４月１７日（木曜日）２０２５

彦根のK様から自家製鮒寿司をいただきました。子供の時は我が家でも人に頼んで樽いっぱいに鮒寿司を
漬け、お客があった時などに出してもてなしていました。琵琶湖産の子持ち鮒の内蔵をきれいに取り、そこに炊き立ての白米を詰めて塩漬けにし熟成させる滋賀県の郷土料理。（漬け込む過程は確かでなく間違っているかもしれません。）

昔、裏小屋の前の樽に水を張って置いてあったのですが、祖母が樽から取り出す際に放つ強烈な匂いが嫌で逃げ回り、大人はどうしてこんな臭い魚を食べるのか不思議で仕方がなかったのですが、やがて鮒寿司の味がわかり、食べたいと思うようになった時には鮒寿司はすでに高級品となり、簡単に口にすることができなくなりました。

この独特の匂いと一般的な「寿司」とは違う外見のせいで、鮒寿司は県外の人で食べられる人は稀であったのが、近年はチーズなど匂いの強いものでも好む人が増えて、滋賀県人しか分からないと思っていた鮒寿司もグルメの仲間入りをしています。

K様からいただいた貴重な鮒寿司。早速、賞味させていただきました。絶妙なお味で贅沢この上ない限りです。もちろん飯（いい）と言われるご飯も美味しかったです。
子供の頃に大皿に並べられた鮒寿司と当時の家族の情景。食べ物というのは記憶を蘇らせます。

Mr. K from Hikone brought me homemade Funazushi (a local specialty of Shiga Prefecture, which is a fermented sushi made with crucian carp). When I was a child, my grandmother asked a person to come and make Funazushi in a full barrel and serve it at special occasions such as when welcoming guests. The process of making Funazushi is as follows. Remove gut of fresh parent crucian carp from Biwa Lake, stuff cooked white rice in it, preserve with salt and ferment for about ten months.

The barrel stayed outside of the backyard house. When my grandma took out Funazushi from the barrel, the smell was very strong and I ran away because I hated it. As a child, I wondered why adults eat such bad smelling fish but when I grew up and became able to appreciate Funazushi. It became a luxury food and very expensive to taste.

Since it has such a strong smell and looks very different from usual sushi, very few people who live outside of Shiga had been able to appreciate it, however people's tastes have been changing nowadays. As many people like strong cheese these days, many people from outside Shiga like Funazushi as a Foodie.

I appreciated precious Funazushi from Mr. K.that night. It was so good! I remembered the days when the slices of Funazushi were on a big plate surrounded by all my family members. I think food has the power to evoke old memories.

４月１２日（土曜日）２０２５
　遠縁ながらお世話になったおば様が１０５歳で逝去なさいました。祖父、左京が婿入りした親元の延命寺という守山のお寺のおば様です。

　１００歳を超えてもお元気で穏やかに自宅でお過ごしでしたが、２日間ほど寝込んで眠るようにお亡くなりになったとのこと。激動の戦争の後も様々なことが身の回りに起こるドラマチックなおば様の人生でしたが、元教師の芯の強さは定評で、私が多賀に帰った後も折に触れていただくおば様の言葉で私は心の安定を保つことができました。

　お通夜に伺うと、お寺だけあって大勢の御門徒、お寺関係の方々でいっぱいでした。遠縁ということで本堂に上げていただき、前後の力強いお経の中で、私も心を込めて正信偈（しょうしんげ）をお唱えしました。

    家族葬が多い昨今ですが、久々に立派なお通夜に参列し見事に人生を全うされたおば様に感謝とお別れを申し上げられたのは幸いでした。

A lady who was a distant relative and often took care of me passed away at the age of 105. She was in the buddhist temple in Moriyama where my grandfather married into my grandmother's family.

She was amazing because she was spending her daily life healthily and calmly at her home even after 100 years old and passed away peacefully after two days in bed with falling ill. She experienced various hardships around her in the wartime and after the war, but she was always resilient, maybe because she was a school teacher. When I visited her home or she came to my place, I always received her warm encouragement and I could have a stable mental state.

I visited her funeral wake. Since it was held in her temple, followers who were in the area and temple related people were there. I was guided to the main hall of the temple by a distant relative of hers. I recited Buddhist sutra with other people around me who were mostly Buddhist monks.

Since many people who lost their family members choose a private funeral nowadays, it has been a long time since I attended such the orthodox style of funeral wake. I appreciated being there to say goodbye and thanks to a woman who lived out her 105 year old life to the fullest.

４月１１日（金曜日）２０２５
　雨の予報もありましたが、お天気は大きく外れて今日は暖かな陽射しの良い日になりました。
昨年に続き、２回目の多賀あさひやでの北京子先生によるヨガとその後のランチ。縁側のガラス戸を開けて気持ち良い春の風を時折受けながら、和室のスペースにそれぞれマットを敷いてゆっくりとヨガのポーズで皆さん身体を解放させていらっしゃいました。普段はスポーツ施設でのヨガクラスですが、たまにはこんなところでポーズをとるのも新鮮な気持ちになるようで皆さんご機嫌でした。

　１時間のヨガの後は、離れでランチタイム。多賀大社は桜の花が満開ですが、我が家も楽しそうなお話しの花が咲いていました。

Previous weather forecast said that it would be rain, but in fact it was wrong and became beautiful day. The second Yoga and Lunch by Master Kita was held at Taga Asahiya today continuing from last year. Opening big glass sliding doors, and receiving the fresh spring wind from outside, participants put their yoga mats in the Japanese rooms, and did their yoga poses on them. It seemed they released their mind and body. Usually they are doing yoga at a sports gym or spacious hall, and this special opportunity made them feel fresh and pleasant.

After yoga, they had lunch together in the back Japanese room which I prepared for them. Cherry blossoms were opening outside, and ten yoga members including the instructor were enjoying the lunch and talking.

４月９日（水曜日）２０２５　
　昨日、豊郷（とよさと）のNさんから椿と可愛いらしい百合をいただきました。茶道や華道の先生なので、お寺であるご自宅の庭に植えていらっしゃり、折に触れてお花をお持ちくださいます。
　さて、「バイモユリです」とおっしゃったので、てっきり梅のバイかと思ったら、「貝母百合」とのこと。中国から咳止めや止血のための薬用植物として入ったのが、今は観賞用としても育てられているようです。それから珍しい椿が何種類か入っていました。赤と白が混じり合ったものは「清緋（せいひ）椿」、周りが赤で真ん中が白は「朴判（ぼくはん）椿」、白いのは「加茂本阿弥（かもほんなみ）椿」とNさんは名前を紙に書いてくださいました。どれも私には珍しいものばかり。　
　いただいた時は蕾だったのが今朝はそっと花が開いていました。趣が少し違います。こうした花々を見ていると勝手に思いが巡ります。人間の縮図だなぁ....と。

Yesterday Ms.N from Toyosato kindly brought several camellia branchs and cute lily flowers for me. Ms. N who is a master of tea ceremony and flower arrangement and plants, has many kinds of flowers and trees in her garden in the temple where she lives. She occasionally brings flowers for me from her garden.

Well, white little flowers are called Baimo-yuri (Fritillaria verticillata var) and it came from China as a medicinal plant for suppressing coughing or to stop bleeding but it is now planted as an ornamental plant in Japan. Ms. N also gave several kinds of camellia flowers.　Since I have never seen any of them, Ms. N wrote each of the names for me.

Some of them were still buds but they started opening this morning. They look different between yesterday and today. Looking at those flowers, I see that even though they are the same kind, none of them are identical. I really think the same can be said for humans.

４月８日（火曜日）２０２５
　高校のクラス会が彦根であるので昨日は早めに家を出て先ず彦根市役所内の新聞社などのプレス用に設置されたポストに５月と６月のイベントのチラシを簡単な概要を添えて入れにいきました。新聞にイベント案内を載せてもらって少しは集客につながることを期待して。一社でも掲載してもらえたら幸運ですが、なかなかこのハードルは高いのです。

　クラス会に出た後、３時すぎに長浜のいとこの家へ行き、夕方JRで彦根に戻り、近江鉄道で多賀まで帰りました。彦根駅でJRを降りた時に近江線の車両が見えたので乗り遅れては大変と慌てて階段を駆け下り、財布からシルバーカード（高齢者用の割引パス）を出して改札を通ろうとしたら、駅員に「違いますよ！」と言われて手元を見ると、それはクリーニング屋のカード。同じ青色で紛らわしいのですが、間違えたことがおかしいやら情けないやら、またしてもそそっかしい自分自身に苦笑しました。

　カフェの玄関は友人のHさんが持ってきてくれたレンギョウの黄色い花が満開です。

Yesterday, I was planning to attend my highschool class reunion in Hikone, so I arrived at Hikone before the starting time because I wanted to go to city office to put the brochure of the Noh and Marimba Concert events in May and June at my cafe, and to put up posters there. I was hoping that some newspaper would make an announcement of my events and help get people to the events. I would be very happy if they picked up my events and wrote about them on the papers even though that is less likely.

After the class reunion, I went to Nagahama to visit my cousin by JR (Japan railways) and came back to Hikone again in the evening. When I got off the train at the Hikone station I saw the train of the local line which I was expecting to get on to go back to my home. I went down the stairs in a hurry in order not to miss the train and took my Silver Pass which was a discount railcard for the seniors and tried to go through the ticket gate showing the pass. Then I was stopped by a station attendant at the gate saying "it was the wrong card!". The card I had was a member's card from the laundry shop and not a Silver Pass. They were both blue and I showed a completely wrong card and non-related railway pass. I was very much embarrassed and at the same time I couldn't help laughing at myself because it was so funny. I retook the right pass from my wallet and showed it to him.

Yellow flowers of weeping golden bells are in full bloom and so beautiful at the entrance of my cafe. They are from my high school friend, H.N.

３月３０日（土曜日）２０２５
一週間前に書いたものですが、取り敢えずアップしておきます。
今日は昨日と打って変わって上天気。カレンダーを見ると春分の日で祝日。あわてて国旗を出しました。
一段落ついて本を読もうかと本を開けてすぐ、あっ、やっぱり散歩しよっと気が変わって外に出ました。

お天気は良いものの風は冷たく、春がどこに来てるのか探してみました。多賀大社の森の小川は穏やかに流れていましたが椿の蕾はまだ硬そう。霊山は昨日の雪が白く残っていました。桜の蕾もまだまだ固く、眼に見える春はなかなか見つかりません。田んぼは土が掘り返してあるところもありました。
地面にくっつくように咲いていたたんぽぽの花が僅かに春の色を出していました。
いつも通る帰り道のお宅の梅の花が満開でした。


I wrote this blog a week ago and it is a bit late to upload but I will put it here anyhow.
It is a clear, beautiful day this morning compared to yesterday. I saw the wall calendar, then I realized that it was a national holiday called the Spring Equinox Day. Then I put up a national flag in front of my house. After finishing my housework, I sat down on the chair to relax and was about to read a book, but I changed my mind and decided to take a walk instead.

It was a fine day but the wind was still cold. I tried to find " the Spring outside". The stream in the forest of the shrine was flowing calmly but buds of camellia hadn't broken yet. The top of Ryoozen mountain was covered with snow and buds of cherry trees were also far from opening. Thus, I couldn't find "Spring" easily. But, in some rice paddies, the soil was dug up for rice planting and yellow dandelion flowers were found very low beside the rice paddies showing a little bit of spring color.

On the way back home, white plum blossoms were in full bloom.

３月１９日（水曜日）２０２５
　朝起きて外を見て思わず「えーっ！？」と声を出してしまいました。まさかの雪景色だったのです。
３月も半ばを過ぎて、春がすぐそこにという今日、寒さの白雪が降りました。
　お昼過ぎにお見えになったお客様がお母様から聞いたことば。「よその殿様と春の雪は怖くはないよ」と。
おもしろい例えだと思いました。雪はまもなく雨になり、その雨もやがて止みました。
行きつ戻りつ、季節は少しずつ春に向かっているのでしょう。

I couldn't help but say "Oh!" when I woke up and looked outside and saw everything was covered in snow. It is already past the middle of March when spring is almost here and nobody was expecting the snowy day.

One of the customers in the cafe told me that her mom said " You shouldn't be afraid of either the foreign lords or spring snow." It is an interesting metaphor. As it was forecasted the snow turned to rain and the rain stopped afterwards.

The weather goes back and forth, nevertheless we are approaching spring little by little.

2025年5月25日（日）古民家で能　幽玄の世界

今年も多賀あさひやでお能の会をいたします。今年は太鼓が加わって一層、華やかで充実したイベントになります。能は初めてという方にもお勧めです❗

We will hold a Noh Event at Taga Asahiya, this year again. It will be a brilliant and enriching event because we add one more instrument, drum in addition to previous instruments. We will strongly recommend this Noh event to the people who haven't watched Noh before.

2025年6月25日(日)　布谷史人 マリンバ・コンサート

２年振りの多賀あさひやでの布谷さんのマリンバ・コンサートです。今年１月に読売テレビ系の「グッと地球便」で布谷さんのドイツでの活躍ぶりが紹介されてご覧になった方も多いかと思います。
　ヨーロッパと日本、あるいは他の国々で演奏会等ますます多忙な布谷さん。多賀の小さな古民家で布谷さんのマリンバが聴けるのは奇跡に近いと思っています。スケジュール調整が難しい中、いつもは秋の演奏会が今年は６月にどうにか日程が決まりました。
　日本では音楽ホールでピアノなど他の楽器との演奏会が多く、多賀あさひやでのソロコンサートは珍しいと思います。テクニックは言うまでもありませんが、布谷さんのマリンバがどれほど深く表情豊かなものであるか、一度聴いた人は必ず納得するでしょう。
　5/25(日)の能の会と合わせてチケットをご購入の方には、お得なセット券をご用意しています。

Marimba concert by Fumito Nunoya will be held at Asahiya for the first time in two years. Mr. Nunoya was introduced on Japanese TV this January and many people watched his activity in Germany.

Fumito Nunoya has been busy these years with his concerts in Europe, Japan and other countries. I think we are lucky to hear his marimba at the small old Japanese house in Taga. In fact it was hard to book a date for his concert at Taga Asahiya, and it will be in June while we usually have it in the fall.

He usually has concerts with piano or other instruments at the nice music hall in Japan and his solo concert at Taga Asahiya is rare and precious. We hope you will appreciate his deep, expressive marimba music as well as his superb technique.

We have nice cheaper tickets if you purchase both Noh and Marimba tickets. Hope you will enjoy both of these events!

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.

多賀あさひや ・イベントのご案内

５月２５日（日曜日）13:00
　古民家で能　幽玄の世界 　　 　 ¥4500　
　
６月１５日（日曜日）1回目 13:00 ２回目 17:00
　布谷史人　マリンバコンサート         ¥4000

                セット券　能＋マリンバ　→ ¥7800


ご予約：0749-48-0186 または　Facebook
taga.asahiya@gmail.com

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.

２月１０日（月曜日）２０２５　
　雪が積もった後の自転車走行が危険なのは経験者は分かると思います。それは普段走る歩道の除雪ができていないので、除雪されているとはいえ狭くなった車道を走らなければならず精神的にも恐怖だからです。

　それで、本日は買い物と用事を兼ねて彦根駅まで電車で行くことにしました。最寄りの駅までは自転車でと向かったところ、以前はできていなかった駅前の除雪が今回は綺麗にされていました。ところが、いざ駐輪所に自転車を止めようと近づくと駐輪所前の除雪がまったくされていない！今日は月曜日。自転車で駅まで行ってそこから電車通学の高校生もこれでは困っただろうと思いました。少し戸惑いましたが、とりあえず頑張って雪の中に車輪を突っ込んで自転車を止めて、また雪の中を踏み込んで外にでて駅のホームに行きました。

　無事に用事を済ませて再び多賀駅に帰ってくると、駐輪所前は朝と同じで除雪なし。駅を出る時、ホームにシャベルが立てかけてあったのが見えたので、あれを借りようと駅に戻るとホームの除雪をしてきたと思われる男性が二人。私がシャベルを貸してほしいと頼んだところ、男性は私と一緒に駐輪所まで来てくれて私の自転車を確かめてシャベルで雪をどけて親切にも自転車を出してくれました。男性二人のお陰で助かりましたが、その後、その場の雪かきをする様子はなかったので、夕方帰ってきた高校生たちは困るだろうなと思いながらも駅を後にしました。
　
人手不足もあるのでしょうが、駅前の除雪をする人が少し考えれば駐輪所前に雪があっては自転車を止める者が困ることは分かるだろうにと、何とも情けない気持ちになりました。


Every bicycle rider knows that riding a bicycle after snow accumulation is unpleasant and dangerous. I usually take the sidewalk to ride instead of the street but nobody clears the sidewalk of the snow. So, I need to run on the street where it becomes much narrower because of the snow. I don't like to run on the street because there is a lot of traffic and big trucks pass by me and it's very scary for me.

Therefore, I decided to go to Hikone to buy groceries and do my errands by local train. I rode my bicycle to the station. There was no problem getting to the station, but when I approached the bike parking lot, I was in big trouble because I couldn't reach my bicycle due to the snow which wasn't eliminated at all. Since there was no choice but to park my bike in another place, I pushed my bike into the snow and took it under the roof to park there.

When I came back from Hikone a few hours later, the situation at the bike parking lot area was the same as before. Since I saw a shovel at the station, I went back there and asked the men who seemed to be working at the station to use it to eliminate the snow in order to take my bike out easily. They came with me and asked which bicycle was mine. Then one of them kindly took my bike out from there after another eliminated the snow with a shovel. I was lucky but I thought that many highschool students who parked their bicycle there must have had trouble taking out their bike, just like me.

I understand the shortage of labor, but it is ridiculous not to remove the snow in the area. It is a lack of imagination!

２月９日（日曜日）２０２５　
　何日も前から出ていた大雪警報が滋賀の私のところはずっと外れて幸運でした.....が、今回ばかりは予報が的中して、ドカンと雪が降り積もりました。

　さて、本日９日は４名のランチの予約が入っていましたが、この大雪でキャンセル間違いないと思っていました。案の定、昨日電話が入り受話器をとると、何と「明日のランチを楽しみにしています」とのこと。外は雪が降っています。高齢の方と聞いていたので「うちは構いませんから、ご無理なさらないでください」と言いましたが、「皆そのつもりですから」と。４名のうちお二人は８８歳、電話のご本人は８２歳、もう一人も同じような年齢というではありませんか！こんな悪天候では普通外出を控えるだろうに、一体この方達はどんな方だろうと逆に興味が湧いてきました。

　翌日の今日は朝からやっぱり雪。近江鉄道が運休らしく来店は無理と思っていたら、電話でJRで南彦根まで来るとおっしゃったので、地域の愛のりタクシーに連絡して南彦根駅から多賀の近くの降車場所まで予約をいれました。皆さん時間通りにおいでになって、座敷でいざなみランチを召し上がって寛いでくださいました。

　それにしても、皆さんのお元気なこと！体のあちこちにガタがきて、今の仕事もそろそろ納めどきかなと思っている私ですが、本日の高齢のお客様の行動力とお元気な様子に驚くとともに、まだ弱音を吐くのは早いと叱咤激励された思いでした。ああ何度思っても皆様ご立派！


I thought we were lucky because it had been a clear day without snow, even though the weather forecast gave an alert of heavy snow and coldness. However it changed. Yesterday, we had heavy snow and it kept falling today.

I had an appointment for lunch for four people but I thought it must be cancelled because of the heavy snow.
Yesterday, as I expected I had a call from the customer who reserved, but surprisingly she said that she was coming to my cafe despite the bad weather. Since they are elderly from 82 to 88, I told her not to push herself too hard. She said "we are looking forward to coming!". I was very surprised with her words and curious about what kind of people they were.

It was snowing in the morning and the local railway was not running due to the snow which they were supposed to use. I thought they had to cancel the appointment in such a situation, but the person who called me again said that they were going to use another railway (JR) to come to another station, so I promised to call a taxi to bring them from the station to my place. They arrived safely and enjoyed lunch.

At any rate, I was so impressed by their power of action. I, myself, am having problems with various parts of my body and because of this I sometimes think that I should quit the cafe in the near future. However I was encouraged very much by their power and felt refreshed myself. They were amazing indeed!

２月７日（金曜日）２０２５
　毎年、節分の前後にしか販売されないと聞いたので、時期を逃すまいと「厄神斎」というお札を時間をみつけて多賀大社で購入してきました。

多賀大社へのお参りも昨年大晦日以来で、ご無沙汰をお詫びして参拝した後で社務所へ立ち寄りました。いつもは、お札を買うと福引があったのですが、今回はいつものように竹に挟んだオレンジ色のお札に福豆がついてきたので、「福引は？」と聞くと「今年からなくなりました」と言われました。お米や多賀大社のおシャモジなどが当たる福引で今年は何かなと楽しみでもあったのでちょっと残念。でも煎った大豆をありがたく頂戴して帰りました。

このお札は玄関外に掛けておくものだと、名誉宮司のN様から教えていただき、私もそのようにしています。
「福」はともかくとして、現在、大寒波が全国各地に訪れているようです。さ、さ、寒い！


I got an amulet from Taga Taisha which is called YAKUJINSAI and sold only this season at the begining
of spring.

It was the first visit to Taga Taisha in the new year since the last day of 2024 and after praying to God at the worship hall, I went to the office of the shrine. There, I bought an amulet of the year. It was held between bamboo and came with a bag of roasted soybeans.

Mr. N, who is the honorary chief priest of Taga Taisha, told me before that I should put this amulet outside the entrance of the house. I followed his word and put it above the sliding door entrance to keep misfortune out.

Weather forecast says that a cold wave is coming all over Japan now. It is very cold indeed!