2008年12月21日日曜日

Slow Life Wakayama 和歌山 2 ひでや


A fresh vegetable stall opens everyday late in the afternoon as the sushi chef Hide gets ready to open his cozy restaurant. By the front entrance of Hideya, the stall is now piled with winter vegetables (eg daikon-raddish, kabu-turnips) and fruits (mikan–mandarins, and kaki-perssimons) grown by farming families in Kimino-cho, Hide's hometown 1.5hrs north-east of Wakayama. Hide reminds me that “Tomorrow is Toji, the winter solstice day” and slips a couple of yuzu oranges in my backpack. On Toji, it is customary to soak in a hot bath with yuzu pieces, which is believed to be warming for the body, helping circulation and removing aches and pains caused by winter chills. On Toji, also recommended are warming dishes such as red bean rice porridge and stewed pumpkin. Toji (冬至, lit. reaching winter) is one of the 24 solar terms in Japan when the day is nearly the shortest for the year. The 24 terms mark seasonal changes in temperature and weather. More detailed descriptions are given in the 72 terms such as "the time when swallows leave, cherries start to blossom and frogs start calling”. Both sets of terms were adopted from Chinese solar calendar, and many of the seasonal words (kigo), including Toji and yuzu, are used in haiku. Accurate but subtle seasonal descriptions are the haiku specialty. With the increasingly obvious seasonal irregularities, however, haiku poets today would have hard time choosing seasonal terms that are traditionally accepted and also match today's changing climate.

0 件のコメント:

コメントを投稿