と表現すればいいのでしょう。色鮮やかな花に負けない華やかさと強さを感じます。それでいて、和室の床の間にしっかりと納まって、背景の日下部鳴鶴(くさかべめいかく)の書や古い花瓶に調和しています。姿形の見事さと一緒に、香りがまた素晴らしく、部屋いっぱいに広がって、贅沢な気分です。The rainy season has just ended and hot summer days have started. Today, I received white Lilly " Casa Blanca" from Ms. S.K. I measured the diameter of the flower, which is really big and is about 20 cm (7.87 inch). Several months ago, I received white peony from another person and I was amazed by the beauty of the white flower which was dreamy and pure. This Casa Blanca is also white but I feel a different impression. Its gorgeous whiteness is powerful and defeats other colorful flowers. However, these flowers are well-suited to the Japanese alcove. They match well with the hanging scroll by Meikaku Kusakabe and the old flower pot. Casa Blanca has also a wonderful sent as well as beautiful shapes of the flowers. It is a luxurious feeling to be in the guest room.





Wednesday, July 24, 2019

7月23日(火曜日)2019
先週の土曜日に彦根商工会議所主催で「日下部鳴鶴(くさかべめいかく)フィールドワーク」が 書道家の前田鎌利氏がお弟子さん30人あまりを引率して行なわれました。日下部鳴鶴(1838-1922)は彦根藩士で明治の三筆と呼ばれ近代書道を確立した一人です。彼の流派を受け継ぐ書道家は非常に多く前田鎌利先生もそのお一人です。日下部鳴鶴は彦根出身であるため、 この辺りには鳴鶴の書が多く残っており、実は我が家にも掛け軸が一幅あります。鳴鶴は書体も雅号も色々あって、私のように何も知らない者には教えていただくまでは誰の書か全く分かりませんでした。フィールドワークは今回が第二弾だそうで、彦根の天寧寺https://www.biwako-visitors.jp/spot/detail/561、一圓屋敷https://www.ichienyashiki.jp/、多賀大社を回って日下部鳴鶴の書を鎌利先生が解説なさったようです。お昼すぎに皆さんうちに来られて軽食のもち粉ケーキ/いなり寿司セットを召し上がりました。前田鎌利先生はまだお若いですが、書家であると同時にプレゼンテーションクリエイターとしても有名だそうで、ソフトバンクの孫正義氏のプレゼン資料の作成者として孫氏にその才能を認められたとのこと。現在は「書道塾 継未(つぐみ)」を主催して、全国15校、生徒数は700人以上だそうです。うちに来られた皆さんも彦根の生徒さんは勿論のこと各地の生徒さんが参加なさっていたようです。名所旧跡を訪ねる旅もいいですが、このように書家とともにポイントを絞ってその地を訪ねるのも充実した旅の楽しみ方だと思いました。Last Saturday, calligrapher Kamari Maeda took his disciples to the place where Meikaku Kusakabe left his work in Hikone-Taga area organized by Hikone Chamber of Commerce and the event was named " Field Work of Meikaku Kusakabe". Meikaku (1839-1922) is one of three great Calligraphers who was a feudal retainer of Hikone Domain and established modern calligraphy. Since Meikaku was from Hikone, he left many of his works in this area. As a matter of fact, there is one hanging scroll written by him left in my house. Meikaku Kusakabe used many pen names and he had several writing styles, so up until a calligrapher in my town told me it was Meikaku's work, I didn't have any idea who wrote the hanging scroll in my house. I heard that this was the second Field Work event and this time they visited Ten-nei-ji (Soto school temple in Hikone)https://www.biwako-visitors.jp/spot/detail/561, Ichien Yashikihttps://www.ichienyashiki.jp/, and Taga-taisha. Master Kamari Maeda gave some explanation of each work. The group came to my cafe in the afternoon and ate a light lunch of Mochiko/Inari set which I made. Mr. Kamari is a young great male calligrapher, but he is also famous as a Presentation Creator. He used to work at Softbank and prepared presentation materials for Mr. Masayoshi Son who is a chairman holding SoftBank. According to the net info. Mr. Son acknowledged Mr. Kamari's ability. After Mr. Kamari left SoftBank, he presided a calligraphy class named "Calligraphy Class --Tugumi ” and now he has 15 classes throughout Japan and about 700 students are receiving his calligraphy lessons. On that day thirty students came to my cafe, and many students in his Hikone school were of course among them but also students from other districts such as Tokyo, Nagoya, Kobe participated in the tour. It is nice to visit places of scenic beauty and historic sites, but this kind of tour which visit places with a special focus on a particular area with a specialist of that field is wonderful. I hoped that they enjoyed the hanging scroll in my house as well as the lunch set.



The photo was provided by Ms. Yoshiko Eryuu.










Saturday, July 20, 2019

7月19日(金曜日)2019 
お客様から京都の祇園祭のお土産をいただきました。厄払いのちまきと立派な鶏の絵がらの手ぬぐい、それから祇園祭のうちわです。 厄払いのちまきは玄関外に飾るそうで、早速、私もカフェの入口上に掛けてみました。滋賀の田舎にいては華やかな「祇園さん」を 見に行くことは滅多にありませんが、京都の風習をまねて果たして京都の人はどう思うでしょうかね。雨が多く蒸し暑い毎日です。 梅雨明けはもうすぐでしょうか。I received souvenirs of Gion Festival in Kyoto from my customer. They are Chimaki (good-luck charm of the festival, Japanese hand towel with printed beautiful chicken design, and paper fan. The customer let me know that I should put Chimaki outside of the front door for protecting against misfortune. There are not many chances for people like me who live in the countryside in Shiga to go to Gion Festival in Kyoto. I put the Chimaki outside of my door, as people in Kyoto do. I wonder what they would think when someone who lives outside Kyoto copies them. It is very humid and rainy these days. I hope this wet season will end soon.





Saturday, July 13, 2019

7月13日(土曜日)2019 
近所に小さい女の子がいるご家族がいて、そこのお母さんから幼稚園のバザーにうちのもち粉ケーキを 出してほしいと頼まれ、今朝はいつもより早かったけど7時半までにバザー用にケーキを焼きました。若いお母さん達が 買って、ちびちゃんたちが食べてくれるのかな、なんて思いながらパックに分けて入れてお宅まで届けたら、女の子の お母さんの顔がふわっと笑顔になりました。バザーにもち粉ケーキを出したのは初めてです。There is a family who has a little girl near my house. A couple of weeks ago, the mother of the girl asked me to donate Mochiko-cake in my cafe for the bazaar of her daughter's kindergarten. This morning I woke up a little earlier than usual, and baked extra cakes for the bazaar thinking of that young moms will buy my cakes and kids will probably eat them with joy. I put pieces of them in small packs, went to the girl's house and handed them in to the young mom. She looked at me with a big smile. It was the first time for me to donate my cake to the bazaar.





7月12日(金曜日)2019 
友人のH.Nさんが、「今日はガマを持ってきたよ」と言って、顔の高さまであるような長い瑞々しい葉の束と串刺しのような茶色い不思議な 植物と、そして、これまた成長のいい赤い菊を持ってカフェに来て下さいました。「ガマ」って何となく知っていましたが、こうして近くで見るのは初めてです。ネットで見ると、この茶色い部分はガマの穂と呼ばれ、ここがどうやら花らしく、この穂の中は綿が詰まっているそうで昔は火付けに使われたり、乾燥させて火をつけて蚊取り線香の代用品として使われたこともあったとか。艶のある勢いの良い葉と茶色いガマの穂が同じ深い緑の葉の中に散らばったピンクの菊とよく似合い、壷に挿すと引き締った涼しげな床の間になりました。何とも嬉しい贈り物です。Ms.H.N came into my cafe saying "I brought GAMA (Reedmace) today." and gave me a bunch of very long fresh leaves which almost reach my face, with strange shaped brown plants which looked like pierced sausage, and well grown fresh red chrysanthemum. I have known GAMA vaguely, but it was the first time to see them up close. According to the net info, this brown part is called an ear of GAMA and it is a flower of GAMA. It says that it is packed with cotton inside the ear and in the old days people used the cotton when they made fire or used them as a mosquito repellent after drying. These fresh long leaves and brown ears of GAMA match with the pink chrysanthemum flowers scattered in deep dark green leaves, and when I put them in a vase, they become an accent in the alcove and looks nice. I appreciate Ms. H.K 's wonderful gift.





7月11日(木曜日)2019 
私が見た昨日の天気予報では今日のお天気は午前は曇りで午後は雨ということで、朝のうちに外に出る予定を 立てていましたが、ベッドの中で既に雨の音。ああ、完全に梅雨のお天気です。 レインジャケットと帽子、それに雨が目に入らないようにとサングラスをかけて自転車で銀行や彦根へ買い物に出かけました。 大きい道路では歩道と車道があって、自転車は白線の外を走るものの、対向のトラックが(普通車でも)ものすごい水しぶきを 上げて通っていきます。左手で運転者にスローダウン!(速度落として!)と合図を送るも見えているのかいないのか 結構なスピード。日本では運転者はもう少し気遣いがほしいものです。According to the weather forecast I saw yesterday, it would be cloudy in the morning and rain in the afternoon, so I had planned to go out to do some errands in the morning, but I heard the sound of rain from my bed in the early morning. It seems we have truly entered the rainy season now. However, I decided to go out to the bank and grocery store in Hikone as planned by bicycle wearing a rain jacket, hat and sunglasses for avoiding rain drops coming into my eyes. The main road is divided into roadways and sidewalks, and I went outside of the white line (which is part of the sidewalks). Trucks (or even standard-sized cars) were coming from the opposite direction were splashing me in the rain. I lowered my left hand which was a sign to ask them to slow down. I didn't know whether the drivers noticed me or not, but most of them didn't pay any attention to me and continued to pass while splashing forcefully. Drivers in Japan should sympathize with people in the sidewalks like me.



Sunday, July 7, 2019

7月3日(水曜日)2019 
一圓屋敷https://www.ichienyashiki.jp/で会議があるので、カフェが終って片付けを済ませ、荷物を自転車のカゴに入れ、玄関の鍵をかけて、いつも持つ 手提げバッグは持たなかったので鍵は背中のバッグパックを下ろすのも面倒なのでズボンのポケットへ。一圓屋敷には早く着いたので、宿の棚の整理をしたり、庭の草取りをしたりして時間を過ごしました。そして会議がまさに始まりかけたその時、携帯電話がなったので出ると、駅前の小菅医院の院長先生からでした。医院から呼び出しを受ける心当たりはなかったので不安な気持ちでいると、小菅先生が「鍵はありますか」とお聞きになりました。鍵?そうだズボン!とあわてて手をポケットへ。あるはずの鍵がない!今度は男性が代わって話しを始めました。男性は町の駐在さんで、彼によると、誰かが私の鍵を道で拾い、鍵は免許証などが入ったパス入れに繋がっていたので中をみると運転免許証、保険証、アメリカでの運転免許証、それに小菅医院の診察券が入っていたので近くの駐在所に届けて下さったようです。そこで、お巡りさんが免許証に書いてある住所、つまり私の家に行ってみたが留守で、鍵がなければ家に入れず困るだろうからと、小菅医院の診察券を頼りに医院に行って先生に事情を話し、医院で診察を受けた際の記録から電話番号を調べて下さり、先生がまず私に鍵をなくした本人かどうか確認。それからお巡りさんが代わって話してくださったという次第でした。鍵を無くした当の本人はまったく気付いておらず呑気なものでした。けれど、実はその間にいろいろな方が何とか落とし主を探そうと一生懸命になってくださっていたのです。ほんの1時間ほどの間にこれほどの厚意を皆さんから受けることになるとは…。駐在所に届けてくださった方はお名前も私には知らせなくてもいいとおっしゃったそうです。また家まで届けに来てくださった駐在所のお巡りさんも機転を利かして病院に行って電話番号を調べようとしてくださり、そして、小菅先生。1年ほど前にどこかが具合悪くなって診ていただきましたが優しい女医さんでした。ああ、今回は本当に本当に皆様にご迷惑をお掛けし、そしてお世話になりました。大事な鍵を落とし易いポケットに入れてしまったことを深く反省し、もしかしたら途方に暮れながら夜道を鍵を探し回っていたかもしれないところを皆様のご厚意がいくつも繋がって大事に至らなかったことを本当に幸運だったと感謝した一日でした。Since ICHIEN YASHIKIhttps://www.ichienyashiki.jp/members were expected to meet in the evening, I cleaned up the cafe quickly after I closed, put the necessary things in the basket of the bicycle and locked the front door. Usually I put the key in my handbag, but I decided to take my backpack instead and put the key in the pocket of my pants because taking off my backpack from my shoulder in order to put the key would be a pain in the neck. When I arrived at ICHIEN YASHIKI, it was too early before the meeting, so I spent the time cleaning the shelves and taking off weeds in the garden. Then, when the meeting had just started, my cell phone rang. It was from Dr. Kosuga, whose clinic is near the train station. I was not expecting a call from the doctor, so I was worried about speaking with her. She asked me if I had my keys. keys?...oh, I remembered it was in my pocket and checked. Then I noticed that they were not there. Next I spoke with a man who was a local policeman in a police substation. According to him, someone had found my keys on the road and the key chain was attached with a pass case. There he found my Japanese driver's license, Health insurance card, driver's license in the US and patient's registration card. He brought it to the local police station. On the driver's card, my address was written, so he came to my house to hand it in, but I was not in. The policeman sympathized with me because I can not get into my house and the only way to reach me is through my telephone number on the patient's registration card. He went to the clinic and asked the doctor to find my number through my past patient information sheet. As he expected the person at the clinic found my telephone number so Dr. Kosuga called me first to see if it was the person he wanted reach. When I found out about all of this, I was very moved by their sincere, warm hearts. I could easily imagine myself walking around trying to find my keys without any guarantee of retrieving them, had this not happened. I was so lucky and appreciate everyone's effort.