日本語は英語の後に続きます。Japanese follows.
I had a bowl of matcha with Morihachi’s
“Kazeyawaragu (the wind abates)” which
was made based on a passage from
“32 plum blossom poems” in Manyousyu
(Briefly written on
remembering the casual tea gathering
we had the other day.
The passage was the source of citations
for the new era name, “Reiwa”.
“Kazeyawaragu” is a wagashi sweet
filled with white bean paste made of
a mixture of mashed and whole beans
that you can enjoy the beginning of
Reiwa with your eyes and tongue.
We enjoyed practicing “koicha (thick tea)”
procedures such as hiratemae (basic
procedure), nagao (long thongs), wakin
(Japanese cloths), and kagetsu (a practice
in which 5 people learn basic tea
procedure in a relay system).
The hanging scroll was “hakkei nao
migakubeshi (it is important to try to
polish the ball which cannot be polished
any more)”. The caretaker of the
teahouse hung it. My goal is still far away,
but I thought it was a message to devote
myself to practice the way of tea, and
vowed to improve myself every day in
the new Reiwa era.
新元号「令和」の引用元になった万葉集
（梅日和にチラッと書いてます）の
「梅花の歌三十二首」の一節にちなんで
作られた森八の「風和ぐ」で、先日の
お茶遊びを思い出しながら一服。
白小倉餡を包んだ、目で舌で令和の幕開け
を楽しめる上生菓子。お茶遊びでは
濃茶の平点前や長緒、和巾など、各々
お稽古したい点前と、花月を楽しんだ。
床は「白珪尚可磨（はっけいなおみがくべし）」
これ以上磨きようがない玉を、さらに
磨こうと努力することが大切、という教え。
茶室の管理の方がかけてくださっていたお軸。
まだ磨かれてもいないが、お稽古に精進なさい
とのお告げかと、令和も日々精進を誓った
お茶遊びの一日。