陶器のすぎうら

こんにちは。三島の杉浦陶器店です。
今日は二十四節気の「秋分」。
昼と夜の長さが、ほぼ同じになる日です。
この日を境に、夜が少しずつ長くなっていきます。

秋分の日は、秋のお彼岸の中日でもあります。
お墓参りをしたり、おはぎを供えたり。
ご先祖さまを思う、静かな一週間です。
田んぼの畦には、彼岸花が赤く咲いています。

さて、この季節。
食卓の器も、秋の顔にしてみませんか。
夏に活躍したガラスの器や、白く涼しげな磁器。
それを少しずつ、土ものの器へ替えていきます。

土ものは、手に持つとあたたかい。
ざらりとした肌ざわり。ゆるやかな色むら。
秋の食材の色が、落ち着いて見えてきます。

たとえば、おはぎ。
小ぶりの豆皿に、ひとつずつのせてみる。
いつものおやつが、少し改まった一皿になります。
秋刀魚には、細長い長皿を。
尾の先までおさまると、見た目もすっきりします。
里芋や栗の煮物は、深さのある小鉢に。
冷めにくいのも、うれしいところです。

そして、まもなく新米の季節。
飯碗をひとつ、新しくしてみるのもいいものです。
手になじむ大きさ。口あたりのよい縁。
毎日使うものだからこそ、選ぶ時間も楽しんでください。

夜が長くなれば、お茶の時間も増えます。
厚みのある湯呑みで、ほうじ茶をゆっくりと。
器を替えると、季節の移ろいが、手のひらから伝わってきます。

杉浦陶器店では、秋の食卓に合う器を取りそろえています。
三嶋大社にお参りの際は、どうぞお立ち寄りください。

次回は「寒露」。
草の露が、冷たく感じられる頃のお話です。
それでは、また。

Choosing Tableware for the Autumn Equinox

Hello, and welcome to Sugiura Pottery, in Mishima, Japan.

In Japan, the year is divided into twenty-four small seasons.
Each one lasts about two weeks.
Today, we enter Shūbun (the autumn equinox).
Day and night are almost the same length.
From here on, the nights slowly grow longer.

This day falls in the middle of Higan (a week for remembering one’s ancestors).
Many families visit their family graves.
They offer ohagi (soft rice balls covered in sweet red bean paste).
Along the edges of rice fields, red spider lilies bloom.
They appear right on time, almost every year.

So, with the season changing, how about changing your tableware too?

In summer, Japanese tables are full of glass and cool white porcelain.
In autumn, people often switch to earthenware.
In Japanese, we call it tsuchi-mono, meaning “things made of earth.”

Earthenware feels warm in your hands.
The surface is a little rough.
The colors shift gently, never quite the same.
Autumn food looks calm and rich on these pieces.

Take ohagi, for example.
Place one on a small plate, called a mamezara (a tiny side dish).
A simple sweet suddenly feels like a special treat.

Autumn is also the season for sanma (Pacific saury), a slim, silver fish.
It is grilled whole, from head to tail.
A long, narrow plate holds it perfectly.

For simmered taro or chestnuts, try a small, deep bowl.
It keeps the food warm a little longer.

Soon, the new rice harvest arrives.
In Japan, this is called shinmai, and many people look forward to it all year.
Why not choose a new rice bowl to welcome it?
Find one that fits your hand, with a rim that feels soft on your lips.
You will use it every day, so take your time choosing.

As the evenings grow longer, there is more time for tea.
Try a thick teacup with warm roasted green tea, called hōjicha.
When you change your tableware, you can feel the season in the palm of your hand.

At Sugiura Pottery, you will find many pieces for the autumn table.
If you are visiting Mishima Taisha Shrine, please stop by.
We are right near the gate.

Next time: Kanro, the season of cold dew.
Until then, take care.

 

朝、庭の草に、小さな露が並んでいます。

九月のはじめ、二十四節気は白露に入ります。夜のあいだに空気が冷え、水蒸気が露となって結ぶ。その露が、朝日に白く光る。そんな景色から名づけられた節気です。

三島の朝も、少しずつ変わってきました。湧水の音が、夏よりも澄んで聞こえる気がします。庭先では虫の声。昼はまだ暑くても、朝と夕方には、秋の気配があります。

食卓も、静かに移りはじめる頃です。冷たい麺や冷やし鉢の出番が減り、汁物が恋しくなる。新米が届きはじめるのも、この季節。炊きたてのご飯から立つ湯気が、ふいに嬉しく感じられます。

白露という言葉から、白い器を思い浮かべる方もいるかもしれません。粉引の器は、白といっても真っ白ではありません。少し灰色がかった、やわらかな白。使ううちに、お茶やお料理の色をゆっくりと含んで、表情が変わっていきます。露をまとった朝の景色に、どこか似ています。

新米には、少し小ぶりの飯碗を。手のひらにおさまる大きさだと、ご飯の甘さがよくわかります。汁椀は、手に持ったときの温度が、夏の器とは違います。

湯呑みも、そろそろ厚みのあるものへ。ただ、冷茶用の薄手のグラスをしまうには、まだ早いかもしれません。しばらくは、両方を出しておく。そんな曖昧な時期も、この季節の楽しみです。

露は、日が高くなれば消えてしまいます。朝のうちだけの、短い白。

秋分までの十五日間。その移ろいを、器と一緒に。

Hakuro — Choosing Vessels in the Season of White Dew

In the morning, small beads of water sit along the blades of grass.

Japan divides the year into twenty-four short seasons, each about fifteen days long. They are called sekki (seasonal markers). In early September comes hakuro, written with the characters for “white” and “dew.” At night the air cools, and moisture gathers on grass and leaves. In the low morning light, those drops look white. The season takes its name from that sight.

Mishima, where our shop stands, is a town built on spring water. In September the sound of it seems clearer than in summer. In the evenings, insects sing. The afternoons are still warm, but morning and dusk belong to autumn now.

The table begins to shift as well. Chilled noodles appear less often. Soup starts to sound good again. This is also when shinmai — the first rice of the year’s harvest — reaches the shops. Steam rising from a bowl of freshly cooked rice becomes a small pleasure.

The word hakuro may bring white pottery to mind. Kohiki is a technique in which a dark clay body is coated with a white slip before glazing. The result is never a pure white. It is slightly grey, soft, a little uneven. With use, the surface takes in the color of tea and food, and changes slowly over the years. Not unlike a field of grass holding dew.

For new rice, try a smaller meshiwan — a rice bowl meant to be lifted in one hand while eating. When it sits in the palm, the sweetness of the rice is easier to notice.

A shiruwan, the lacquered wooden bowl used for soup, feels different from summer’s cold porcelain. Wood carries warmth to the hands rather than away from them.

Teacups, too, move toward thicker walls. Though it is still too early to put away the thin glasses used for chilled tea. For a while, keep both within reach. That in-between time is part of the season.

Dew vanishes once the sun climbs. A white that lasts only the early hours.

Fifteen days remain until shūbun, the autumn equinox. A short season of small changes — and vessels to meet them.