【2020.1.19 邦久庵ハツカエビス 開催レポート】

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2020年最初の邦久庵倶楽部の活動は、毎年恒例のハツカエビス。大人23名&お子さま4名、計27名での賑やかな一日。盛りだくさんのプログラムにご参加下さった皆様、本当にありがとうございました。

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大村湾の小さな岬「琵琶首」の突端に建つ邦久庵。その裏手には、恵比寿さまが祀られています。池田さんは、ここを訪れる人には必ず恵比寿さまにお参りしてほしいと仰ります。「本当は建物を建ててはいけなかったような場所に、たまたま地元の方のご厚意に恵まれて、建てさせてもらったんだ」。その恵比寿さまに纏わる地域の古くからの風習を復活させ、赤いハチマキを巻いて豊漁・海の安全を祈願。口元にお神酒を捧げました。

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地元・西彼町風早郷の方々の全面サポートで、昨年以上に充実のお餅つきに。自前の本格的なかまど・薪・石臼・杵を朝一番で運び入れてくださり、邦久庵の前庭が、素敵なパブリックスペースとなりました。最初は恥ずかしがっていたお子さんたちも、ラスト重い杵を担いでついに参加してくれました。

3つ蒸し上げたセイロのうちの2つは、丸餅に。ぜんざいに入れて楽しんで、残りはお土産に。もうひとつのセイロはゆるめの餅に仕上げ、ゴボウと筍、お味噌をはさんだ「花びら餅」に。

 

そして倶楽部のボランティアメンバーの方々が準備してくださったお祝い御膳は本日も極上。特に邦久庵周りでも採れる野草を少しずつ散りばめたお料理の数々は、彩も鮮やか。その由縁や効能も含めて、参加者の方々一同、のめり込んで耳を傾けておられました。

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午後も盛りだくさん企画だったこの日。午後は倶楽部スタッフによる建物＆周辺案内。ハウステンボスで働いていたという方もご参加になり、いずれも池田さんが深く関わったハウステンボス、オランダ村、バイオパーク、そして邦久庵の共通点トークにも花が咲きます。そのあとは魔除けのお守りとされる「吊るし唐辛子」づくり。7本の唐辛子を、4本の藁で編み上げます。初めてなので、皆さん曲がったりねじれたり、個性が出ますね。皆さんとここで楽しむために準備・練習してきてくださったメンバーの皆さん、ありがとうございました。

締めくくりは奥の和室を使ったプチ茶会。この日は、表千家に詳しい方に開いていただきました。3人ずつ、昼前に作っておいた「花びら餅」をいただいたあと、ピリッとしつつゆったりとした時間が流れます。武邦さんの奥様、久子さんがご趣味にされていたというお茶も、この場所を使っていく上で大切にしたい一つの体験です。今年通じて、いろんなやり方で開催していけたらと思っています。

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この日は、提携するSLOW LIFE JAPANのスタッフとして邦久庵近くに移住してくる予定のTodd夫妻が終日参加してくれました。これから一緒に頑張っていく仲間になります。お子様も一緒に色々な日本文化に触れてもらうことができましたし、彼らをおもてなしすることが少しはできたように思います。また英語を話せる方も今日たまたま複数いらっしゃって、とてもいい交流ができたと感じます。これからさらに国際色も豊かになっていきそうな邦久庵。次は3月にお味噌作りを予定していますので、詳細決まり次第ご案内いたします。2020年も、どうぞよろしくお願い致します。

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Hokyuann's first activity report of 2020 is about an annual event, Hatsukaebisu. Attendees were 27 people including 23 adults and 4 children. Thank you for those who joined us. We hope you enjoyed our programs.

Hokyuann is located at the end of a cape, Biwanokubi. Ebisu, one of Seven Lucky Gods, enshrined beside the house. Mr. Ikeda wants every one of Hokyuann visitors to pray to Ebisu during their visit. Ikeda says, "Hokyuann shouldn't have been built on such a sacred place. I cannot appreciate enogh the kindness of the locals." Hokyuann Club resurrected a local custom about Ebisu; we had red headbands on our heads and prayed for rich hauls and safety from the ocean. We offered sacred sake to his mouth.

With great help of the locals, rice-cake pounding was more successful than that of last year. They brought their own furnaces, firewood, grindstone and pestles in the early morning. The front garden turned to be a nice public space. Children were shy at first but they carried heavy pestles and joined rice-cake pounding at the end. We enjoyed making our own rice cake with zenzai (putting it into red bean soup), hanabira mochl, or petal rice cake (wrapping burdock root, bamboo shoot and miso with it.)

In addition, celebratory lunch, prepared by volunteers, was speechless as always. It was decorated with wild herb, nandin, picked around Hokyuann and looks colorful. One of the volunteers explained why it is often used for new year's decoration and how it benefits our body.

Many programs proceeded in the afternoon. A staff member of Hokyuann Club guided the house and the surroundings. One of the participants has worked at Huis Ten Bosch. Our talk covered not only Hokyuann and Huis Ten Bosch but also Holand Village and Bio Park all of which were deeply related to Mr. Ikeda. Then we had a workshop of making an amulet, hanging pepper. Seven peppers were woven with four strings of rice straw. Most of them had never worked on straw goods and some of works were bent and others were twisted. None of them looked the same and all were original. Those were highly appreciated who had prepared and practiced beforehand to make the workshop successful.

The last event was a brief tea ceremony held by a volunteer who is familiar with Foundation of Fu-shin-an. Three people joined the ceremony at once. Petal rice cake prepared in the morning, was also served. Tensioned but tranquil time had passed. Tea ceremony was Mrs. Ikeda's hobby. We, therefore, want to continue having tea ceremony.

Todd and his family also attended the event for a whole day. He is from SLOW LIFE JAPAN, who cooperates with Hokyuann Club, and is moving near Hokyuann. We are very happy to welcome him and look forward to working with him. His child got to experience various Japanese traditions. We hope they were happy with our service. Fortunately some participants spoke English so Hokyuann will be more international than ever before. The next event is miso making. The details will be announced soon. We are looking forward to your attendance and hope to have a great year of 2020 with you.