A straw shows which way the wind blows. And Today is Omisoka in Japan！Yes, 大晦日！

英語面白物語－１７８５：１２－３１－’1７

（Amusing English Story)

A straw shows which way the wind blows.

Yes, this is an old proberv of America.

「一葉落ちて天下の秋を知る」

(Know the autumn by watching a leave falling off)

　この時期では、殆どの木は葉を落としている。針葉樹ぐらいが落とさないで頑張っているようである。寺や神社のクヌギや松は、歳を取っても黒々と葉を付けている。

でも、この諺は、刈り取りの終わった麦藁の藁から生まれたもの。その藁を空中に投げれば風の向きが分かる。イギリスでは、凧を上げて風向きを知ると言う諺があり、この風向きとは、「世間の動き、世界情勢の動向」のことに比喩している。

　ただの麦わらで世界の動きが分かれば、そのような他愛のないことで知れるのであれば・・と思うのは、この諺の言っていることが分からなくなる。小さな藁一本でも、それを使う人間により目的とすることが推量できると言う意味なのである。

　「ボク」の行ったイリノイ大学では、悪い友人がいて、

“We, on the campus, use our middle finger, especially toward those professors we don’t like, ha, ha.”

と言って笑った「やつ」の顔までよく覚えている。その指を向ける相手が男子学生と女子学生によって、意味が違ってくるのだと、得意げに言った顔つきまで思い出す。更に後に知ったのだが、その中指を口でなめて立てると女性は反応が違ってくると言うのも知った。このような、レベルの低い文化の側面は、日本の英和辞書には書かれていない。それでよいと思う。

　さて、何故、この諺をこの年末に紹介したかというと、藁の一つも投げてみるつもりで、この過ぎ去りつつある一年間を振り返ってみると、元旦の日が早く登ってくるからである。I’m trying to help you kill your time and get you see the sun-rise of the New Year Day of 2018.

この「去る年、来る年」は、テレビ番組に任せるとして、私の個人的な記憶では、

　１　トランプ「事件」―アメリカ歴史始まって以来の奇跡的な大失敗

　２　北朝鮮のKim Jong-un―核兵器で世界中に挑戦しようとするのは愚の骨頂で、終着駅は目に見えている。

　３　私のウナギの寝床のアパートに住み込んでいるゴキブリの夫婦にも後期高齢の問題が深刻化しつつあること。

1 Incident of Trump – the biggest mistake in the history of the United States

2 Kim jong-un of North Korea – addicted with incurable illness of wrong movement of developing nucrear weapon challenging to the entire world and this makes so clear that the terminal station is eventually waiting.

3 The problem of an aging couple of cockroach living in my eel-shaped long narrow apartment room is getting really serious

Particularly, the third one is not a laughing matter. I really sorry for them.

Please, ladies and gents, you have a splendid New Year Day！And, please, think seriously about our future. No war and no killing no matter what. To protest our doctrine of the Chapter 9th, the Peace Sonsititution, we’ve got to be a complete neutral.

（出所：拙著『大人のための英会話の諺―諺を利用して自分の会話の質を上げよう」』）

WATCH

Today is Omisoka in Japan！Yes, 大晦日！

We’ve just made it, haven’t we, my reader friends of Japan and of foreign lands? Congratulations! Any good did you do in 2017? Or any bad? Well, in my case, I completed my blog writing all the way to the end of the year. This was a kind of achievement, if you will. The season of Mochi, or rice cake is seen just over the hill. I’ve got to be careful when I eat it. There are always some people who eat the rice cake too fast and it stacks in the throat, causing the death from suffocation. Oh, no! The apple pie won’t be as dangerous as Moch. But, there is no good apple pie in Japan. Shoot.

Why do we call today, i. e., December 31th of the year “Omisoka” or in English “New Year’s Eve?” Here is something from the Wikipedia and I quote it for you. Some editing was made by me.

“Ōmisoka (大晦日)—or Ohtsugomori (大晦)—is a Japanese traditional celebration on the last day of the year. It used to be held on the final day of the 12th lunar month. With Japan’s switch to using the Gregorian calendar at the beginning of the Meiji era, December 31 (New Year’s Eve) is now used for the celebration. The photo is Shinto shrine on ōmisoka. This is a big bell which will be tolled 108 times in total during the period toward the mid-night of today.

The last day of each month of the Japanese lunisolar calendar was historically named misoka (晦日). Originally, “miso” was written as 三十, indicating the 30th day, though misoka sometimes fell on the 29th due to the varying lengths of the lunar month. The last day in the 12th lunar month is called ōmisoka (大晦日)—with the 大 indicating it is the final last day of the month for that year—or the “great thirtieth day”. As part of the Meiji Restoration, Japan switched to the Gregorian calendar in 1873, and ōmisoka was set as December 31, or New Year’s Eve. The day is also known by the archaic pronunciation of ōtsugomori. This is a shortened version of Tsukigomori (月隠り), meaning “last day of the month”.

Jyoya no Kane―除夜の鐘

In the old days, important activities for the concluding year and day were completed in order to start the newyear freshly. Some of these include house cleaning, repaying debts, purification (such as driving out of home the evil spirits and bad luck), and bathing so the final hours of the year could be spent relaxing. More recently, families and friends often gather for parties, including the viewing of the over four-hour Red/White Singing Staging(Kohaku Uta Gassen) show on NHK. This custom has its roots in the ancient Japanese culture surrounding Toshigamisama (歳神様) or Toshitokusama (歳徳様), which revolved around the practice of showing reverence toward the god of the current and upcoming years.

Activities―About an hour before the New Year, people often gather together for one last time in the old year to have a bowl of Toshikoshi(年越し) soba back-wheet noodle or Toshikoshi udon noodle together—an old custome based on people’s association of eating the long noodles as a bridge to the newyear, i. e., “crossing over from one year to the next,” which is the meaning of Toshi-koshi. While the noodles are often eaten plain, or with chopped green onion, in some localities people put on them with Tempura which is deep fried shrimps aned vegies.

And traditionally, families make Osechi(photo) on the last few days of the year. The food is then served during the first several days of the newyear in order to “welcome the food of the newyear” and “wish for happiness throughout the coming year.” And, this system, if you will, helps the house wives discharge from the burdon of cooking for a few days.

At midnight, many visit a shrine or temple for Hatsumōde（初詣）, or the first shrine/temple visit of the year. Throughout Japan, Shinto shrines prepare Amazake(sweet sake=甘酒) to pass out to crowds that gather as midnight approaches. Most Buddhist temples have a large Bonshō (Buddhist bell-tolling) that is struck once for each of the 108 earthly temptations believed to cause human suffering. When seeing someone for the last time before the new year, it is traditional to say “Yoi o-toshi wo” (良いお年を, literally. “Have a good New Year”). The traditional first greeting after the beginning of the New Year is “Akemashite omedetō (明けましておめでとう, literally. “congratulations on the new year”).” Send these greeting messages to your friends by mail in Japan.

This mind of celebration is the equivalent of New Year’s Eve in the Western world, with Saint Sylvester’s Day celebrated by some Christian churches.

In America, though, today is the day of last chance for people to drink away all night and cheer up with the count-down ritual. I remember I did this celebration at least １20 times! Wow! Join the club, folks. And try to be careful so as not to go pray to the godess of porcelain. She wouldn’t be as sexy as you think, you know.

Author of this blog: M. James. Maeda of 「浦嶋ビジネス英会話インターネット道場」http//urashimamaeda.wordpress.com

１７年度のお終いーThe end of the year of 20１７