One aspect of changing seasons in our daily life

 

 

I had an important tea gathering to attend last month. It was called "Kuchikiri no Chaji", which literally means "to unseal the pot of tea leaves."  It is an important tea procedure throughout the year to open it up for the first time,  take the tea leaves out of it, and grind the tea leaves to enjoy in the tea gathering.

 

Inside a pot, new leaves picked in early summer this year have been packed almost a half year for the best flavor. It was the first day to unseal this pot in our tea class.

 

We wore kimono to celebrate this occasion.
My teacher told us that this procedure was like celebrating the coming of the new year in the world of Japanese tea gatherings. I put on kimono that day with a sash full of embroidery depicting autumn harvest of fruits. I enjoyed our traditional kimono culture to appreciate the changes of the season, too. 

This gorgeous sash was from my late mother-in-law whose  mother had prepared for her marriage in 1930s. This is so precious and valuable in quality, too  I’m responsible for handing it over to my daughter.

 

 

Does COVIT-19 change our culture?

 

 We are in the midst of the Obon holidays in Japan. 

Obon is a series of Buddhist memorial services for family ancestors which generally takes place on August 14 and on 15. To put it more precisely, when the event takes place depends on the sect you belong to or the local area you live in. My family belongs to the Soto sect and the services of Obon actually start earlier in August.

Every year, this is the time when many Japanese visit family graves in temples together along with family members who usually live apart such as children with families of their own. It’s a big family reunion.

However, this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, things are quite different.

In order to avoid close contact, our temple has decided to minimize Obon memorial services. They have also limited the number of visitors from one family. The other day, at the beginning of the Obon, two people from one family were allowed to attend the service with a mask on in accordance with the service time schedule. The temple main hall used to be full of families coming in and out the whole day, exchanging greetings with one another—but not this year. There was no opportunity for us to talk with the principle monk and his family in person, and no tea service to relax with after the prayers either. We just gave a simple bow in greeting and farewell from a distance.

On August 15th, the last day of the Obon, the memorial service for our ancestors won't be an exception. This time, four members from one family will be allowed to participate in the memorial service in the main hall.
Surprisingly enough, many other temples have also suspended the Obon memorial services in their halls and have decided to provide memorial services via the Zoom meeting instead. We had never expected that IT technology would prevail in our traditional practices at temples and at home.

I know the temples took a drastic measure to prevent us from infection. Yet, it's sad that we are forced to change our tradition. No one can tell what Obon will look like next year.

No matter what, it’s time for us to remember our ancestors, including our parents who left us not so long ago, and to pray to them for protection at our family altar.

 

The Amabie is Back

 In Japanese folklore, we have many imaginary supernatural creatures called “youkai”, whose history mostly dates back to the period between the 17th and the 19th centuries.

The “amabie” is one example. It has recently caught our attention throughout the country. The creature has a mermaid-like body but its face looks like a bird with a beak, and it wears its hair very long. It is believed to be a harbinger of disease, telling people, "Draw my image and pass it on to others so as to ward off infectious disease." That's the reason the amabie has come back into our modern lives during the coronavirus pandemic.

People have been posting many amabie drawings on SNS, and they have gone viral. What's more, Japanese sweet shops across the country have been making sweets in shape of the creature.

Let's not talk about whether you approve of this business trend of making a profit from coronavirus confusion. We surely take comfort in sharing amabie products in hopes that we can put an end to the crisis.

A concern following the lifitng of the state of emergency

This is the familiar view of the station building I saw this morning.
It was good to see nothing had changed. That being said, I feel that something has changed inside of me. I'm looking at the scenery with different eyes. I saw people wearing masks, few cars pulling in to the station, and few people waiting on the Shinkansen platform.

The state of emergency was lifted on Monday. Schools, businesses and many other social activities are gradually starting again with new social norms, such as washing your hands, wearing masks, and maintaining physical distance with others. Social life now definitely seems different from the one we cherished.

I hope we can manage this new stage in our lives without any serious cases rebounding.