| Samurai Movies (20) |
February 17, 2022
|
| [Hobbies] In the movie 'Yaji Kita dochu Teresko', there were various scenes that were related to people's hobbies. ・Shogi Two men were playing 'shogi' on the main street. One person asked the other what pieces he had. In 'shogi', players can use the pieces they took from their opponent. He showed the pieces and one of them was the king. He was upset and asked, "When did you take my king?" The other answered, "When I tried to take either your king or 'hisha' (a piece which can move vertically and horizontally in any frame). When it was your turn you moved your 'hisha' to safety, so I took the king." Then the opponent said that it was nonsense, and that he would keep fighting without the king anyhow. Maybe this was a joke from the original story, or a citing from a 'rakugo', a comedy performed by a single person sitting on his knees on a stage. 'Rakugo' performers have a lot of types of small jokes, and will use them in some spots of their main story. He checked on the internet about shogi. In the Edo period, the Tokugawa Shogunate gave prestige to masters of 'shogi' and 'go', then those games became popular among common people. Maybe the Tokugawa government  wanted people to enjoy something, not to criticize their policies. Soon after the end of the Edo Period, a famous 'shogi' player appeared, 'Sankichi Sakata'. He was so famous that there were plays, and movies, even a song written about this master's life. In samurai movies, there are a lot of scenes of samurais' playing 'go'. He could remember that in one TV samurai drama, a young Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate, was always playing 'go' by himself, it was as if he was thinking about strategies in his upcoming battles. ・Pets A female owner of the brothel always had a cat in her arms. In the Edo Period, rice was very important because they used it as money. Mice were people's main enemies, so cats were important. People had cats as both a guard against mice and as a pet. Dogs were the same, but, different from now, dogs were fed outside in order to guard against robbers and wild animals, like wolves, foxes, etc. ・House Plants In the corridor of the brothel, there were some pots of bonsai trees. He had heard that there were several "booms" to have house plants in the Edo Period. It became big business to sell special plants, like chrysanthemums with strangely shaped big petals or special types of foliage plants. When he worked for the board of education of a city, there was an anual cultural exhibition and some plant lovers exhibited their elaborate works of different types of chrysanthemums, bonsai trees, azaleas, etc. He had once watched on TV that growing morning glories became very popular in Edo. They developed different shaped and colored flowers using cross-breeding techniques. People in Edo (and other castle towns) lived closely together in small houses because the lords' and other high ranked samurais' premises were very large. But, even in a small space, people could enjoy morning glories, ivy-like green leaves and their colorful flowers. Maybe they also gave a certain comfortableness in the hot and humid season. ・Flower Arrangement Most middle and upper class samurai, as well as wealthy merchants and wealthy farmers had in their houses a guest room that had space to display flower arrangements. In those houses, it was popular for women to gather to learn how to arrange flowers. This custom has been passed down until now. You can see this still in some houses which display flower arrangements in their entrance halls and tatami mat rooms. ・Tea Ceremony Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi liked tea ceremonies very much and it was brought to the Edo Period. Many daimyos liked to hold tea ceremonies to communicate with others while keeping their status. In the world of tea ceremonies, simplicity and equality was important. Because of this, attendants could relax and enjoy conversation and the taste of 'macha' in a quiet atmosphere. (To be continued ...) |
| |
No. 466
*opponent :敵の相手方
*prestige :名声
*upcoming :来るべき
*brothel :売春宿
*robber :強盗
*chrysanthemum :菊
*foliage :葉
*elaborate :凝った
*azalea :つつじ
*morning glory :朝顔
*cross-breeding :交配
*premises :屋敷
*simplicity :簡素、飾り気のなさ
*equality :平等