先日，地元の横浜へ里帰りした。晴れの日の日曜日。故郷の神社を清掃し，気持ちの良いお正月を迎えることが出来るように準備をすることにした。

A couple of days ago I came back to Yokohama, my hometown. It was a sunny Sunday and I decided to start making preparation for a prosperous New Year to come by cleaning the Shrine that is in my neighborhood.

◆神社の入り口にある鳥居を潜ると，赤い手すりの階段がある。毎年の祭の時は大きなお神輿をここから下ろすのだが，その左側に，折れた枝や枯葉がたくさん積み上げられていた。何年か前の台風のあとここに折れた枝を置いてからごみ捨て場のようになってしまい，階段の脇にたくさん生えているはずの水仙も枯葉の山に埋もれて見えなくなってしまっていた。

While passing the entrance delineated by the torii (gateway to a Shintō Shrine) there is a bright red banister. Every year during local matsuri we carry a big mikoshi down these stairs, but on the left side there were piled up quite a few bended branches and dead leaves.

Since a few years ago after the last typhoons this place has been considered as a dump and even narcissuses that we’re supposed to grow next to the stairs are impossible to see as they’re buried by a mountain of dead leaves.

◆神社を掃除するのはとても気持ちが良い。数年分の枝葉を階段の上にある竹林の奥まで運んで行くのは重労働だが，参拝に来る人たちに「ご苦労様」と声をかけてもらえることはとても嬉しく，やる気が湧いて来る。故郷にある春日神社は，1000年以上前からあるらしい。太古の昔からずっとこの場所に在り，守られて来た場所なのである。今を生きる我々は，過去から預かったこの場所を守り，次世代へ渡さなければいけない。神社を大切に，清浄な状態にしておくことは過去と未来に対する礼節でもある。

It makes me feel happy to clean the Shrine. It’s been very hard to carry dead leaves from bottom to top of the stairs in the furthest corner where there is a bamboo forest, but at the same time so much rewarding when people that came to worship were appreciating the effort by saying “Thank you for all this hard work”, it really gave me strength to keep going.

It seems that this Shrine called Kasuga Jinja that is in my hometown has been here for more that a thousand years. It’s been here since ancient times and it’s always been protected. We are living in this exact moment, we need to protect this sacred place that has been given to us from the past and hand it over to the next generation.

It’s good manners taking care of the Shrine leaving it clean for a link with past and future generation.

 

◆神社の敷地は広く，常に清浄な状態にしておくのはとても大変だ。神社にはたくさんの木が自然のままに生えており，枯葉や枝などはたくさん落ちる。枯葉が落ちていない事は，一見不自然だが，何も無い神社の地面には誰かの思いやりが敷き詰められている事がわかる。

Since the site where the Shrine is located is quite wide, it is not that easy to keep it clean. A lot of plants have grown naturally in the adjacent space, therefore many leaves and branches as well have fallen. At first glance it might seem forced, but we can truly understand this thoughtful feeling in an area where there is just this Shrine.

◆数十回の往復ののち，枝葉の捨て場だったところはすっかり綺麗になった。埋もれていた水仙も顔を見せ，緑がよく映えている。春になって花が咲き，通りすがる人の心を少し潤してくれるだろうか。お祭を大切にすることは，神社を，地域を大切にすることでもある。参拝に来る人たちが，もっと神社を，そして自身が住む町を愛する事が出来るように，先人が守って来た大切な場所をこれからもきれいにしていこうと思っている。

After a dozen times that I went up and down the stairs, this place that looked like a dump was beautifully clean now. Even narcissuses that once were buried could now appear with all their glory together with the green surrounding area.

With coming of spring and blooming of flowers when people will pass by I hope this lights a sparkle in their hearts.

Taking care of matsuri it means also to give importance to Shrines and local areas. I hope that when people come with devotion to worship they start to appreciate and love more the city where they live and their local Shrine. I believe that is fundamental to keep clean this important place that our predecessors guarded for us.