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!