５月２６日（月曜日）２０２５
　心配された雨も昼前には上がり、東京からシテ方二人、大阪方面から囃子方四人の皆さんを迎えて、多賀あさひやでの能楽イベントが無事開催できました。当日参加の方もいらっしゃり、会場は大勢の観客でいっぱいになりました。

　今回は「高砂（たかさご）」がテーマで、最初に鵜澤久先生、光先生による分かりやすい解説と実践がありました。また今年初めてお囃子に太鼓が加わったため、能における太鼓の意味や魅力なども話していただきました。鵜澤両先生、囃子方の先生方のユーモアを混じえたお話と観客を巻き込んでの体験実習で、会場は能の一般的なイメージとは違って和気藹々とした雰囲気に包まれました。２部で披露していただいた「高砂」の躍動感あふれる力強い舞囃子に観客は息を呑み圧倒され、最後の質疑応答では、お客様からの例えば何故能が約７００年に渡って生き延びてきたか、能における「間（ま）」とは何か、所属もそれぞれ違う能楽師たちが何故少しの打ち合わせだけでリハーサルもなく併せられるのか、など興味深い質問にも応えていただき、能についての知識や興味も深まりました。

　肌寒いお天気でお客様の体調に支障がなかったか心配ですが、能楽師の皆様、観客の皆様、そして会場の設営から休憩時間、後片付けまで力を貸してくださったスタッフの皆様のお陰で、今年も大盛り上がりで能の会を終了できました。皆様、本当にありがとうございました。

Fortunately the rain which had been falling until the morning stopped at noon, and we could hold the Noh event with two Shite actors who were from Tokyo and four Hayashi-kata (musicians) from Osaka area. We had a full audience adding several participants who joined at site.

The theme of the event of this year was Takasago (one of the classic noh plays by Zeami) and noh master Hisa Uzawa and Hikaru Uzawa gave explanations and demonstrations about the theme. For several years, the musical instruments were flute (Noh pipe), small hand drum (kotsuzumi) and big drum (ohkawa), but this year, side drum (taiko) joined them. Therefore, they also explained the specific role of taiko and its appeal in the noh performance. Both Uzawa's and musicians' talk were sometimes funny and easy to understand to the audience. At the end of the first part, participants received lessons of noh chanting and several ways of interjected changing of small hand drum from noh players. In the second part, we appreciated the part of Takasago with full members. It was so energetic and overwhelming. Audience had a chance to ask questions to the noh players. There were many interesting questions, for example, why noh existed for almost seven hundred years in Japan, what "ma (pose)" means in noh play, why noh players are able to perform in perfect timing without rehearsing beforehand even though each one came from a different school and different place. The noh players answered those questions. We learned a lot of things about noh and drew more attention to it.

It was a little bit cold and I wished it didn't affect the audience's health. I thank all the noh players who gave such a great performance, I also thank all participants who gathered for this event. Lastly, I will express my gratitude to the staff who helped setting up the event place, working at the break time and returning the furniture to the original state. I couldn't have had such a successful event without those people's efforts.

５月１５日（木曜日）２０２５
　午前９時半の予約のために市立病院まで愛のりタクシーを予約しようかどうしようか迷った末、帰りの買い出しを考えて自転車で出かけました。片道５０分ぐらい。年齢を考えるとちょっと遠いかなと思いながらも無事到着。病院の中は相変わらず高齢者でいっぱいでしたが患者数の割には待ち時間も苦にならずスムーズに診療を終えて、帰り道は４箇所で買い物をしてお昼過ぎに我が家に帰りつきました。

　午後は役場と銀行で用事を済ませて今日の予定をこなせたことに一安心。役場の帰りに多賀大社へ寄って、今が満開のナンジャモンジャの花を眺めました。横に広がる新緑のもみじと線香花火の白色版とでも言えそうなナンジャモンジャの花が枝のそこかしこでパァーッと弾けて美しかったです。

　このナンジャモンジャの木はまもなく御歳９０におなりになる多賀大社の名誉宮司のN様が多賀に赴任なさった時に頂かれた小さな苗が大きくなったものだそうで、先日ご本人から伺いました。

I wondered how I should go to the hospital where I had an appointment at 9:30 a.m.by taxi or by bicycle. After all, I chose bicycling because I could drop by several grocery stores on the way back home. Almost an hour of riding to get to the hospital from my house was a little bit far for me concerning my age, but I could arrive at the hospital safely. Many elderly patients were in the hospital as I expected, but the waiting time did not bother me and I finished meeting with the doctor. I went back home early in the afternoon, visiting several stores.

I also visited the town hall and bank in the afternoon which made me satisfied to finish my schedule for the day. On the way back home from the town hall, I visited Taga Taisha to see the Snow-flower-Fringe tree. The white flowers were in full bloom. Fresh green maple leaves which spread horizontally were well matched with the white flowers and they were so beautiful.

Recently I heard the story about this Snow-flower-Fringe tree from Mr.N who is almost 90 years old and he is Emeritus priest of Taga Taisha now. It was planted when he came to the shrine as a chief priest.

５月２５日（日）の多賀あさひやでの能の会が近づきました。
「能」といえば、神社や能楽堂で能面や装束をつけて披露される舞台を想像する方が多いと思います。然し乍ら、多賀あさひやは古民家ですので、主役が面や装束をつけずに紋付・袴で地謡と囃子を従えて、能のハイライトとなる部分を披露する舞囃子（まいばやし）の形式となります。

観世流シテ方の鵜澤久氏と鵜澤光氏は、能の動きや見どころを初心者にも分かるように解説しながら実践をまじえて見せてくださいます。更に、今年はこれまでなかった太鼓が囃子方に加わるので、能における太鼓の役割や魅力についても解説が入り、具体的には「葵上」の祈りの場面や、「三輪」における神楽を仕舞、地謡、囃子で鑑賞することができます。能楽師の方々を間近で見るのは古民家ならではの良さで、非常に迫力があり、能楽を肌で感じる贅沢で楽しい機会だと思います。

チケットの前売りは一枚４５００円ですが、ペアでのお申し込みは８０００円とさせていただきます。
また、６月１５日（日）のマリンバコンサートと併せてのお申し込みはセット券（７８００円）で受け付けております。お席に限りがございますので、ご予約はお早目にお願いいたします。

Noh performance day at Taga Asahiya, May 25th, is coming soon. When you hear "Noh", you may imagine the noh actor dancing in a mask with a heavy costume on the noh stage. However, the noh performance at Taga Asahiya will be more simple. It's called "Mai-bayashi" in which the main character dances with noh-chorus and musical accompaniment without mask and costume.

Noh actors, Hisa Uzawa and Hikaru Uzawa will talk and demonstrate the movement and parts worth seeing of noh. Since this year drum will be added to other instruments which haven't been appeared before,
Master Uzawa will give an explanation of the role and appeal of a drum. In the second part, the audience will appreciate highlights of a couple of noh plays with dance, song and musical accompaniment. It will be powerful and fun because they will show their performance just in front of the audience.

The advanced ticket is 4500 yen, and if you buy two, it will be at a discounted price. The Marimba concert will be held on June 15th and it is cheaper to buy set tickets of Noh and Marimba than to buy individual tickets.

Please reserve the ticket before it sells out.

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.