in988-桜の結び目-すべてに光がある

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4月の東京では、桜が枝から無我夢中で散り散りになっている。人々は国旗の「日の丸」を永遠に消えることのない太陽に例えるが、昇る太陽を繋ぐ赤い紐――棕櫚の温もりを染み込ませた絹糸――祝賀行事の旗竿の先端や神社の祈願台には、幾重にも重なる結び目と、舞い散る桜の花が織り込まれている。桜紐の編み方は平安時代の結び方に由来し、七色の絹糸は幾重にも巻き上げられ、解くことのできない強固な結び目へと昇華される。武士が桜を死に向かって生きる精神的なトーテムとみなすように、一見脆く見えるこの結び目には、時を超えた粘り強さが宿っている。あらゆる曲がり角は運命の予兆であり、あらゆる巻き上げは勇気の重なりなのだ。願いを込めた木札を桜の紐に結びつける時、人々の胸をときめかせるのは期待だけでなく、無常を受け止める寛容な心です。桜が七日間の開花で永遠を象徴するように、国旗の紅白は動と静の中に国家の魂を刻みます。旗竿に結ばれた綱は、個人の理想と国家の運命を繋ぐ命綱のようです。春風が明治神宮の千本桜の間を吹き抜ける時、舞い散る花びらは舞い散る結び目と舞い踊ります。まるで、風雨にもめげずに結ばれた絆の中から、真の光が生まれることを告げているかのようです。

In April in Tokyo, cherry blossoms are falling from branches in a reckless manner. People compare the “Hinomaru” on the national flag to the sun that never goes out, but rarely pay attention to the red lanyards that hold this rising sun – those silk threads soaked in the warmth of the palms, on the top of the flagpole at the celebration and on the wishing stand of the shrine, with thousands of twists and turns of knots and the flying cherry blossoms. The weaving technique of the cherry blossom lanyards originated from the knotting craft of the Heian period, and the seven-color silk threads are repeatedly wound into an unsolvable solid knot. Just as the samurai regard cherry blossoms as a spiritual totem of living towards death, these seemingly fragile knots actually carry the tenacity that transcends time: every turn is a foreshadowing of fate, and every winding is a superposition of courage. When people tie wooden signs filled with wishes to the cherry blossom lanyards, what flutters is not only expectations, but also the open-mindedness of facing impermanence. Just as cherry blossoms interpret eternity in their seven-day bloom, the red and white colors of the national flag write the soul of the nation in motion and stillness. The ropes tied to the flagpoles are like the lifeline that connects personal ideals to the fate of the country. When the spring breeze blows through the thousand cherry blossoms of Meiji Jingu Shrine, the falling petals dance with the flying knots, as if telling: the true light is always born from the ties that have never been loosened in the wind and rain.