Showing posts with label New Year. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Year. Show all posts

2/25/2009

SAIJIKI New Year PLANTS

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SAIJIKI - NEW YEAR

PLANTS


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. Buddha's Seat (hotoke no za) 仏の座 . ほとけのざ  
kawarakesoo かわらけ草
tabirako たびらこ
Henbit, Dead Nettle or Giraffe head
Lamium amplexicaule



Cherry blossom on the 16th day 十六日桜
juurokunichi sakura / izayoi sakura




Daphniphyllum macropodum Yuzuriha 楪( ゆずりは)


Fern (shida 歯朶)






Hodawara kelp 穂俵 (ほだわら)hodawara. Sargassum fulvellum
..... jinmesoo 神馬藻(じんめそう )"kelp of the horse of god"
..... jinbasoo じんばそう
..... hondawara ほんだわら
..... tawaramo たわらも、
...... nanoriso 莫告藻(なのりそ)




New Year's Day Plant, Pheasant's eye, fukujusoo
Adonis amurensis, Family: Ranunculaceae. Crowfoot



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Seven Herbs of Spring. Haru no Nanakusa 春の七草

Japanese parsley or dropwort (seri せり),
Shepherd's purse, (nazuna 薺),
cottonweed (gogyo 御行, 五形、御形),
chickweed (hakobera はこべら),
Buddha's Seat(hotoke no za 仏の座) Lapsana apogonoides,
Japanese Turnip (suzuna すずな),
Long Radish (daikon))suzushiro すずしろ.

They are used to prepare a rice porridge on the seventh day of the New Year.
nanakusa gayu 七草粥(ななくさがゆ)
nanoka gayu 七日粥(なのかがゆ)
. Rice Gruel for the New Year  
Adzuki beans gruel, azuki gayu, 小豆粥 (あずきがゆ)
mochi put in rice gruel, kayu bashira 粥柱 (かゆばしら)
"rice gruel stick" kayuzue 粥杖 (かゆづえ)
"fishing for rice gruel" kayutsuri 粥釣 (かゆつり)
divination with rice gruel, kayu ura 粥占 (かゆうら)
tsutsugayu 、筒粥(つつがゆ)



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. SPRING Saijiki LIST


. SUMMER Saijiki LIST


. AUTUMN Saijiki LIST


. WINTER Saijiki LIST


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World Kigo Database
. . . . . SAIJIKI and KIYOSE . . . . .
 


World Kigo Database
. . . . . ABC-INDEX . . . . .



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. SPRING
the complete SAIJIKI



. SUMMER
the complete SAIJIKI



. AUTUMN
the complete SAIJIKI



. WINTER
the complete SAIJIKI



. NEW YEAR
the complete SAIJIKI



. SAIJIKI
the complete WKD-LIST



. WKD - The New Year - KIGO .

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2/20/2009

WORK in all seasons

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New Year begins (nenshi)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: New Year, others see below
***** Category: Humanity


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Explanation

WORK and Business in all seasons

- - - Let us first look at the New Year.
The new year begins with a lot of rituals and ceremonies and starts with three official holidays on January 1 till 3. Later the first work of the year is started, usually with some rituals only.




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nenshi 年始 (ねんし) new year begins

nenga 年賀(ねんが)greeting at the New Year
..... nenrei 年礼(ねんれい)、toshi no rei 年の礼(としのれい)、hatsu rei, hatsurei 初礼(はつれい), kairei 回礼(かいれい)
gyokei 御慶(ぎょけい)celebrating the New Year

reisha 礼者(れいじゃ)person who celebrates the New Year
gakyaku 賀客(がきゃく)visitor for the New Year
nenga kyaku 、年賀客(ねんがきゃく)

kadorei 門礼(かどれい)New Year visitor ("at the gate" )
He gives his greetings at the entrance (kado) and does not come into the house.
..... 門礼者(かどれいじゃ)

reiuke, rei-uke 礼受(れいうけ)receiver of new year wishes
reija uke 礼者受(れいじゃうけ)

reichoo 礼帳(れいちょう)book for signing New Year wishes
reiuke choo, rei-uke choo 礼受帳(れいうけちょう)book to sign
..... kado no reichoo 門の礼帳(かどのれいちょう)

meishi uke 名刺受(めいしうけ)container to leave your New Year business card
meishi kookan kai 名刺交換会(めいしこうかんかい)first meeting to exchange business cards


. nengajoo 年賀状(ねんがじょう)  New Year Greeting Card
..... 賀状(がじょう)
nenshijoo 年始状(ねんしじょう)
They are most important and send to everyone.


kadobiraki 門開き(かどびらき) "opening the gates again"
..... kadoake 門明け(かどあけ)


onnareija 女礼者 (おんなれいじゃ) female visitor (who brings New Year wishes)
..... onnagagyaku, onna gagyaku 女賀客(おんながきゃく)
..... onnarei 女礼(おんなれい)





Otoshidama お年玉(おとしだま)  Money for the New Year
..... toshidama 年玉 (としだま)
Many visitors, especially children, get a small gift of money in an envelope.

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shinnenkai 新年会 (しんねんかい)
party to welcome the New Year

For workers or sports clubs or other groups where people meet to eat and drink.

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First Business and Office work
Most began on January 11.


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chootoji, choo toji 帳綴 (ちょうとじ) first bookkeeping, first ledger
ochoodoji 御帳綴(おちょうとじ)
choo iwai 帳祝(ちょういわい)celebrating the account books
choogaki 帳書(ちょうがき)
choo hajime 帳始(ちょうはじめ)
shinkayoi 新通(しんかよい)
This was done by the merchants on January 11. They would make the first entry in the account books (choobo 帳簿) and then celebrate with their workers and pray for a busy new year.



goyoo hajime 御用始 (ごようはじめ) first business
..... jimu hajime 事務始(じむはじめ)first office work
..... hatsujimu 初事務(はつじむ)




koto hajime 事始 beginning of work and activities
February 8. Work stopped on December 8.
Both days with an 8 are called "Days of Work (things)" (koto no hi 事の日).
.....koto no yooka 事八日(ことようか)"day number 8"
..... okoto, o-koto おこと
okoto jiru お事汁(おことじる)soup eaten on the first day of work
itokoni 従兄煮(いとこに)itokoni stew
mushitsujiru むしつ汁(むしつじる)




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hatsu akinai, hatsuakinai 初商 (はつあきない) first business deal
..... akinai hajime 商始(あきないはじめ)
akinaizome 商初(あきないぞめ)
hatsu-uri 初売(はつうり)first sales
urizome 売初(うりぞめ), hatsu uridashi 初売出し(はつうりだし)



hatsu ichi, hatsuichi 初市 (はついち) first market
hatsu tachiai 初立会(はつたちあい)
daihakkai 大発会(だいはっかい)
hatsu sooba 初相場(はつそうば)first stock quotations
ichi hajime 市始(いちはじめ)
hatsu ichiba 初市場(はついちば)

CLICK for more photos
. . . . . Markets to Sell Daruma Dolls / 達磨市 at the New Year



hatsuni 初荷 (はつに) first luggage, load, freight
hatsuni uma 初荷馬(はつにうま)first horse with luggage
kazari uma, kazari-uma 飾馬(かざりうま)decorated horse
..... hatsuniguruma 初荷車(はつにぐるま)first car with luggage
hatsunibune 初荷船(はつにぶね)first ship with luggage
hatsuni eki 初荷駅(はつにえき)station handling first luggage
. hatsuni zori 初荷橇(はつにぞり)first sledge with luggage  
(especially in Northern Japan)


. Carrying luggage in the Edo period .

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kaizome 買初 (かいぞめ) first buying
..... hatsukai 初買(はつかい)



kurabiraki 蔵開 (くらびらき) first opening of the store house
..... okurabiraki 御蔵開(おくらびらき)
Storehouse (kura)



tanaoroshi, tana oroshi 店卸 (たなおろし) make the inventory
..... 棚卸(たなおろし)
Inventur, Lageraufnahme


正月の遊び仕事や店おろし
shoogatsu no asobi shigoto ya tana oroshi

at the New Year
playing is really working ...
checking the account books


Yuki Sanchi 雪珊


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observance kigo for the New Year

matsurigoto hajime 政始 beginning of political activities
ritual at the imperial court, after the
Misaie, Mi Sai E 御斎会, on an auspicious day.
The duties at Ise shrine were also started on this day.


. WKD : Matsurigoto 政 .
The importance of a matsuri, a festival for the appeasement of the deities, can also be seen in the word matsurigoto, a word that originated in the performance of religious festivals by the emperor or regent and soon became identical with "governing" in general.



SAIJIKI – NEW YEAR OBSERVANCES


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shigoto hajime 仕事始 (しごとはじめ) "first work"
first day at work
.... hatsushigoto, hatsu shigoto 初仕事(はつしごと)

Here are a few things done for the first time in the New Year, around the home, the garden, the farm, the mountain forest and other places where people work during the year.
Most remind us of the harsh life of the farmers of old.



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choona hajime 手斧始 (ちょうなはじめ)
first use of the carpenter's ax

choona hajime 釿始(ちょうなはじめ) 
kanna hajime 鉋始(かんなはじめ)first use of the plane
kozukuri hajime 木造始(こづくりはじめ) first woodwork

The carpenters' tools were very important, and many of these first rituals were performed in a temple or shrine, to pray for the safety of the wood workers, carpenters and carvers during the coming year.
choona was a very special bend ax for the carpenters to process large beams.


observance kigo for the New Year

. Tennooji Kondoo choona hajime
天王寺金堂手斧始 (てんのうじこんどうちょうなはじめ
first use of the carpenter's ax .

Temple Shitenno-Ji - 四天王寺, Osaka





fuigo hajime 鞴初,吹革初 first use of the bellows
kaji hajime 鍛冶初 first use of the smithy
ihajime 鋳始 いはじめ first casting (of metal)
..... imono hajime 鋳物始(いものはじめ)
izome 鋳初(いぞめ)



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hatsugoe 初肥 (はつごえ) first manure
..... koeshoi 肥背負(こえしょい)carrying manure on the back
..... koe hikizome 肥曳初(こえひきぞめ)first spreading of manure
koedashi 肥出(こえだし)putting out manure
..... mochizome 持初(もちぞめ)
This is done in a ritual way as an offering for the Deity of the fields (ta no kami), usually on January 11. In Northern Japan, manure is transported to the fields in a sledge.



hatsuhori, hatsu hori 初彫 (はつほり) first carving
..... horizome 彫初(ほりぞめ)
..... hatsu chookoku 初彫刻(はつちょうこく)
..... 細工始 (さいくはじめ) first piece of craftsmanship
hatsuzaiku 初細工(はつざいく)
First carving of the woodcarvers, making Buddhist stautes, masks for Noh or decorations for the palaces, temples and shrines. Before starting the work, the master of the workshop will put some offerings to the deities.



hatsuono 初斧(はつおの)first use of the ax (for woodcutting)
..... hatsuono 初斧(はつおの)
..... kikorizome 樵初 (きこりぞめ)
kikirizome 木伐り初(ききりぞめ)first woodcutting
..... korizome こり初(こりぞめ)
yohoogiri 吉方伐り(よほうぎり)
honaga 穂長(ほなが)"long ears of rice"
This ritual has various names in different parts of Japan. Before cutting the first tree, mochi and sake was offered to the Deity of the Forest and the woodcutters prayed for safe working conditions. Sometimes the mochi offerings were taken back home and preserved until spring for the first field work, as a prayer for good harvest, hence the name "long ears of rice".



. . . hatsuryoo 初漁 (はつりょう) first fishing  



hatsuyama 初山 (はつやま) first mountain work
..... yama hajime 山始(やまはじめ),
yamairi 山入(やまいり)going to the mountain (for the first time)
hatsuyamabumi 初山踏(はつやまぶみ)stepping on the mountain (for the first time)
wakayamabumi 若山踏(わかやまぶみ)stepping on the "young mountain"
hatsu nobori 初登(はつのぼり)first climbing the mountain
yamahome 山誉め(やまほめ)
futsukayama 二日山(ふつかやま)"mountain on the second day"
Ritually entering a mountain forest to make offerings to the deities. Mostly on January 11.




hatsuzome 初染 (はつぞめ) first dyeing with colors
..... some hajime 染始(そめはじめ)
Farmers wifes used to dye their own threads and fabrics at home.


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kamahajime, kama hajime 窯始 (かまはじめ) frist firing of the kiln
..... hatsugama 初窯(はつがま)
Potters decorate the kiln with shimenawa decorations, make offerings of salt and sake and pray for the security of the workplace. A ritual of the potters.


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kuwa hajime, kuwahajime 鍬始 (くわはじめ) first use of the plough or hoe
..... kuwazome 鍬初(くわぞめ)
ookuwazome 大鍬初(おおくわぞめ)first use of the big plough
... tauchi shoogatsu 田打正月(たうちしょうがつ)New Year ploughing
tsukurizome 作初(つくりぞめ)
sukizome 鋤初(すきぞめ)first use of the spade or plow
horizome 堀初(ほりぞめ)first digging
hatsu tauchi 初田打(はつたうち)first ploughing
hatsu kuwa-ire 初鍬入(はつくわいれ)
o-kuwatate お鍬立(おくわたて)
nootate 農立(のうたて)beginning of farm work
noo hajime 農始(のうはじめ)

kuwa can refer to the hoe held by hand or to the plough.
Hacke; Feldhacke; Haue; Spaten; Pflug.

Farm work was the most important and during the New Years days the movements of various activities were made in the front garden whilst praying for a good harvest, mostly on the 11th day of January. Sometimes grains and salt or even mochi were carried to the fields and offerend to deities.
Some rituals were also performed in the Shinto shrines.

はつ旭鍬も拝まれ給ひけり
hatsu asahi kuwa mo ogamare tamai keri

year's first sunrise--
even the hoe
gets a prayer

Tr. David Lanoue

. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 .



observance kigo for mid-winter

kuwa osame 鍬納(くわおさめ)
putting the hoe/plough away

before the New Year celebrations


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naizome 綯初 (ないぞめ) first making of ropes
..... yorizome 縒初(よりぞめ), sabakizome 捌初(さばきぞめ), tatakizome 叩初(たたきぞめ
nawa iwai 縄祝(なわいわい)"celebrating the ropes"
nodenai 苗手綯(のでない)
Only straw ropes for the farmers' New Year ceremonies are twisted. In some areas on the fourth of January, in others this is done on the third.
nodenai, node nai are thin ropes to bundle the rice.



nuizome 縫初 (ぬいぞめ) first sewing
..... nuihajime 縫始(ぬいはじめ)
hatsuhari, hatsu hari 初針(はつはり)"first needle"
.... hari okoshi 針起し(はりおこし)
tachizome 裁初(たちぞめ)
This was done on the second of January. Usually a small bag was sewed.


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orizome 織初 (おりぞめ) first weaving
..... hatsu hata, hatsuhata 初機(はつはた)first use of the loom
hata hajime 機始(はたはじめ)
hataba hajime 機場始(はたばはじめ)frist use of the loom room
hataya hajime 、機屋始(はたやはじめ)first use of the loom shed
This was done on the second of January.
Weaving was common in many areas in winter at home or in a special room.

Nishijin, Weaving from Kyoto 西陣織り

Festival of the Weaver Girl, Tanabata Star Festival

Weaving - Haiku from Kenya

Weaving in Romania
Photos from Alex Serban


. orimono 織物 weaving - somemono 染物 dyeing .

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usu okoshi 臼起し (うすおこし) first use of the mortar
On the second of January, new mochi are pounded, sometimes only the gestures are made, and put as offerings for the deities on the Shinto Shelf (kamidana).



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Now some work-related kigo for other seasons.

kigo for late spring

shin shain, shin sha-in 新社員 (しんしゃいん )
new employee, new member of the staff
shinnyuu shain 新入社員(しんにゅうしゃいん)
shuushoku ki 就職期(しゅうしょくき)
season for finding work or getting a job
shuudan shuushoku 集団就職(しゅうだんしゅうしょく)

hatsu shussha 初出社(はつしゅっしゃ)
first going to the office

nyuusha shiki 入社式(にゅうしゃしき)
initiation ceremony (at the office)




shuntoo 春闘 (しゅんとう)
annual spring labor offensive
shunki toosoo 春期闘争(しゅんきとうそう)
shunki toosoo 春季闘争(しゅんきとうそう)
Frühjahrsoffensive der japanischen Gewerkschaften


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observance kigo for late spring


harugoto 春ごと ( はるごと) "spring things"
..... haru no koto 春の事(はるのこと)
..... kotobi 事日(ことび)
..... koto matsuri, kotomatsuri 事祭(ことまつり)


regional spring celebration.
In Kanto on February 2, or on March 18 or 21.
In Kansai on a day in March or April.
In other regions on a day when it rained in spring.

People would take a day off from work, enjoy a walk in the fields, take a boat trip, prepare mochi ricecakes or other festival food and have a drink of sake.


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kigo for late summer


natsugare 夏枯 (なつがれ) "withering away in summer"
summer slump, slack summer season 夏枯れ
The second and eigth month of the lunar calendar were the slowest for business, just after the new year and after the ancestor O-Bon festival.
Especially in summer many people went home, or were away in summer holidays and few visitors came to the shops in the big cities.

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kigo for mid-winter
in preparation for the New Year

Haki osame 掃納 (はきおさめ) end of sweeping the floors
Hari osame 針納(はりおさめ) end of the needlework

Koto osame 事納 (ことおさめ) end of work
..... osame yooka 納め八日(おさめようか) end on the eighth day
Many stores and offices stopped work on this day and attended to ceremonies for the end of the year.
Work began again on January 8.




. mi matsuri 箕祭 (みまつり)
festival when putting the winnow away

..... mi osame 箕納(みおさめ)



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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way



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HAIKU



酔蟹や新年会の残り酒
yoigani ya shinnenkai no nokorizake

"drunken crabs" -
the New Year party
and my hangover


Masaoka Shiki 正岡子規


yoigani, a kind of Shanghai crab preserved in alcohol.
. . . CLICK here for crab Photos !


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三寸の胸ですむ也店おろし
san-zun no mune de sumu nari tanaoroshi

there's so little
I do it in my head...
New Year's inventory


Kobayashi Issa

Here, Issa mentions a "heart" (mune) at a size of 3 sun (1 sun = approximately 1.2 inches, therefore 3 sun = around 3.6 inches). Shinji Ogawa notes that sanzun no mune ("three-inch heart") isn't an anatomical heart, but rather the heart of mental activities; in this case, the English word, "mental" of "mental arithmetic." He paraphrases Issa: "Since there are not so many things, my inventory is done mentally."
Tr. and Comment by David Lanoue


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Related words


. . . First Things done at the New Year



***** . NEW YEAR
KIGO for HUMANITY



. SAIJIKI - THE NEW YEAR


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2/19/2009

New Year Decorations

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New Year Decorations (o-kazari)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: New Year
***** Category: Humanity


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Explanation



CLICK for many more photos


DECORATIONS (kazari 飾)
in the home and garden

..... o-kazari お飾 (おかざり) New Year's decoration
..... wakazari, wa kazari 輪飾 (わかざり) straw wreath







daidai kazaru 橙飾る (だいだいかざる)
decoration with daidai oranges
..... 代々飾る(だいだいかざる)
It is the one on top of the mochi rice cakes
Daidai decorations






hoorai kazari 蓬莢飾(ほうらいかざり) Horai-decoration
hoorai 蓬莱 Buddhist mountain Horai in China, where people would live forever.
..... kake hoorai 懸蓬莢(かけほうらい)
..... tsutsumi hoorai 包蓬莢(つつみほうらい)
hoorai bon 蓬莢盆(ほうらいぼん)tray for the Horai decoration
Horaisan 蓬莱山, Horaijima 蓬莱島, a mythical mountain or island of eternal youth.
'Treasure Mountain' or 'Treasure Island'
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !


quote
Because in Hōrai there is no knowledge of great evil, the hearts of the people never grow old. And, by reason of being always young in heart, the people of Hōrai smile from birth until death, except when the Gods send sorrow among them; and faces are then veiled until the sorrow goes away.
All folk in Hōrai love and trust each other, as if all were members of a single household; and the speech of the women is like birds singing, because their hearts are as light as the souls of birds; and the swaying of the sleeves of the maidens at play seems like the fluttering of wide, soft wings.
In Hōrai nothing is hidden but grief, because there is no reason for shame; and nothing is locked away, because there could not be any theft; and by night as well as by day all doors remain unbarred, because there is no reason for fear.
And because the people are fairies, though mortal, all things in Hōrai, except the palace of the Dragon King, are small and quaint and strange; and these fairy-folk really do eat their rice out of very, very small bowls, and drink their wine out of very, very small cups.
- - - - - source : Lafcadio Hearn, Kwaidan



kachiguri kazaru 搗栗飾る (かちぐりかざる)
decoration with dried chestnuts


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02 kadomatsu pine decoration
kadomatsu 門松 (かどまつ) pines (decorations) at the gate
New Year Decoration
kado no matsu 門の松(かどのまつ)pines at the gate
kadoki 門木(かどき)、tawaramatsu 俵松(たわらまつ)、nageshimatsu 長押松(なげしまつ)、
kazarimatsu 飾松(かざりまつ)pine decorations
..... matsukazari 松飾(まつかざり)
..... tatematsu 立松(たてまつ)
kazaridake 飾竹(かざりだけ) bamboo decorations
kadomatsu put up at the End of the Year

- quote
Kadomatsu are placed in front of houses to welcome the New Year deity, purify the entrance and drive demons and evil spirits out.
Originally, they were made from evergreen woods such as pine, cedar, beech and sakaki. But the prevalence of the use of pine has led to their naming as 'kadomatsu' ('gate pine').

'Pine lasts for 1000 years and bamboo for 10,000 years' is an old Japanese proverb. Pine and bamboo are popular materials for kadomatsu because people wish that Yorishiro, the place in which the deity lives, will last forever.

According to custom, kadomatsu should not be set up on 31st December. This is because it is not faithful to have only one day before welcoming the deity on New Year's Day. Moreover, the 29th should also be avoided because 'nine matsu' is the same pronunciation as 'wait for pain'. Usually, kadomatsu are set up by the 28th.

- source : nippon-kichi.jp

. toshitokujin 歳德神 the New Year Deity .

Why is the bamboo (take) of the kadomatsu (matsu) cut slant?



The story goes back to the two famous warlords, Matsudaira (later Tokugawa Ieyasu) and Takeda Shingen, the matsu and take rivals.
At the battle of Mikatagahara in 1573, Takeda defeated Matsudaira, who had to run away in a humiliating retreat to survive. He was so angry at his adversary, that at the new year he cut the bamboo of the New Year decoration in a way he would cut the head off his adversary. As time passed, Matsudaira won more battles, changed his name to Tokugawa and eventually became the first Shogun of the Tokugawa Bakufu government.


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kaya kazaru 榧飾る (かやかざる)
decoration with kaya reeds






kazariebi 飾海老 (かざりえび)
decoration with lobsters
ebi kazaru 海老飾る(えびかざる)、Iseebi kazaru 伊勢海老飾る(いせえびかざる)、Kamakuraebi kazaru 鎌倉海老飾る(かまくらえびかざる)
Live lobsters or ornaments made from paper or string are used.
Washoku : Ebi 海老 Lobster Kigo



kazarigome 飾米 (かざりごめ) decoration with rice







kazariusu, kazari-usu 飾臼 (かざりうす)
dedoration for the mortar
usu kazaru 臼飾る(うすかざる)
The wooden mortar for pounding glutionous rice for mochi is honored.

. usu 臼 different types of mortars, grinders and handmills .




kazarizumi 飾炭 (かざりずみ) decoration with coal
yuizumi 結炭(ゆいずみ)
for the tea ceremony
. . . CLICK here for Photos !




konbu kazaru 昆布飾る (こんぶかざる)
decoration with kombu seaweed
kazarikonbu 飾昆布(かざりこんぶ)、musubi konbu iwau 結び昆布祝う(むすびこんぶいわう)、musubi kobu iwau 結びこぶ祝う(むすびこぶいわう)
KOBU, yorokobu, is a play on words with "happiness" and "good luck".




kushigaki kazaru 串柿飾る (くしがきかざる)
decoration with persimmons on skewers
korogaki kazaru 胡蘆柿飾る(ころがきかざる)
kushigaki 串柿 ( くしがき) dried persimmons on a stick
from Wakayama






saiwaigi 幸木 (さいわいぎ) "lucky pole"
..... saigi (さいぎ)
..... yorozukake 万懸け(よろずかけ)
kake no uo 懸の魚(かけのうお)fish hung on the lucky pole
juuni setsu 十二節(じゅうにせつ)12th seasonal section
A pole hung in the garden, decorated with fish, radish and other food items as offerings to the deities.



Shimenawa 注連縄 Sacred rope decorations




CLICK for english reference

shoochikubai kazaru 松竹梅飾る (しょうちくばいかざる)
decoration of pine, bamboo and plum
They are the "three friends of winter" from ancient China.
Sho-chiku-bai, Shochikubai
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
. WKD : Sho Chiku Bai and the Pine tree  





tokoro kazaru 野老飾る (ところかざる)
decoration with tokoro sweet potatoes or yams
WASHOKU : tororo potato, yama-imo, Dioscorea opposita and tokoro potato




umeboshi kazaru 梅干飾る (うめぼしかざる)
decoration with dried salted plums
WASHOKU : Dried salted plums (umeboshi)




wara gooshi, waragooshi 藁盒子 (わらごうし)
small straw container with a lid

and other straw decorations







yuzu kazaru 柚子飾る(ゆずかざる)
decoration with yuzu citrons
tachibana kazaru 橘飾る (たちばなかざる), kooji kazaru 柑子飾る(こうじかざる)、yukoo kazaru 柚柑飾る(ゆこうかざる)、mikan kazaru 蜜柑飾る(みかんかざる)decoration with mikan , yabukooji kazaru 藪柑子飾る(やぶこうじかざる)decoration with spearflowers
WASHOKU : yuzu citrons

tachibana is an old name for the mikan. The first mikan tree is said to be in the temple Tachibanadera 橘寺 in Asuka, Nara.

. WASHOKU
Tachibana tree in Asuka




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Last day of the decorations,
packing them away or burning them after use



kazari osame 飾納 (かざりおさめ)
packing away the decorations
shimenawa toru 注連飾取る(しめかざりとる)taking down the sacred ropes
..... shime toru 注連取る(しめとる)、kazari toru 飾取る(かざりとる)
kazari oroshi 飾卸し(かざりおろし)
o-kazari kowashi お飾こわし(おかざりこわし)






matsu osame 松納 (まつおさめ)
last day of the kadomatsu decorations
matsu agari 松上り(まつあがり), matsu taoshi 松倒し(まつたおし)、matsu oroshi 松下し(まつおろし)、matsu okuri 松送り(まつおくり)、matsuhiki 松引(まつひき)
matsu naoshi 松直し(まつなおし)、omatsu harai お松払い(おまつはらい)、
matsu toru 松取る(まつとる)、katomatsu toru 門松取る(かどまつとる)




toshi oroshi 年卸 (としおろし)
taking down the food offerings
A custom in Kansai
tana ori 棚下り(たなおり)、tana oroshi 棚下し(たなおろし)、tana sagashi 棚探し(たなさがし)、tanamoto sagashi 棚元探し(たなもとさがし)
tana sarai 棚さらい(たなさらい)、toshioke oroshi 年桶おろし(としおけおろし)




tobusa matsu, tobusamatsu 鳥総松 (とぶさまつ)
"branch offering"
sticking one branch of the old kadomatsu into the place until next year
..... rusui matsu 留守居松(るすいまつ)
Sometimes it starts to take root and its branches can be used for years to make new decorations.



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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way



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HAIKU





蓬莱に聞かばや伊勢の初便り 
hoorai ni kikabaya Ise no hatsudayori

decorations of the immortals:
I'l love to hear from Ise
the first news of the year

Tr. Barnhill


HōraiDecoration !
I should like to hear from Ise
The year's first good news.

Tr. Oseko


Written on the first day of 1694 元禄7年元旦
This was most probably the New Year greeting poem to be published soon.
1694 is the last year in the life of Basho, he died in winter of this year.
In his wandering mind, he envisaged an auspicious trip to Ise.

Visiting the Grand Shrin at Ise
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .



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Kobayashi Issa and the Hoorai decorations
Tr. David Lanoue


蓬莱に夜が明込ぞ角田川
hôrai ni yo ga akekome zo Sumida-gawa

day breaks
over the eternal youth ornament...
Sumida River


Hôrai (hoorai) is a mythical island of eternal youth.
On New Year's Day offerings are set on a special table in its honor.

WKD : River Sumidagawa




蓬莱や只三文の御代の松
hoorai ya tada sammon no miyo no matsu

my eternal youth ornament--
just three cents
of emporer's pine


Literally, miyo no matsu signifies "reign's pine."
Issa is referring to a rather cheap pine decoration on the table in honor of the new imperial year.


. WKD : Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 .


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Related words

observance kigo for mid-winter

kazariuri, kazari uri 飾売 かざりうり
vendor of New Year decorations


They used to come to the Year End Markets or nowadays stand aroung big train stations.


行く人の後ろ見送り飾売
yuku hito no ushiro mi-okuri kazari uri

they look at the back
of people passing by -
decoration vendors

Takahama Kyoshi 高浜虚子


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observance kigo for late winter

yukiyama 雪山 (ゆきやま) "snow mountain"
..... yuki no yama 雪の山(ゆきのやま)

At court and in the garden of rich people, they make a mountain of snow in imitation of Mount Horai. If there was not enough snow, they would go borrow more from the temples in the neighbourhood.
This custom has been made into a poem already in the Makura Soshi collection.


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***** . NEW YEAR
KIGO for HUMANITY


***** . New Year is over
... burning the ritual offerings
 



***** . WASHOKU
Citrus fruits (kankitsu rui)





84 New Year Decoration

Shrine Saijo Inari on January 1, 2008
Take a look at my visit.



. WASHOKU
New Year Food and Decorations
  


. SAIJIKI - THE NEW YEAR

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1/22/2008

Salt (shio)

[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO TOP . ]
. Legends about Salt .
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Salted winter food

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Winter
***** Category: Humanity


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Explanation

Salt has been used in Japan as in other countries to prepare food for winter. Especially salted fish is very common.


CLICK for more photos
salted salmon, shiozake 塩鮭 (しおざけ)
"new roll" aramaki 新巻(あらまき)
shiobiki 塩引(しおびき)、shiojake しおじゃけ

Salted salmon, called shiozake or shiojake, is so ubiquitous in Japan that when people just talk about “salmon” (sake or shake) they are usually referring to the salted kind rather than the raw kind (which is specifically called namazake(生鮭)). Salted salmon is a staple ingredient of bento, used as an onigiri rice ball filling, flaked on top of or mixed into rice, or just grilled.

Salted salmon is cheap and easily available in Japan, but not so outside of Japan. So I’ve been making it myself for some time now, and it’s quite easy. All you need is a typical refrigerator that has low humidity. (If yours doesn’t have excess condensation in it, and old leafy vegetables get dessicated in the corner of your vegetable bin, then it’s ideal.)
Read how to prepare it :
© justbento.com



salted yellowtail, shioburi 塩鰤 (しおぶり)


salted cod, shiodara 塩鱈 (しおだら)
The Chinese character of this fish (tara ) consists of the word for FISH and SNOW! It is a delicacy in winter.


salted bonito, skipjack, shiogatsuo 塩鰹 (しおがつお )




CLICK for more photos CLICK for more photos

hodgepodge with salt, shottsuru nabe
塩汁鍋 (しょっつるなべ)
"salty soup" shottsuru 塩汁(しょっつる)
saltey soup with fried clams, shottsuru kayaki
塩汁貝焼(しょっつるかやき)


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Echigo Murakami Sake Shiobiki Kaido
越後村上鮭塩引き街道


The "road for salted salmon" in Murakami, Echigo.
Every home has salmon hanging from the eaves, with the stomach open to the wind (tomebara 止め腹).

The main street of the village is called "Salt-pickled Road".

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Shiogama has prospered as the home of the Shiogama Shrine and as a harbour city.

In ancient times a god named Shiotsuchi no oji no kami, is said to have come to Shiogama and to have taught the people how to make salt. Shiogama, meaning salt caldron, derived its name from this legend.
Today, the ancient salt making ritual is still performed every July at the Okama Shrine in Shiogama.
Shiogama Myoojin (塩釜明神, 鹽竈明神)

WDK : Sail-cord Festival (hote matsuri). Shiogama


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amajio あまじお【甘塩】 "sweet salt"
lightly salted food and pickles
amajio no sakana ... lightly salted fish


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The Salt fields at shrine Ise Jingu 伊勢神宮

mishio 御塩 "salt for the gods"
Mishiohama 御塩浜 beach with the salt fields
Mishio yakuiho 御塩焼所
The salt for daily offerings is prepared at the shrine salt fields.



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Worldwide use

North America

Compiled by Larry Bole :

American cuisine is such a hodge-podge of world cuisines!
Americans who need to look after their health are looking for ways to cut-down on sodium, which there is often too much of in American food.

There isn't much interest in salt pork anymore, but it once showed up in American cooking, especially in Boston baked beans.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_pork

There are salted peanuts, but if they were a kigo, they would probably be a summer kigo.

There is corned beef, which usually goes on sale around St. Patrick's Day here in America.

And there is salted codfish, which is found in both Italian-American cuisine (baccala) and Hispanic-American cuisine (bacalao).

In my city neighborhood, where there is a substantial Latino population, I love going into the local grocery stores around Christmas time and smelling the briny, tangy sea smell of the bacalao, even through the plastic wrapping.

One of my favorite Basho haiku:

tsutsuji ikete sono kage ni hidara saku onna

azaleas all arranged:
in their shade, a woman
tearing dried cod


Basho, trans. Barnhill

This has been translated into Spanish as:

Ante un florero lleno de azaleas
Una mujer
Desmenuzando bacalao seco

Basho, trans. not known


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Philippines

In the Philippines, we have what is called "bagoong", pronounced "ba-go-ong", which is anchovy paste. It has a sharp pungent odor and is often used to flavour less sharply-flavoured dishes, but also functions as a kind of counter-flavour for very sour dishes or sharply-sour fruit, like green mangoes. However, a simple dish of bagoong with rice will do very well, too. The bagoong will cause you to eat more rice and thereby fill your tummy, even if you have nothing else to eat in the house, which is often the case with people living below the poverty line. That doesn't mean, though, that only the poor eat bagoong. It's not called our native caviar for nothing! In "tokos" around the world, especially Asian, and most especially Filipino "tokos", fresh export-quality bagoong can be bought by the jar.

CLICK for more photos


dried fish
and salted tomatoes
... on Delft blue!



a saucer
of anchovy paste
on the table
the steady drip
from a leaking roof

Ella Wagenmakers


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Things found on the way


Salt in used as a means to purify a place in Japanese culture.

Sumo wrestlers throw a hand full of salt in the ring before the battle, to purify it of any negative feelings the arena may hold from past bouts .
CLICK for enlargement



After a funeral, visitors get a small package of salt to purify themselves before they return home. O-kiyomejio お清め塩 .
CLICK for more photos



Morishio (morijio 盛り塩) - a symbolic mound of salt at the side of the entrance to a Japanese restaurant.
CLICK for more photos CLICK for more photos


According to the story, there was once a Chinese emperor who had 3,000 concubines waiting in little houses outside the palace gates. Every night the emperor would set out in an ox cart to visit one or the other of them. One clever concubine, knowing that animals are fond of salt, decided to improve her odds of a royal rendezvous by putting salt outside her door. The imperial ox made a beeline for the salt and couldn't be budged, so, while the emperor may have had a different destination in mind, he ended up spending the night with her.
Morijio ... more details are HERE !


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salt with kurome (seaweed), kuromejio くろめ塩

くろめ(黒海布/黒布/黒菜) クロメ
kurome is a kind of konbu. It is powdered and mixed with salt.
The mixture is eaten with fresh sea-urchin eggs (uni).



salt with seaweed 藻塩 mojio, moshio
eaten with tempura
CLICK here for PHOTOS !
Records of this salt

Prepared first in Yamato by the god 塩推之神.

Ein besonderes „Algen-Salz“ (mojio, moshio 藻塩 ) wird gewonnen durch das Aufgießen von Meerwasser auf Seegras oder Abkochen zusammen mit Meerwasser zur Erhöhung des Mineralgehaltes; es war ursprünglich eine Art Medizin, die wahrscheinlich über Korea ihre Verwendung in Japan fand und bis heute als besondere Würze zu Tempura gereicht wird. Es wird bereits in der Gedichtsammlung „Manyooshuu“ besungen.
Salz vermischt mit Kurome-Seetang (kuromejio くろめ塩) wird als Geschmacksverfeinerung über frische Seeigel gestreut.


. Moshio yaki shinji 藻塩焼神事 Ritual of making Moshio salt .


わくらばに問ふ人あらば須磨の浦に
藻塩たれつつ侘ぶと答へよ


wakuraba ni tou hito araba Suma no Ura ni
moshio taretsutsu wabu to kotae yo

If, by any chance
someone should ask after me,
answer that I pine,
weeping as salt seaweed drips
on the beach of Suma.

Tr. Helen Craig McCullough

Ariwara no Yukihira 在原行平 (818 - 893)


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salt with macha green tea powder 抹茶塩 machajio
eaten with tempura
CLICK here for PHOTOS !


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Salt-tasting Jizo Bosatsu
Shioname Jizo 塩嘗地蔵


This is a small statue in the neighbourhood of Kamakura, where I used to live closeby in the mountains of Juniso.
It is at the foot of the Asahina pass road from Kamakura to the Bay of Tokyo.



This strangely named statue stands within the grounds of Kosokuji Temple. It is enshrined in a small wooden house, together with six smaller Jizo, the Roku Jizo (六地蔵), guardian deities of the Six Realms of the afterlife:
Hell (地獄), Hungry Spirits (餓鬼), Animals (畜生), Bellicose Spirits (阿修羅), Human Beings (人間), and Heaven (天).

In earlier days, the statue stood beside the main road where many people passed by. The name of this Jizo derives from the following story: In the early days, salt sellers offered the Jizo a portion of their salt on their way to the town of Kamakura because they hoped for a successful trade. On their return, they always noticed that the salt was gone. They innocently believed Jizo had graciously tasted it and would give them luck. The legend attests the importance of this road for transportation of daily necessities such as salt.
Look at more photos of the area here:
 © Kamakura: History & Historic Sites

quote
Hank Glassman's wonderful book The Face of Jizō (2012, University of Hawaii Press).
Herein we learn that six Jizō effigies were commonly installed at city entrances for "warding off evil and controlling spiritual dirt." (Glassman, p. 129). This accords well with the location of Kōsokuji Temple, which is situated on the outskirts of Kamakura along one of only seven entrance roads. Although Kamakura is next to the ocean, its bay is not well suited for the production of salt. In those bygone centuries, the city depended on salt traders from nearby Mutsu-ura and Mirua for its salt -- and those merchants depended on the passageway in front of Kōsokuji. As a preeminent crossroad deity, Jizō was most appropriately installed here to protect the wellbeing of Kamakura and the prosperity of its neighboring salt traders. The six Jizō icons are not mentioned in the SKS, however, so we may reasonably assume they were added in later years.
and more by
. Mark Schumacher - facebook Jizo Gallery .


. Asaina Kiridoshi Pass 朝夷奈切通し .
and Asahina Saburo Yoshihide - 朝比奈三郎義秀



. 銭塚地蔵尊 Zenizuka Jizo - Shioname Jizo
- かんかん地蔵 Kankan Jizo .

Asakusa, Tokyo

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quote
Agehamashiki Salt Production 揚げ浜式の塩づくり
Agehamashiki (salt production method whereby sea water is brought manually to a salt pond) is a term in salt production corresponding to irihamashiki (a method utilizing the tide) and is said to be the worlds oldest method of producing salt. In the feudal period, salt production was encouraged as one of the most important products of Kaga Domain and a monopoly was established in 1627.

Not counting one temporary hiatus, the monopoly continued until 1871. In the Suzu area, salt production had been the major industry since the Edo period, but it was terminated in 1959 due to the Extraordinary Measures Law for Salt Industries.
Only Kakuhanake (the preservation society for the agehamashiki salt production in Noto area) has been passing on the traditional technology, despite numerous difficulties.

Beginning with the preparation of the enden (the sandy salt field), and following through the shiokumi (carrying sea water to the enden), which demands extremely hard physical labor, the shiomaki (scattering sea water onto the sand), the construction of the nui (filter), around-the-clock kamadaki (boiling) at the extreme heat of 60 degrees centigrade - the technology for this whole series of tasks can only be found here and is a very valuable cultural heritage.

This activity was designated an Intangible Folk Cultural Property by Ishikawa Prefecture on April 8, 1992.

Look at the video here:
source : bunkashisan.ne.jp


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Tobacco and Salt Museum
Shibuya, Tokyo

The Tobacco and Salt museum might seem a bit of a quirky museum to outsiders but to the Japannese both of these products have been very important in Japanese culture and trade for centuries. This museum traces the history and the importance of both tobacco and salt and its relationship with man.

The third floor is all about salt, its production and uses and its importance to us all. Thre are dioramas and detailed displays which explain salt harvest technologies and the worlds relieance on this natural resource. Japan harvests all of its salt from the sea while many countries expecially in Europe or Asia have natural deposists which they mine. The Japanese are facinated by these salt caves. Some of the displays show the amazing imagination used to create clever salt extraction methods from sea water.

By comparison with other heavily populated parts of the world, Japan has always been at a disadvantage, for it has no known rock-salt deposits or other terrestrial salt sources, while its relatively low median temperatures and heavy rainfall make reliance on natural evaporation impracticable.

Until relatively recent times, importation of salt from abroad was difficult if not impossible, due to the island nation's distance from the continent. Thus, Japan was forced to develop its own salt technology, some aspects of which are not found elswhere.

In general, Japanese salt production was carried on in two stage First, various methods were utilized to produce a heavily condensed saline solution from ordinary sea water; in the second stage, this salt concentrate was boiled down to yield a residue of edible sea salt.

Even with the universal mechanisation in use today, these two processes still form the groundwork of salt manufacture in Japan; the search for increased efficiency in extracting salt from sea water continues to challege the ingenuity of contemporary scientists and technician. The scope of their research is not limited to edible salt production alone, for the growing significance of soda and soda derivatives in modern industry has if anything, increased the importance of salt as one of the indispensable raw materials necessary for the advanced technology of today.

Tobacco and Salt Museum


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Shio no michi 塩の道 The Salt Road  
"Chikuni Kaido" 'chikuni kaidoo 千国街道(ちくにかいどう)
From Niigata to Matsumoto in Nagano


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takeshio, takejio 竹塩 salt made in bamboo
bamboo salt. Sea salt is stuffed into freshly cut bamboo and then roasted two or three times. This is an old method from Buddhist monks, brought over from Korea. This salt has a high mineral content and is also used for gargles or as bathing salt. It gives a special flavor to dishes.

. . . CLICK here for Photos ! 



yamashio, yamajio 山塩 salt from the mountains
from Oshika mura in Nagano 大鹿
It is contained in water coming out from the mountain. It is cooked for a few days until the water is evaporated. Local people use it to eat the tempura, grilled fish in salt and other dishes with it.

. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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Print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi 風俗女水滸伝 


The Salt-boiling Islands, Shiwaku Shotoo (塩飽諸島)
The group is situated between Okayama Prefecture and Kagawa Prefecture in the western Bisan Seto and consists of 28 islands of various sizes. On the Okayama side lie the Kasaoka Islands. The name derives from shioyaku (塩焼く, shioyaku) or shiowaku (潮湧く, shiowaku) both meaning boiling seawater to get salt.

Shamijima 沙弥島
Due to a land reclamation of the Sakaide Bannosu (番の州, Bannosu?) industrial area in December 1967, the island became connected to the adjacent land. Adjoining, the island services the Seto Ohashi Memorial Park. In summer the island is crowded by guests who come to bath in the sea. From the Jomon period on the salt making culture developed. At Nakanda beach (ナカンダ浜, nakanda-hama) earthenware and other finds from that time have been excavated.

The Man'yōshū poet Kakinomoto no Hitomaro paid a visit to the island and composed a tanka and tanka appendage. According to the novelist Nakagawa Yoichi (中河与一, Nakagawa Yoichi?) from Sakaide, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro had a temple/monument erected on Nakanda beach which in 1936 was moved to its present location on Osogoe beach (オソゴエの浜, Osogoe beach?) at (人麻呂岩).


Yoshima 与島,
part of Sakaide and one of the seven "salt boiling islands". area: 1.10 km², circumference: 6.9 km. The island is crossed by the Great Seto Bridge and a rest area ("Yoshima parking area") has been build along the highway.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !



Utagawa Kuniyoshi,
Women Carrying Buckets of Brine for Salt
source : The Arthur R. Miller Collection

. . . CLICK here for Photos of the Islands !



source : asahi-net.or.jp

The Shiwaku Odori 塩飽踊り Shiwaku Dance
amulet from the Shiwaku Islands (salt boiling). (on the left)
In 1591, Toyotomi Hideyoshi ordered the marine of Shiwaku to help with his campaign against Korea. 32 ships with 650 people joined the battles and eventually came back sucessfully. When they returned home, old and young, men and women of the island danced for three days, filled with joy.

. Toys and Amulets from Kagawa 香川県 .

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Sakaide and Kume Tsuuken (1780 - 1841)
久米通賢(くめつうけん)坂出


Sakaide is the biggest trading port in Shikoku, dealing with about 34,700 cargo ships and tankers each year. Until the 1960s it was known for the greatest salt production in Japan. Visiting Kamada Kyosai-kai Kyodo Hakubutsu-kan Museum is like visiting Sakaide as it used to be. There are lots of interesting objects from the earliest salt-making pots (300-600 A.D.) to innovations in the 19th century by Kume Tsuken, the founder of Sakaide as a Salt City.
Sakaide is an industrial town of 60,000 located 22 km west of Takamatsu. It is a traditional area for sea-salt production.
source :  www.lansingsc.org



yukishio, yuki-shio ゆきしお / 雪塩 snow-salt
very fine salt, often used for kaiseki food. This salt is blown over the food to distribute it carefully.
Very rich in minerals, even in the Guiness Books of Records as the salt with the most minerals !
From Miyako Island, Okinawa 宮古島
. . . CLICK here for Photos !



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Heda no shio 戸田の塩 salt from Heda, Izu peninsula
It has a long tradition of more than 1000 years.
The salt is boiled and stirred constantly in a long process to make salt. Now a group of local ladies and their husbands keep it up. The men get the water out in large tanks from the deep sea of the Bay of Suruga. From each large yellow container of water they get about 14 kilo of salt.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
One delicacy is a simple
shio musubi 塩むすび rice ball with salt
Salt is also used as a dip for sashimi, instead of soy sauce.


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quote
On the night of the twenty-ninth of the sixth month, they met in the garden of the Dajōkan,
drank salt water and swore an oath, . .


This ritual is mentioned only in the edict translated in the article (757.7.12), and in Azumahito's confession in the "Shoku Nihongi" entry for 7.4 to which it refers.

source : pmjs group discussion


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Salt from Ako, called Chushingura
赤穂塩 忠臣蔵

赤穂の天塩

quote
Chûshingura in the 1980s:
Rethinking the Story of the 47 Ronin

Henry D. Smith II

Take, for example, the episode on the Pine Corridor incident that appeared in NHK’s “Invitation to History” (Rekishi e no shôtai) series, in which academic historians, amateur historians, and writers of historical fiction are all happily mixed together to debate a particular issue. One major topic of discussion in this particular program was the so-called “salt-farm theory,” deriving from the fact that both Akô and Kira Yoshinaka’s own domain of Kira-chô, located 40 km southeast of Nagoya on Atsumi Bay, just happened to be producers of salt.

It was the novelist Ozaki Shirô―a native of Kira-chô―who first proposed in 1949 that the incident had its origins in a salt rivalry between Asano, whose Akô salt was of superior quality, and Kira, who had easier access to the Edo market.
Of the several versions of the salt-farm theory, the most common envisions Kira sending spies to Akô to steal the secrets of superior salt technology, thereby provoking Asano and eventually the Matsu-no-rôka attack. Never mind that there is not a shred of evidence for the theory: the NHK show made a virtue of this by featuring a lengthy discussion by a leading expert of Edo salt production, who conclusively demonstrated that the industrial spy theory was in fact implausible, since the geological and labor conditions in Kira-chô would have made Akô’s techniques useless anyway.

source : www.columbia.edu/




rusk bisquits with Ako salt 赤穂塩ラスク





生大福 daifuku rice cakes with Ako salt
忠臣蔵ゆかりの地 赤穂の塩を使った





salted peanut snack with Ako salt
赤穂の天然塩をピーナッツ

only sold in the Kansai area


. Chushingura 忠臣蔵 The Story of the 47 Ronin .


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HAIKU


SALT kigo for the New Year

Matsumoto no shio-ichi 松本の塩市 (まつもとのしおいち)
salt market in Matsumoto

..... First market at Matsumoto, Matsumoto no hatsu ichi 松本の初市
..... Sweet Market, ame ichi 飴市(あめいち)
Matsumoto in Nagano is the final station of the Salt Road, see below.

It used to be January 11, now on the second Saturday and Sunday in January.
Now more sweets are sold instead of salt.




. WKD : New Year Ceremonies  


Shio no michi 塩の道 The Salt Road  
"Chikuni Kaido" 'chikuni kaidoo 千国街道(ちくにかいどう)
From Niigata to Matsumoto in Nagano


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salted salmon

塩鮭をさげて食おうか絵にするか
shiozake o sagete tabeyoo ka e ni suru ka

taking down the salted salmon -
shall we eat it?
shall we paint it?



塩鮭の塩の甘さを嘆くべし
shiozake no shio no amasa o nageku beshi

the sweetness of salt
from the salted salmon -
we should grieve about it



塩鮭や何で紅色きらめきし
塩鮭や海の力を割り裂きて
銀シャリに映える塩鮭見てわが身引き締む
味なじむ鮭のおにぎり母のぬくもり
子がくれし、塩鮭捌く、年の暮れ
© 俳句歳時記(62号)
Tr. Gabi Greve


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木がらしや木の葉にくるむ塩肴
kogarashi ya ki no ha ni kurumu shio sakana

winter wind--
wrapped in tree leaves
a salted fish


Issa, tr. David Lanoue

sakana, can also indicate a bite to go with a sip of ricewine, not necessarily a fish. Something to nibble while drinking.


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Compiled by Larry Bole

In Snorri Sturluson's "Prose Edda" (Norse Mythology), the sacred cow, Audumbla, "... licked the ice-blocks, which were salty; and the first day that she licked the blocks, there came forth from the blocks in the evening a man's hair; the second day, a man's head; the third day the whole man was there. He is named Boki ['ancestor of the gods and grandfather of Odin']." (trans. Brodeur)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_lick


Here is a salt lick haiku:

ice moon . . .
an elk touches its tongue
to the salt lick


an'ya
(The Heron's Nest, Volume III, Number 10: December, 2001)



Gandhi led a famous "salt march" to the seashore in India to protest the British salt tax. This is reminiscent of the American colonial opposition to the British tea tax, symbolized by the "Boston Tea Party."

You can read about Gandhi's "salt march" here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Satyagraha


Various sources on the internet say that Japan has no significant mineral salt deposits, and so has developed several ways, some unique, to extract salt from sea water.

In his book, "Dawn to the West," Donald Keene writes about the Japanese haijin Sawaki Kin'ichi (1919-2001) and his commitment to writing haiku of social significance.

"A series of haiku describing the salt fields of the Noto Peninsula he [Sawaki] visited in 1955 includes this example:

enden ni hyakunichi sujime tsuketooshi

In the salt fields
One hundred days of raking
Lines in the sand.

"The picture here is of a primitive and infinitely laborious process. Buckets of sea water are repeatedly dumped, all day long, into sand plots exposed to the hot summer sun. The water evaporates, leaving the salt. The sun is hot enough to make this crude method of salt extraction possible only for about one hundred days in the year.
The raking of the sand, generally left to the women, was (like the rest of the process) back-breaking labor. Sawaki's poem, effectively depicting the scene, earned the praise of such men as Mizuhara Shuuoshi and Yamaguchi Seishi for its rare success in incorporating into the poem itself theories of social consciousness often advocated by critics of haiku."

Hugh Bygott has translated the above haiku as follows:

In the salt pan fields,
one hundred days of lines drawn;
marked in the sand.


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shiki-temp/message/4723


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In the fish shop
the gums of the salt-bream
look cold.


Matsuo Basho
Tr. David Landis Barnhill

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減塩に変えていつもの倍入れる  
genen ni kaete itsumo no baai ireru

changing to low salt diet -
usually I add
twice as much   
    

Hensa 偏差値48


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Related words


Selling new salt, waka shio uri 若塩売(わかしおうり)
celebrating the new salt, waka shio iwai
若塩祝い(わかしおいわい)
kigo for the New Year

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. WASHOKU - sweets with salt ! .

. WASHOKU - Meersalz
Die Geschichte des Salzes in Japan

. Legends about Salt .

***** Washoku - Food from Japan and Haiku

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Sea salt making, the right detail for boiling sea water, in the middle with to women carrying sea water in their buckets, and two men stacking up bundled fuel twigs for heating sea water.

Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849, signed Zen (Previously) Hokusai Manji 前北斎卍)
Poem by Gonchûnagon Sadaie (Fujiwara no Sadaie, Fujiwara no Teika), from the series One Hundred Poems Explained by the Nurse (Hyakunin isshu uba ga etoki) 「百人一首宇波か縁説 権中納言定家」, 1835-36

Poem: Konu hito no Matsuo no ura no yûnagi ni yaku ya moshio no mi mo kogaretsutsu
来ぬひとを まつほの浦の 夕なぎに やくやも塩の みもこかれつゝ

On Matsuo Beach
I wait in the pines at dusk
for one who won't come -
and like the blazing salt mounds,
I too am consumed by fire.


- reference : MFA Boston -

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- #salz #shio #salt -
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