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本日は予定を早めて日曜版を公開します。
日曜日なので、穏やかな内容を書いています。
2026年になって6日に外を歩いていたら、初荷（はつに）の文字を見つけました。
松らしくお正月らしい静かな日本晴れの中、幟（のぼり）がキリッと寒い清浄な風に旗めいていました。
GoogleのAIによると、初荷（はつにとは新年最初の商う日で、1月2日が本来の初荷の日なんだそうです。
私は暮しが安定し始めた頃から、お正月の準備をきちんとしつつ、いつも3が日を持て余しているのに気付き、以降は大体元日だけお正月らしい料理を食べ、2日からは普段の生活に戻すようになりました。
なので初荷を掲げる商人達・職人達の家が、1月2日から商うのが普通だったと知り、縁起の良い過ごし方を何となくしていたのだと嬉しくなりました。
お正月という歳時で過ごしても過ごさなくても、年が明けて清々しく晴れ渡ると、気持ちの良い新しさが身体の芯に明るさを連れて来ますね。
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感謝祭が過ぎた頃からスーパーやデパート、古い町並みが残っている土地では酒屋さんが、お屠蘇を準備してお客さんに売ったり無料で渡したりします。
私の住む街では90年代後半まで、シーズンになると酒屋さんから無料で頂いていました。
今はスーパーで200円以内で購入しています。
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通常、折り畳まれた美しい固い紙に入れられています。
中はこのようになっており、この小さな封筒を開けると、漢方薬のミックスハーブが入ったティーパックが出てきます。
31日の夜に、包み紙に書いてあるcc分だけ日本酒を入れ、ティーパックを浸し、翌朝の元日に飲みます。
年が明けた瞬間、朝日を待たずにお節料理を頂くのであれば、30日の夜寝る前に上記の状態にしておくと、本来のお屠蘇（おとそ）の味を楽しめます。
私が子供の頃は、お屠蘇の正確な作り方が一般に浸透しておらず、お屠蘇を飲む1時間前にティーパックを浸して飲んでいたので、辛いだけで凄まじく不味い飲み物でした。
本来のお屠蘇は、円やか（まろやか）な味わいで、漢方の上品な香りが漂う薬酒（やくしゅ）本来の美しさがあります。
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写真はお節（おせち）に入っている黒豆。
お節料理（おせちりょうり）は、今年は婦人画報社のお取り寄せでお願いしました。
私は作っても楽しいタイプですが、体力が無いので年末のスケジュールを無理をしてこなさなくなりました。
12月中旬から始める正月準備の一つ大掃除 も、余裕があればハウスクリーニングに頼むつもりです。
1日でお正月を終わらせた後、松が明けるまで何もしないのかと言えば、そうではありません。
私の住む街は1月9日までが松の期間ですが、7日の朝、七草粥（ななくさがゆ）を頂き、1年間の無病息災を祈願します。
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| 七草粥 / Seven-Herbs Rice Porridge |
七草粥（ななくさがゆ）は、春の七草（はるのななくさ）をお粥に入れたもので、 芹（せり）・薺（なずな）・御形（ごぎょう/おぎょう）・繁縷（はこべら）・仏の座（ほとけのざ）・鈴菜（すずな）・清白（すずしろ）が春の七草にあたります。
この七草は1月2日・3日にはスーパーの野菜売り場でセット売りされますので、特に何も考えずにそれを買って来て、鈴菜（カブ）・清白（大根）の皮を剥いて、他と一緒に刻んでお粥に入れれば出来上がりです。
本来は1月7日の朝に食べるんですが、私はいつも昼や夜になってしまいます。
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| 鏡餅 / Kagami mochi |
地域によっては旧正月の暦（こよみ）まで、お正月飾りや鏡餅を飾っておく所もあります。
実はお正月というのは、正月神（しょうがつしん）が各家を訪問される行事です。
正月期間中ずっとお正月飾りや鏡餅に正月神が宿っているので、松の間は正月飾りと鏡餅を片付けません。
松が明けたらお正月飾りのみを外し、鏡餅は大体15日まで飾り続け、最後はお汁粉に入れて食べます。
正月飾りは地域によっては町内の飾りをまとめて燃やしたり（どんどん焼き/どんど焼き）、分解した後、分別して塵（ごみ）の日にそれぞれ捨てます。
少し心理的にたじろぎますが、正月神が去った後なので特に問題ありません。
私は心の中でお礼を言って手を合わせてから、処分します。
以上が、2026年現在の一般的なお正月の過ごし方と行事です。
これに初詣で（はつもうで）という、神社やお寺さんに一年の加護を願いに行くのが加わります。
今年は人が少なくなってから伺う予定なので、初詣で（はつもうで）はまだ行っていませんが、後のスケジュールは結局全部やりました。
これが一年の初めに出来るというのは、つまり元気であったし、元気な年明けを迎えられた、ということです。
街のビルの位置が変わり、私の部屋が在るこの辺りにも風が来る新しい毎日を、当たり前のこととして過ごすようになりました。
言葉を持たぬ旧くからの友人達とも新年の挨拶を交わし、静かな賑々しさに満ちた松を過ごせました。
今年は昨年よりも穏やかで、より普通の1年にしたいと考えています。
Better than Betterこそ、在野である私の学究の徒への矜持です。
青い風が吹き続ける中、私が住む街や国のストリートに、近年、急速に漂い始めた明るく健康的な情熱を、O.先生は、高度経済成長期の当時を思い出す、と穏やかな喜びで口にされました。
今朝はこちらは物凄い風が吹いていましたが、先程止んだようでホッとしています。
やっと本来の冬らしい気温になりましたので、私はクラッカーにクリームチーズを挟んだものを食べて、久しぶりの休日を過ごす予定です。
それでは、素敵な日曜日をお過ごし下さい。
20260111 14:25 文章を直しました。
20260112 11:04 文章を直しました。
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Since it's Sunday, I'm writing something gentle.
In 2026, while walking outside on the 6th, I spotted the characters for “first business day” (初荷).
Amidst a clear, calm Japanese New Year's sky befitting pine trees and the season, banners fluttered crisply in the cold, pure wind.
According to Google AI, Hatsuni refers to the first business day of the New Year, with January 2nd being the traditional date.
Once my life stabilized, I realized I always had too much time on my hands during the first three days of the New Year, despite properly preparing for it. Since then, I've mostly eaten New Year's dishes only on the first day and returned to my usual routine starting the second.
So, learning that merchants and artisans displaying their hatsunichi banners typically began business on January 2nd made me happy—it meant I'd been following an auspicious tradition without realizing it.
Whether you celebrate the New Year season or not, when the year turns and the sky clears brightly, that refreshing newness brings a lightness deep into your core, doesn't it?
Whether you celebrate the New Year season or not, when the year turns and the sky clears brightly, that refreshing newness brings a lightness deep into your core, doesn't it?
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After Thanksgiving passes, supermarkets, department stores, and liquor stores in areas with old townscapes prepare otoso to sell to customers or give away for free.
In the town where I live, until the late 90s, we used to get it for free from the liquor store when the season came around.
Nowadays, I buy it at the supermarket for under 200 yen.
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It is typically enclosed in a beautifully folded, sturdy paper wrapper.
Inside, it looks like this. Opening this small envelope reveals a tea bag filled with the herbal blend.
On the night of the 31st, pour the specified amount of sake onto the wrapper and steep the tea bag overnight. Drink it the following morning on New Year's Day.
If you plan to eat New Year's dishes immediately after midnight, without waiting for the sunrise, prepare it as described above before going to bed on the 30th. This way, you can enjoy the authentic taste of O-toso.
On the night of the 31st, pour the specified amount of sake onto the wrapper and steep the tea bag overnight. Drink it the following morning on New Year's Day.
If you plan to eat New Year's dishes immediately after midnight, without waiting for the sunrise, prepare it as described above before going to bed on the 30th. This way, you can enjoy the authentic taste of O-toso.
When I was a child, the correct way to prepare otoso wasn't widely known. We'd soak the tea bag just an hour before drinking it, making it a terribly bitter and awful-tasting beverage.
Authentic otoso possesses the inherent beauty of a medicinal wine: a mellow, rounded flavor with the refined aroma of Chinese herbs.
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This year, I ordered the osechi ryori from Fujingaho's mail-order service.
I'm the type who enjoys making it myself, but since I don't have the stamina, I've stopped pushing myself to manage the year-end schedule.
One of the New Year preparations I start in mid-December, the big cleaning, I also plan to hire a house cleaning service for if I have the time.
After wrapping up New Year's on the 1st, you might think I do nothing until the pine decorations come down, but that's not the case.
In my town, the pine decorations stay up until January 9th. On the morning of the 7th, I eat seven-herb rice porridge (nanakusa-gayu) to pray for a year free from illness and disaster.
Seven-Herbs Rice Porridge (nanakusa-gayu) is made by adding the seven spring herbs (haru no nanakusa) to rice porridge.
One of the New Year preparations I start in mid-December, the big cleaning, I also plan to hire a house cleaning service for if I have the time.
After wrapping up New Year's on the 1st, you might think I do nothing until the pine decorations come down, but that's not the case.
In my town, the pine decorations stay up until January 9th. On the morning of the 7th, I eat seven-herb rice porridge (nanakusa-gayu) to pray for a year free from illness and disaster.
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| 七草粥 / Seven-Herbs Rice Porridge |
The seven spring herbs are: water dropwort (serri), shepherd's purse (nazuna), shepherd's purse (gogyo/ogyo), chickweed (hakobera), chickweed (hotoke no za), turnip (suzuna), and daikon radish (suzushiro).
These seven herbs are sold as a set in supermarket produce sections on January 2nd and 3rd. So, without thinking too much about it, just buy that set, peel the turnips and daikon radish, chop them up along with the others, add them to the porridge, and it's done.
Traditionally, it's eaten on the morning of January 7th, but I always end up having it for lunch or dinner.
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| 鏡餅 / Kagami mochi |
After eating Seven-herb rice porridge, New Year decorations are taken down on the final day of the pine period. The kagami mochi displayed in the home is then eaten in sweet red bean soup on the 15th, marking the general conclusion of New Year's observances.
In some regions, New Year decorations and kagami mochi remain displayed until the Lunar New Year calendar date.
In truth, the New Year period is when the New Year deity (Shōgatsu-shin) visits each home.
Since the New Year deity resides within the decorations and kagami mochi throughout the entire New Year period, they are not put away during the pine period.
After the pine period ends, only the New Year decorations are removed. The kagami mochi is generally displayed until the 15th, and finally eaten in sweet red bean soup.
Depending on the region, New Year decorations are either burned collectively as neighborhood decorations (Dondon-yaki) or disassembled and sorted for disposal on garbage collection days.
While this might feel a bit unsettling psychologically, it's generally considered fine since the New Year deities have departed.
Personally, I offer a silent thank you and clasp my hands before disposing of them.
The above outlines the typical New Year's customs and observances as of 2026.
To this is added hatsumōde, the first shrine or temple visit of the year to pray for blessings for the coming year.
I plan to visit hatsumōde later when fewer people are around, so I haven't gone yet, but I ended up doing everything else on the schedule.
Being able to do this at the start of the year means I was healthy and welcomed the new year in good health.
The positions of buildings in the city have shifted, and I've grown accustomed to taking for granted these new daily routines where the wind reaches this area where my room is located.
I exchanged New Year's greetings with my old friends who cannot speak, and spent the New Year's period filled with a quiet bustle.
This year, I aim for a calmer, more ordinary year than last.
Better than Better is the pride of my scholarly pursuit as an independent scholar.
Amid the persistent blue wind, Professor O. spoke with gentle joy about the bright, healthy passion that has rapidly begun drifting through the streets of my city and country in recent years, reminding him of the era of high economic growth.
This morning brought fierce winds here, but they seem to have stopped just now, and I'm relieved.
With temperatures finally settling into proper winter weather, I plan to enjoy crackers with cream cheese and savor this long-awaited day off.
Wishing you a wonderful Sunday.
In some regions, New Year decorations and kagami mochi remain displayed until the Lunar New Year calendar date.
In truth, the New Year period is when the New Year deity (Shōgatsu-shin) visits each home.
Since the New Year deity resides within the decorations and kagami mochi throughout the entire New Year period, they are not put away during the pine period.
After the pine period ends, only the New Year decorations are removed. The kagami mochi is generally displayed until the 15th, and finally eaten in sweet red bean soup.
Depending on the region, New Year decorations are either burned collectively as neighborhood decorations (Dondon-yaki) or disassembled and sorted for disposal on garbage collection days.
While this might feel a bit unsettling psychologically, it's generally considered fine since the New Year deities have departed.
Personally, I offer a silent thank you and clasp my hands before disposing of them.
The above outlines the typical New Year's customs and observances as of 2026.
To this is added hatsumōde, the first shrine or temple visit of the year to pray for blessings for the coming year.
I plan to visit hatsumōde later when fewer people are around, so I haven't gone yet, but I ended up doing everything else on the schedule.
Being able to do this at the start of the year means I was healthy and welcomed the new year in good health.
The positions of buildings in the city have shifted, and I've grown accustomed to taking for granted these new daily routines where the wind reaches this area where my room is located.
I exchanged New Year's greetings with my old friends who cannot speak, and spent the New Year's period filled with a quiet bustle.
This year, I aim for a calmer, more ordinary year than last.
Better than Better is the pride of my scholarly pursuit as an independent scholar.
Amid the persistent blue wind, Professor O. spoke with gentle joy about the bright, healthy passion that has rapidly begun drifting through the streets of my city and country in recent years, reminding him of the era of high economic growth.
This morning brought fierce winds here, but they seem to have stopped just now, and I'm relieved.
With temperatures finally settling into proper winter weather, I plan to enjoy crackers with cream cheese and savor this long-awaited day off.
Wishing you a wonderful Sunday.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
2026011114:25 Revised the text.
20260112 11:04 Revised the text.
