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うちの妻の従妹の娘が袴を穿いたままで顔を出してくれた。近くに住んでいるけど、遠い親戚だ。アメリカは大学卒業が大体6月ですが、日本では今が卒業の時期です。一番驚いたのは、Saoriさんの袴の色は私の大学の色：紫と金。格好いい！
ということで、さおりさんと他の卒業生の皆さん、おめでとうございます！これからはスクール・オブ・ライフ（人生学校）でがんばってください。
My wife's cousin's daughter stopped by today. She lives close, but is a distant relative. (Sorry, bad joke.) Anyways, she was wearing a hakama, which until now I had associated with martial arts. Her college graduation celebration was later in the day, and she was dressed up for that. Back in the States, June is when everyone graduates, but here in Japan, it is March. What surprised me the most was the coloring of her hakama: purple and gold. Those are the colors of the University of Washington, my alma mater.

亀清の今年の雛人形はこちらです。３日からロビーに飾られた。この辺は旧暦でやりますので、３月３日から４月３日まで飾る習慣です。
毎年、隣の坂城町の｢坂木宿ふるさと歴史館」でこの時期に古雛まつりが行います。今年の祭りは３月２０日(金)から５月６日(水)までの予定です。雛人形研究家の田口先生は先日に公演しに来ましたのでまた亀清に泊まってくらました。その先生曰く、北信が東京と京都の中心になるので両方の雛人形の文化が流れてきて、独特なスタイルになっているそうです。本人は元々西洋人形の研究から始まって、途中から雛人形に切り替えたと、美咲ちゃんがGrandmaからもらった人形と遊んでいる姿を見たときに話してくれました。この人形はGrandmaの子供のころに本人が良く遊んだらしいです。自分の娘に遊んでもらえるようにずっと持っていたが、私と弟２人で、息子切でした。孫娘を待っていたら、アメリカからうんと遠い日本で生まれたこの美咲ちゃん。それでも、この大事な、思いで深い人形をうちの美咲ちゃんにくれました。Grandma Judiの記念でJuちゃんと呼んでいます。

雛人形もこの感じで｢思い｣が付くのでしょうか？

March 3rd is the Hina Doll Festival in Japan. Households throughout the country put out these Hina doll sets for their daughters to enjoy. Most of the inns here at Togura Kamiyamada Onsen also have elaborate Hina sets on display, including the 8-level one at Kamiyamada Hotel. Kamesei's set this year is this relatively simple one. Our daughter Misaki seems happy with it.

At the Sakaki-juku Furusato Historical Hall in neighboring Sakaki Town, every year they put on an Antique Hina Doll Festival. This year's event is scheduled to run from 20-March (Fri) to 06-May (Wed). They often have Taguchi-sensei, a Hina Doll scholar, come for a talk, and this year he once again stayed at Kamesei. According to the sensei, northern Nagano is at a sort of crossroads between Tokyo and Kyoto, and our local Hina dolls were influenced by both sides for a style unique to this area. Taguchi-sensei actually started out researching Western doll culture. He mentioned that when he saw our Misaki playing with her Ju-chan doll. Ju-chan is named after Grandma Judi who kept the doll from when she played with it as a child. Grandma initially kept it to give to her daughter, but for better or worse she only had my two brothers and I. So she waited for a granddaughter. She finally got one in Misaki, but here in far-away Japan. Even so, Grandma still gave Misaki her treasured doll.

I wonder if Hina dolls have such memories attached to them.

坂城古雛まつりの詳しくはこちらClick here for details on Sakaki's Antique Hina Doll Festival

戸倉上山田温泉の亀清旅館のHPはこちらClick here for the website of Kamesei Ryokan in Nagano.

亀清の真前は衣料品のべに屋です。斉藤おじさんはお店の周りの庭をうんと綺麗にしています。その中で、このボケの木が咲いてきました。ピンクの色と後ろの石は綺麗なコントラストになっています。あんずと桜の花は後１ヶ月ちょっとですけど、取り敢えずこのボケの花を楽しめます。

Across the road from Kamesei is the clothing shop Beniya. Saitoh-san takes really good care of the garden surrounding the store. Right now, his "boke" tree is in bloom. Its pink blossoms make a starking contrast with the stones behind it. Anzu (apricot) and cherry blossoms are still over a month away, but for now we can enjoy these boke blossoms.

戸倉上山田温泉の亀清旅館のHPはこちらClick here for the website of Kamesei Ryokan in Nagano