１２月３０日（月曜日）２０２４　
　２、３日前から少しずつ新年を迎える準備をしています。母の実家から借りている三幅対の掛け軸を掛け、友人作の若松、カフェ玄関の松竹梅は適当にそれらしく。巳年の笑門絵馬を新しく掛け、神棚には新しいお札、そして、今朝は絵馬通りのしめ縄張り。あとは床の間の鏡餅です。

　寒いけどお天気の中で午前８時からそれぞれの家の脇に竹を立てかけ縄を渡して藁と御幣（ごへい）と呼ばれる白い紙を切ったものを藁に挟んでいきます。御幣は神様の寄り代となるそうです。初めてこの作業をした時は紙や藁の挟み方がわからず近所の人に教えてもらいましたが、今ではコツもマスターして全部一人でやりました。ただ、縄の括り方などはどう見ても頼りないところがあり、今後研究の必要ありと自覚しました。しめ縄張りも近年は空き家や住人の老齢化で後片付けのことも考え辞退する家もあり少し寂しいです。という私自身もあちこちガタがきているので、いつまでできるか自信ありませんが。

　今年も残りわずか。色々な情景が頭をよぎります。そして、新年の準備をしながら次第に引き締まった気持ちになっていくのが不思議です。この何とも風情ある年の瀬のしきたりと雰囲気は独特のものであり日本の良さであるように思います。

I have been preparing little by little these days for the new year. I hung three gorgeous special picture scrolls which came from my mother's parents' home, and placed a New Year’s symbolic seven pine branches which were decorated by my friend. At the entrance of the café I put a pine, plum and bamboo decoration which I made myself, and additionally I put a wooden plaque on which ”laughing gate" and "year of the snake" were written. I placed a new paper amulet from the shrine at the Sinto altar. Today, I put a sacred straw rope under the eaves along the street.

It was cold and clear this morning. The work of putting the sacred rope is neighborhood work and we put bamboo trees which were cut to the height of the roof, on both sides of the house. At first when I worked on this several years ago, putting straws and papers was so difficult and I needed my neighbour's help, but now I learned the technique and could do everything by myself. However my way of knotting the rope was not very good and I thought that I should master how to do it by next time.

It is almost the last day of the year. Many scenes that occurred this year are coming up in my head and in the process of preparing things for the new year, I get to feel more and more determined toward the coming year.

These traditional activities and customs for the new year are very unique compared to other countries and I think they are very Japanese and beautiful.

１２月２６日（木曜日）２０２４
　今月３回目の東京行き。ワインのお代わりをしながら青山のライブハウスでのロネとジージのショーを大笑いで楽しみました。

　声をあげて笑う.....日本女性たるもの時代を遡（さかのぼ）るならあり得なかったこと。私はいつから思うままに笑っているのだろうと考えます。体調が悪かったり、精神的に苦しい中では「笑いの世界」は遠くにあります。心から笑える自分をありがたく思います。

　そして、飛び切りの笑いを届けてくれるロネとジージに言います。ありがとう！

This was my third trip to Tokyo. I enjoyed the live show of Clown RONE & Gigi while holding wine glasses, which I could request as many as I wanted.

I laughed out loud because it was so funny. If I were in the old Japanese era, I couldn't do such behavior because traditional Japanese women should have done this more quietly and elegantly. They were never allowed to laugh out loud in any situation.

I wonder since when I have been laughing out freely when I feel something is funny. People don't laugh when their physical condition is not in a good condition or they have a mental problem such as depression. The world of laughter is far for them. I thank myself for laughing out without any problem.

One more thing I would like to say "thank you" to RONE & Gigi who always give us many laughs.

１２月２０日（金曜日）２０２４　
　１２月に入って２度目の東京行きでした。時間があったので友達と渋谷で会うことに。と言っても渋谷駅はここ何年も大工事で以前とは様相が変わって、互いに共通認識できる待ち合わせ場所が分からず、結局定番の「ハチ公前」にしました。

　地下で電車を降りてから人の流れの中を数々の表示をたどって歩きに歩いてやっと地上に出ると、そこにあった東横デパートがすっかり消えてまさに工事中。いつごろどんな建物ができるのだろうと思うもその横に「ハチ公」の銅像は変わらずありました。ところが、以前は多くの人が周りに立って相手がくるのを待っていたのに、銅像の周りに人がいないのです。実は、手前に大勢の人が列を作って順番にハチ公の前で写真撮影をしている為、皆手前の観光案内所の前を待ち合わせの場所にしていました。つまり「ハチ公」は外国からの観光客の写真スポットになっていたのです。記念写真を撮った人が次の人と入れ替わる僅かのタイミングにこの写真を撮ったので、周りに誰もいないハチ公のように見えています。すぐそばのスクランブル交差点も外国の人には珍しいらしく大勢の人がカメラを向けていました。

渋谷の後で浦和まで行き、友人のミュージカル公演を観てから都会を離れて滋賀に帰り、近江鉄道に乗ると乗客は数えるほどしかいなく、あと一駅という頃にはついに私一人になっていました。人の密度の激的な格差は芝居を見ているようで面白いと思いました。


It was my second time going to Tokyo in this month. Since I had time in the morning in Tokyo, I called my old friend to meet her in Shibuya. Shibuya station has been under a lot of construction these past several years and changed very much, so at first we did not have any idea where we will meet. Finally we chose the place of a bronze monument of Dog Hachi.

After getting off the train in the basement at Shibuya Station, I followed several signs, and got out to the ground level. I was surprised to find the station department store didn't exist any more but the dog monument was still there in the same spot. People used to be waiting for their appointed person around the monument, but nobody was there. As a matter of fact, it became a place for the tourists from outside of Japan to take commemorative pictures with Hachi Dog, so they were making a line on the side to wait for their photos and Japanese people who were waiting for somebody were standing in front of the information center which was also this side. I took this picture at the moment when people finished the photo so it appears in the photo that no one is around Hachi Dog. There is a scramble intersection near the monument and tourists also were taking pictures because it is curious for them, too.

After meeting with my friend, I went to Urawa to watch a musical performance by my other friend. Then I left Tokyo and headed home. When I got on the local train, the passengers were very few and finally the only people on the train was me. Why is the density of people so different between a big city and a rural area like my place? I saw them both in a day. It was funny and I laughed at the difference.

１２月１６日（月曜日）２０２４
　カフェ定休日の今日は書き出しておいた予定事項を朝から順に片付けようと、まずは駅コミュニティーセンターの野菜市へと自転車を出しました。角を曲がろうとした時、出会い頭に軽バンが目の前に現れあわやというところで私は右にハンドルを切り、相手の車も止まり大事には至らず。私の左手は車を押さえていました。向こうもびっくりしたと思います。怖い一瞬でした。事故というのはこのように起こるのだと痛感しました。


　お昼前に今度は彦根へ買い出し。朝のことがあるので気をつけながらペダルをこぎました。買い忘れも一つあったけど、とりあえずは数箇所の用事を済ませて走っていると、駐車場から出てきた車が歩道を塞いで道路に出るタイミングを待っています。先を歩いていた人が車の後ろを回って先に行ったので、私も同じように自転車で回ろうとしました。駐車場の出口は夜間扉を閉めるため、かなり深いレールが敷いてあります。自転車の車輪がレールと並行になって跨ぐことができずに、自転車は転倒。私は大丈夫でしたが、前後のカゴのバッグ３つは歩道に放り出される始末。バッグの口を閉めておいたので中のものが飛び出さなかったのは幸いでした。横着して自転車を降りなかったことを後悔。

　何事もなく終わりましたが、気をつけなければと肝に銘じた一日でした。

Since it was the regular closing day of the cafe, I wanted to do the things which I scheduled beforehand. Then in the morning I headed to the local market by bicycle. When I was about to turn to the right at the corner on the way, a light van suddenly came in front of me. I turned the wheel to the right in the nick of time and the car stopped there. My bike didn't touch the car although my left hand pushed the body of the car. I didn't get hurt but it was a scary moment and I realized that a traffic accident must have happened.

Before noon, I went to the supermarket and other shops to buy groceries and year-end gifts in Hikone by bicycle again. I paid more attention to riding my bike because of the morning incident. When I was riding back home, I saw a car coming from a parking lot and stopped on the way which was for pedestrians and bicycles in order to catch the timing to go to the car road. A man who was walking ahead of me went around the back of the car to move on, so I decided to do the same thing riding my bike. There were rails between the parking lot and the walkway and they are for the sliding doors in order to close the parking lot at night. I tried to go over the rails but the front wheel of my bike didn't go and I lost my balance. I was all right but my bicycle fell down and my shopping bags were thrown out from the basket which was on the bike. Fortunately the things didn't come out from the bags because I closed the zippers of all my bags. I thought that I should have gotten off and walked with the bicycle instead of riding.

I was lucky because I didn't get hurt through these two incidents but I really thought that I should be more careful when riding my bicycle.

１２月１４日（金曜日）２０２４
　今週は予約のお弁当とランチの他に夕方から大鼓の大倉正之助先生の飛天双◯能の説明会とその後の夕食、翌日の多賀大社での大鼓奉納の後のお茶会が私どもで行われたので、会場作りと食事の支度、加えて朝は小・中学校の読み聞かせもあったため、それぞれに支障がないようにと注意深く多忙な毎日でした。そして、すべてがともかくも無事に終わりほっとした翌日の今日は、朝の新幹線に飛び乗って東京へと向かいました。

　二期会に所属する友人のチャリティーコンサートで久々にYちゃんの懐かしい歌声を聴きました。音大で声楽を勉強し、その後も歌を生業として活動し続けているYちゃん、衣装も歌も素敵で堂々としていました。それにしても、女性３人、男性２人。皆さん流石に二期会のメンバーだけあって歌が上手なこと！聞き慣れたオペラの曲も大笑いするようなコミカルな歌も鍛えた体と声楽の技法を魔法のように使って丁寧に大らかに、そして時に繊細に聴かせてくださいました。それほど大きくはない教会いっぱいに響き渡る声に引き込まれるように聴き入り楽しい時間を過ごすことができました。声楽家の方々が歌う２０数曲すべてを一人で弾いていらしたピアノ伴奏も素晴らしかったです。

　帰りの東京駅のホームから見えた満月がやさしく澄んで見え、楽しく過ごした一日を締め括るように心を落ち着かせてくれました。

I spent a busy week making space for the talk event by a big drum master of Noh, Shonosuke Okura and preparing dinner for his guests at my cafe in addition to preparing and delivering lunch for a previous reservation. I also did story-telling both at local elementary school and junior high school in the morning. I could finish all these things anyhow without any problems and felt free finally. Then I went to Tokyo for my friend's Christmas Charity Concert.

My friend, Ms. Y, belongs to NIKIKAI which is a professional opera singers association. It was nice to hear her singing after a long time. Three female singers including Y and two male singers sang amazingly.
Some of the music were numbers from famous operas, and a couple of them were very comical music which I couldn't help laughing at. I was overwhelmed by their singing and enjoyed them very much. I was also impressed by the pianist who accompanied all their music by herself beautifully.

On the way back home, when I was waiting for the bullet train at Tokyo station, the full moon was shining quietly over the roof of the station platform. Looking at the moon, I was thankful for the day during which I had a pleasant time at the concert.

１１月３０日（土曜日）２０２４　
　瞬く間に１１月が駆け抜けていきました。１１月はロネとジージ、それにマギー、３人のクラウンがやってきて、ライブ２回と講座を開いてくれたほか、我が家は滋賀の各地や京都でのライブやイベント出演の拠点となり、皆と過ごす毎日は何とも賑やかで楽しいものでした。

　クラウンライブにお越しくださったO様からいただいた郁子（むべ）の実が、ライブを終えて元の和室にもどった床の間を優しく静かに飾っています。アケビより小さく常緑の上品な「むべ」の葉と実の美しさは格別です。皇室にも献上されているとのこと。今年お亡くなりになり、私自身大変お世話になったお兄様を偲びながらライブを楽しんでくださいました。ネットで「むべ」を調べて「郁子」という漢字があることも初めて知りました。花言葉は「長寿、幸福」。

　素敵な花瓶に入れて郁子をお持ちくださった優しいO様、こんな楽しい素晴らしいライブがあるのかと大喜びしてくださった大勢のお客様、そんなお客様の反応を受けて超絶な技と笑いを披露してくれたロネとジージ。皆様の温かさを感じつつ１１月の最終日を迎えました。ゆったりとした豊かな気持ちです。いつまでも郁子の実を見ていたいです。

November passed quickly. Three clowns, Rone, Gigi and Maggie, came to me and held two Clown Live Performances and Clown Talks at my cafe. They also had a couple of shows and events at several places in Shiga and Kyoto and my place served as a home base for them while they were working in the Kansai area. My house was full of joy and laughter. I was so pleased with them.

Ms. O, who came to the Clown Live, gave me Japanese staunton-vine. I put it in the alcove in the guest room which returned to a normal Japanese room from a temporary Clown Live stage. It is evergreen and the fruit is smaller than chocolate-vine. It looks so elegant. Ms.O let me know that it is presented to the imperial family. Ms. O, who lost her brother early this year, enjoyed the show thinking of him because they had been coming to every event which was held at my place. I received so much support from him as well as Ms.O. The flower language is long life and happiness.

Ms.O brought Japanese staunton-vine with a very nice vase. I thanked her thoughtfulness. A packed audience enjoyed the Clown Live and Talk saying they had never seen such a funny and skillful show. I am grateful to them. Lastly, I thanked RONE and Gigi who gave an amazing show and talk in response to the audience’s wanderful reactions. I am now in a relieved and rich state. I would like to keep watching this beautiful Japanese staunton-vine.