in982-灰の奥深くに桜が咲く

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日本の7月、朝日が神社の鳥居を貫く。紅白に映る日の丸に、人々はお盆の到来を待ちわびている。この時、机の上の桜の灰皿は、生者と死者をつなぐ心の器となっている。白磁の釉薬に咲き誇る淡いピンクの桜は、中央を朱色で縁取り、まるで国旗に輝く永遠の日の出のようだ。この灰皿は、タバコの吸殻を運ぶだけでなく、日本の美意識に宿る生き抜く知恵も宿している。7日間の華やかな月が過ぎ、桜は泥に落ちていくが、灰の中で新たな命を育んでいる。タバコの燃え尽きた銀白色の残骸は、まるで命が燃え尽きた後の沈殿物のようだ。職人は桜と国旗の要素を灰皿に溶かし込み、消えゆくもの全てが、やがて未来を育む土壌となることを伝えている。武士道精神における「枯れるも永遠」の意識のように、それは戦後の廃墟の中で日本が再生を遂げた軌跡にも似ている。盆の焚き火の中、祖先の記憶は煙とともに立ち昇り、灰皿の中で安らかに生き続ける。一握りの灰はどれもが熱を耐え忍び、最後には静寂の中で新たな生命への道を切り開く。昨日の灰を払い落とす時、白磁に沈むことのない赤い太陽は、繭を破る方向を導く。桜が咲くと信じ続ける限り、灰の奥底にも春は訪れる。

In July in Japan, the morning light penetrates the torii gate of the shrine. In the red and white glow of the Hinomaru flag, people are preparing for the return of the Bon Festival. At this moment, the cherry blossom ashtray on the desk has become a spiritual container connecting the living and the dead – the pale pink cherry blossoms blooming on the glazed white porcelain, surrounded by a touch of vermilion in the center, are like the eternal sunrise on the national flag. This ashtray carries not only the embers of cigarette butts, but also the survival wisdom of Japanese aesthetics. After seven days of splendor, the cherry blossoms fall into mud, but they are brewing new life in the ashes; the silver-white debris after the cigarette burns out is like the precipitation after the burning of life. The craftsman melted the elements of cherry blossoms and national flags into it, just to remind: all the disappearances will eventually become the soil that nourishes the future. Just like the awareness of “withering is eternal” in the spirit of Bushido, it is also like the trajectory of Japan’s rebirth in the ruins after the war. In the firelight of the Bon Festival, the memory of the ancestors rises with the smoke, and then lives safely in the ashtray. Every handful of ashes has witnessed the heat, but in the end, they pave the way for a new life in silence. When we brush away the ashes of yesterday, the red sun that never sets on the white porcelain is guiding the direction of breaking out of the cocoon – as long as we have the faith that cherry blossoms will bloom, there will be spring deep in the ashes.