3 in 30 - 2002.01.06 Sunday
In addition to secular Christmas decorations, religious Christmas decorations, and notices of closures for the New Years holidays, we see New Years decorations displayed at doors and entrances. The whole symbolism of each of the elements has not been part of our lessons, but some of it can be deduced.
This bit of rice straw rope holding bits of ferns and folded paper I noticed on several entrances to parking areas—in this case a parking area for bicycles by an apartment building.
The pure white folded paper is often how prayers are hung from ropes, trees, bushes and other things. The fern branches may be symbolic of the anticipated spring and the rice straw rope circle and strands are multi-purpose. First, rice is a staple. Rice straw as a by product has served many useful functions for at least a couple of thousand years. It has made sandals, raincoats, roofs, ropes, packaging, padding, flooring, insulation, and even ceramic glaze, to name a few.
More elaborate is this decoration on the door front of a neighborhood sushi bar. Some of the same elements are included, rice straw and rope, ferns, folded white and red paper.
In addition to those elements, there is a paper fan as a background, some pine branch tips and a little plastic orange or tangerine. The pine as an evergreen—staying green throughout the winter—is symbolic around the world for the promise of a return to a growing season. Oranges and tangerines typically mature in the winter and are a reminder of the fruits of the summer and fall. This decoration is called shimekazari.
Also on this door is a message in kanji where the last character is year. Probably a “best wishes” and “we are closed.” The colored circles on the right side of the door are symbols that the owner has paid a subscription fee for the national public television stations.
The wealthier the resident or larger the business, the more elaborate and costly are the decorations displayed. This is one of two flanking the entrance to the Tachis manufacturing plant. Remember 6/18/2000?
This woman was taking pictures of her grandchildren in front of this display when I was riding my bicycle by. I took one picture of her and her grandchildren together with her camera and then took one with mine.
This decoration (kadomatsu) in this case uses a barrel covered with rice straw as its base. Bundles of rice was traditionally stored in woven rice straw and Sake (rice wine) in rice straw covered barrels. The pine boughs are much more numerous than in the door decoration. The vertical element is trunks of bamboo with the tops cut at an angle. Then it looks like there is some rice straw rope and bits of red berries to contrast all the green. New Year celebrations. New Year welcome.