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发表于 2014-2-17 11:12:12
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VOX POPULI: Chocolate goes with any season
Grumbling about uncomfortably hot or cold weather won’t make it any better, but we grumble anyway. Here is a haiku poem from the Edo Period (1603-1867): “In summer/ We say winter is better.”When I mention this passage, haiku fans scold me for misquoting the author, Uejima Onitsura (1661-1738). The correct version, I am told, goes: “In winter/ We say summer is better.” I get the seasons mixed up because this haiku pops in my head whenever the weather is brutally hot or cold.
A little research confirmed that this passage can be found in Uejima’s collection of poems titled “Summer.” Fed up with the heat of summer, perhaps the poet tried to console himself and others by noting wryly that once the chills of winter set in, everyone will start wishing for the return of summer. I suppose this is the sort of whiny mentality that will persist so long as there are four seasons.
Author Yoshida Kenko (circa 1283-1352) wrote in “Tsurezuregusa” (Essays in Idleness): “Homes should be designed to be suitable for summer. One can live anywhere in winter.” I have the feeling that this famous passage was written in summer. This is only a guess, of course, but had it been winter when Yoshida wrote it, I suspect he would have recommended building houses designed for winter.
It looks like many parts of Japan will have more snow on Friday, Feb. 14, which is Valentine’s Day. Snow may set a romantic stage for couples planning their weekend date night, but for people in and around the Tokyo metropolitan area who were inconvenienced by last weekend’s snowfall, it’s time to brace themselves once again.
Chocolate and Valentine’s Day go together. No one is exactly sure why, but back when chocolate was first imported to Japan, the kanji character for “choko,” which is a small cup for sipping sake (rice wine), was incorporated into the kanji characters for the new delicacy. I don’t think sake pairs well with chocolate at all. But perhaps there were liquor-filled chocolates back then.Japan’s per-capita chocolate consumption today is about 2 kilograms a year.
On Valentine’s Day, the Japanese traditionally buy chocolates as presents for their loved ones. But, there is also “giri-choco,” which is given away out of a sense of “giri” or obligation. And in recent years, a new category of Valentine’s Day candy has apparently become popular. It is known as “jibun he no gohobi choco,” which literally means “chocolate with which to reward myself.” Actually, I like the idea of rewarding oneself with sweet candy for trying one’s best in any weather, hot or cold. Right now, it’s a good way to beat the winter blues while we wait for spring.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 14 |
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