日本間・・・心が落ち着くと再確認

　台風15号の接近で倉賀野町も朝から雨が降っており、庭の植物の写真が撮れません。このため、珍しく室内の写真を撮ってみました。今では少なくなりましたが、８畳の二間続きの日本間です。ご覧の「紅白梅の絵」が描かれてる襖の裏側の部屋には７～８人が一緒に座れる堀炬燵があり、これらの部屋を使うのは娘たち家族がお盆や正月に帰省したとき、昔のように家族団欒に使うだけで、普段は使いません。というより使う人がいません。

　写真に撮ると一見きれいに見えますが、実は、障子があちこちで破れかけてます。子供の頃を思い出すと、母が障子をよく張り替えてましたが、私にそんなことはできず、いつかは業者に張り替えてもらうつもりです。それは数が多く、欄間も入れると２４の障子で、つい、先延ばしになってます。今度のお正月前には張り替え、きれいにしたいです。

　

　　

　この家を建てたのは、私が退職前の５８才の頃です。この頃はまだ日本間が必要と考えていたのですが、時代は変わり、椅子の生活になり、畳に座ることがなくなりました。今では畳の部屋はいわば観賞用です。しかし、今朝、改めて写真に撮ったら、使わなくてはもったいないように感じました。障子や襖も心が落ち着きます。次回、私の家を訪れるときは日本間で、足が痛くない炬燵の部屋でお茶を飲みつつ【お酒もＯＫ】楽しい歓談をお待ちしてます。

【襖をクリックし、拡大すると臨場感が出ます。】

Dear my friends who are crazy about cheerful conversation in Japanese room and great music.

　The simultaneous interpretation into English for our mutual understanding will be done after my breakfast in Japan time.

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　Due to Typhoon 15 approaching, it has been raining in my Kuragano-Town since morning, making it impossible to take photos of the plants in the garden. For this reason, I took a rare photo of the interior. This is a Japanese-style room with two adjoining 8-tatami mat rooms that is rare these days. Behind the sliding doors with the "red and white plum blossom" painting, there is a sunken foot-wormer kotatsu table that can seat 7-8 people at the same time. These rooms are only used when my daughters and their families come my home at Obon festival for praying the diseased ancestors or New Year's, for family get-togethers like in the old days. But, they are not used on a regular basis. In fact, no one uses them at all.

　While it looks nice in photos, the shoji screens by white paper are actually ripped in places. When I remember my childhood, my mother would often repaper the shoji screens, but I can't do that myself, so I plan to have them professionally repapered. There are so many of them—24 including the transoms. So I put it off. I'd like to have them repapered and cleaned up before the New Year.

　I built this house when I was 58 years old, before I retired. At the time, I still thought a Japanese-style room was necessary, but times have changed, and people have started to live by chairs, so they no longer sit on tatami mats. Nowadays, tatami rooms are more for decoration or appreciation only, so to speak. However, when I took a photo of them again this morning, I felt it would be a wasteful not to use them. Shoji screens and sliding doors are also very calming. The next time you visit my house in the near future, I look forward to a pleasant conversation with you in the Japanese-style room, with a kotatsu foot warmer table where your feet won't hurt, over tea (alcohol is also OK).