日本語は英語の後に続きます。Japanese follows.
My tea-mate travelled to the Kannamesai of
the Ise-jingu Shrine and Kyoto. I received a
box of “Oitopoi from Doki Kawabata” as a
souvenir. “Oitopoi” means “cute” in Court
language spoken by court ladies. It’s a
Japanese dry sweet. Its elegant sweetness
goes well with matcha.
“Kannamesai (The First Fruits Festival)” is
a court event held in mid-October. It is a
festival held by the emperor to offer the
new rice of the year to Ise-jingu Shrine and
to thank its blessings, and is said to last for
nearly 1300 years.
I had some Japanese wagashi sweets related
to the harvest in the season of harvest. The
“kamamochi” of Daikokuya-kamamochi-honpo
in Kyoto, which takes the shape of a sickle
used to harvest rice and expresses a wish for
a good harvest, and “Nerikiri (a Japanese cake
made of white bean jam which is coloured and
shaped)” is the “year of abundance” which is
shaped like rice ears.
お茶仲間が伊勢神宮の神嘗祭と京都を
旅してきた。お土産に京都の御粽司
「川端道喜のおいとぽい」をいただいた。
宮中女官の御所ことばで「可愛い」という
意味の和三盆のお干菓子。上品な甘さが
抹茶によく合う。
神嘗祭は、十月中旬に行われる宮中行事。
天皇がその年の新米を伊勢神宮に供え
恵みに感謝する祭事で、1300年近く続く
とか。
実りの季節、収穫にちなんだ和菓子を
いくつかいただいた。稲を刈る鎌の形を
かたどり豊作への願いを込めた京都
大黒屋鎌餅本舗の「鎌餅」に、練り切りは
稲穂をかたどった「豊年」。