☆ 東京のお飾りは通常しめ縄飾りと呼ぶ。
いつもは只の藁縄だがそれでは申し訳ないと、正月飾りになったそうだ。その後、正月飾りと呼ばれ始めやがて、都内の町だけで”しめ縄飾り”と呼ばれた。
この区別は何処にも向かわないで、単に内々の言い方として通布した。それは僕の母によると、美しさを絶やさないようにという事だ。僕はそれに美しさを強制しない、慎ましさを感じている。
僕は、都内の出身だ。それを誇らしく思えばそうでもない時もある。以前、エナメルが書いてくれた「派手！！！」の楽曲の時も同じで、東京という古い価値を曝け出して押し付けているようで、身の竦む気がしたものだ。だが同時に、誇らしくも思う。この両端の気持ちが、率直に東京なのだろう。
飾りは、大体26日か27日に仕舞う。仕舞いというと終わりのようだが、店仕舞いの仕舞いではなく、仕舞うの仕舞いだ。明日を怯えずに済む日々がこれから始まる。その合図だ。
余り気構えずに、勤しんで欲しい。これは僕のOLD MAN SHIPに寄るもので、東京ではない。ややこしいが、複雑さを持つ感性を僕も大切にしている。
Pro.O.
☆ 昨今のお節料理は美味しいですが、お節料理は長い間不味かったので、私は高校三年生になるまで、お節料理が大嫌いだったし、お正月を大切にしましょう。その感性を持っている人こそが、大切な心を持つ人一番上、という考え方とそれを口にして憚らない、セルフパッケージな人達が大嫌いでした。
この頃、アンティーク・ブームに留まらず、世界と時差0の日本の日常として、スダンダード・ジャパンを自身の年末年始の晴れ着として多くの人々が羽織られています。
私は着物を好む所があるので、そのエキゾチック・ジャポニズムがとても嬉しいのですが、お節料理やお正月に纏わる準備を賑々しくして気持ちに張りを持つ、お商売をしているお宅以外では、未だ、鮮やかな塗りの器や新しい食洗機に入れられる漆塗りの器を見る度、一瞬暗いものが胸を過ぎる人が居るのではないか、と思いました。
お正月料理ですが、私は特上の握りを31日の夜に頼むか、すき焼き・又は、本当に自分が美味しいと思う鍋にしていました。
明けて元日は、お節が作れたならそれを。買える年ならそれを食べて、2日目には全部カレーに入れて正月を無理やり終わらせていました。
もし、胸をよぎるものが私と同じ、小さく鋭い眼差しが捉えていた抗議の気持ちなら、お節料理は、オードブルという解釈にして、すっきりと幾つかをお皿に並べ、後は四角いケーキを用意し、シャンパンかもしくはワイン、またはノンアルコールの綺麗な色の飲み物で良いのではないでしょうか？
スイーツ＆ワインがすっかり定着した今なら、何も気にする必要はありません。
陽気な人は、お酒を飲まなくとも上手に品よく陽気です。
お酒の勢いを貸りて、子供に接するな、と私はその頃から無表情でした。
四角いケーキが用意出来なければ、良いチョコレートを並べて、あんな正月が近寄れない、新年の祝賀を大いにするべきだと、私は思います。
Enamel.
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☆Tokyo's New Year decorations are typically called shimenawa decorations.
They're usually just straw ropes, but it seemed inappropriate to leave them as such, so they became New Year decorations. Later, they began being called New Year decorations, and eventually, only in Tokyo's towns were they called “shimenawa decorations.”
This distinction didn't spread anywhere; it simply became an internal term. According to my mother, it was to preserve their beauty. I sense in this not a forcing of beauty, but a quiet restraint.
I'm from Tokyo. Sometimes I feel proud of that, other times I don't. It was the same with the song “Flashy!!!” Enamel wrote for me before; it felt like exposing and imposing Tokyo's old values, making me cringe. Yet at the same time, I feel proud. This duality of feeling is, frankly, Tokyo.
The decorations are usually put away on the 26th or 27th. Saying “put away” sounds like an ending, but it's not the closing of a shop; it's the putting away of decorations. It signals the start of days where we no longer need to fear tomorrow.
I hope you'll work diligently without too much pressure. This comes from my OLD MAN SHIP, not Tokyo. It's complicated, but I also cherish this complex sensibility.
Pro.O.
They're usually just straw ropes, but it seemed inappropriate to leave them as such, so they became New Year decorations. Later, they began being called New Year decorations, and eventually, only in Tokyo's towns were they called “shimenawa decorations.”
This distinction didn't spread anywhere; it simply became an internal term. According to my mother, it was to preserve their beauty. I sense in this not a forcing of beauty, but a quiet restraint.
I'm from Tokyo. Sometimes I feel proud of that, other times I don't. It was the same with the song “Flashy!!!” Enamel wrote for me before; it felt like exposing and imposing Tokyo's old values, making me cringe. Yet at the same time, I feel proud. This duality of feeling is, frankly, Tokyo.
The decorations are usually put away on the 26th or 27th. Saying “put away” sounds like an ending, but it's not the closing of a shop; it's the putting away of decorations. It signals the start of days where we no longer need to fear tomorrow.
I hope you'll work diligently without too much pressure. This comes from my OLD MAN SHIP, not Tokyo. It's complicated, but I also cherish this complex sensibility.
Pro.O.
☆Modern osechi dishes are delicious, but since they were terrible for so long, I hated them until my senior year of high school. Let's cherish New Year's. I absolutely despised those self-packaged people who held the belief that only those possessing that sensibility were the most important, the ones with the purest hearts, and who weren't shy about voicing it.
Lately, beyond the antique boom, many people are embracing Standard Japan as their festive attire for the New Year holidays, treating it as part of Japan's daily life in sync with the world.
I have a fondness for kimono myself, so this exotic Japonism delights me. Yet, I wonder if there are still people who feel a momentary shadow cross their hearts whenever they see the vividly lacquered dishes or the lacquerware that fits neatly into a new dishwasher – people outside of households running businesses who bustle about preparing New Year's dishes and festivities to keep their spirits up.
For New Year's cuisine, I'd either order premium nigiri sushi on the night of the 31st, or make sukiyaki or a hot pot I genuinely loved.
Come New Year's Day, if I'd made osechi, I'd eat that. If I could afford to buy it, I'd eat that, then on the second day, I'd dump it all into curry, forcing the New Year celebrations to end.
If that fleeting feeling is the same as mine—a protest captured by a small, sharp gaze—then why not interpret the osechi as hors d'oeuvres? Arrange a few neatly on a plate, prepare a square cake, and serve champagne, wine, or a beautifully colored non-alcoholic drink.
Now that sweets & wine are fully established, there's no need to worry about anything.
Cheerful people can be cheerful with grace and refinement, even without alcohol.
I've been expressionless since then, thinking: Don't interact with children under the influence of alcohol.
If you can't prepare a square cake, arrange some fine chocolates instead. I believe we should celebrate the New Year in grand style, keeping such New Years at bay.
Enamel.
