日報

[Sensoji]
I somehow knew there was a temple called "Sensoji" in Asakusa. I heard it was a famous temple. I always thought it had a name that sounded like "war."

Even when I visited "Asakusadera," I wondered where "Sensoji" was. "浅草寺" - no matter how you look at it, that's "Asakusadera," right?!

[Coriander]
One day, at a certain Chinese restaurant, I saw "Pork with Coriander Stir-fry" written on the blackboard. It seemed to be a recommended dish. Since I like ordering what the restaurant recommends, I thought, "Hmm, herbs. Is it a type of herb? That's unusual," and ordered it. What came out was a cilantro stir-fry. It was more like cilantro stir-fry with pork on top than pork with cilantro stir-fry; cilantro was clearly the main ingredient. Cilantro is bitter.

[Oyster Sauce]
Ever since I was a child, there were tonkatsu sauce and Worcestershire sauce in our fridge. I liked both. Is Worcestershire sauce a sauce made from oysters? It's quite similar to tonkatsu sauce for that. There's so much Worcestershire sauce in the world, so oysters must be caught in huge quantities in some country. I thought that until quite recently.

There was a time when I would use Worcestershire sauce when a recipe called for oyster sauce.

I wonder when Eho-maki really became popular in Japan. I don't remember it from when I was a kid.

Now, whether you go to a supermarket or a convenience store, Setsubun day is an "Eho-maki festival." It feels like the image of scattering beans has changed to one of "What kind of Eho-maki should I eat this year?"

By the way, this year's lucky direction is south-southeast, or more precisely, south-southeast by a small margin to the south. There's a YouTube animation that releases a song for Setsubun, and I was watching it and it said "south-southeast by a small margin to the south." Isn't it a bit too precise to specify "a small margin to the south" of south-southeast?

I didn't even know how the direction was originally determined, so I looked it up. It said: "Eho is the direction where Toshitoku-jin, the god who governs wealth and good fortune for the year, resides. It is determined by one of four directions each year." I see! So it was the direction where the gods were. And there were only four directions.

Furthermore, ancient compasses used 24 directions based on the Chinese zodiac, while modern ones use 16 directions based on the cardinal points. This means there's an angular discrepancy, and if you say south-southeast, there's actually a 7.5-degree deviation, which could reduce the effect by 1.7%!

More to the point, if I were a god, I'd probably say, "I won't give blessings to those facing the wrong way," so "south-southeast by a small margin to the south" seems quite important!

I'm still recovering from an illness and coughing, and I didn't feel like I could silently eat a whole futomaki, so I didn't do it this year. But next year, I plan to eat it while facing the correct direction.

Incidentally, in 2027, it will be north-northwest by a small margin to the north.

I had been laid up with an illness for a while, so it was my first shoot in a long time, and my hands felt a bit unsteady holding the knife.

I was laid up for four days. I thought I might not be able to cut properly after such a long break, but I managed just fine.

They say professional athletes take three days to recover from missing one day, so I wondered if it would take me 12 days to get back on track. But, for better or worse, I was completely unchanged.

There was one good thing that was different from usual: I wasn't as nervous. I usually get at least a little nervous when shooting, but today I felt none of that.

When I considered the reasons, I came up with two: "I was still feeling unwell" and "I was wearing a mask."

Since I wasn't feeling 100%, my movements were slower than usual, and my mind felt a bit foggy, but perhaps that actually worked in my favor.

Also, a mask is a bit like sunglasses; it creates a filter between myself and the outside world, which makes me feel a little calmer. It might also be that the mask helped regulate my breathing.

Although my spirits were low, the shoot went smoothly, which was a relief.

...I thought it had been a long time since my last shoot, but when I really thought about it, it had only been a week, which is normal! Maybe I just hadn't been able to do my usual activities. As long as you have energy, you can do anything.

I've been feeling sick since last week and spent several days in bed.
It's been so long since I felt this bad that I can't even remember the last time.

I really don't want to go to the hospital.
When other people get sick, I'm usually quick to urge them to go, thinking,
"If you don't take care of yourself, you can't take care of others,
so go to the hospital right now."
But when I'm the one who's feeling unwell,
I just keep quiet, hoping no one will tell me to go to the hospital because I really don't want to.

This time, though, I felt so bad that I knew I had to go right away, so I went to my regular doctor.
When I told them I had a fever,
they asked, "There's a possibility it's flu or COVID, would you like to be tested?"
After I replied, "Oh, of course," I realized there must be people who would rather not be diagnosed.

I really hate that stick-up-the-nose swab for tests; I'd almost rather just be declared positive without it.
But I was relieved because I knew this hospital recently adopted AI technology that can diagnose from photographs.

A little while later, a nurse came over and swabbed my nose with a stick.

"Why? Why?" I wondered while waiting, and then everything came back negative.
If it was going to be negative, I almost wished I hadn't gone through with it,
and with that irreversible regret,
I got my medicine from the pharmacy and spent a few more days in bed.

I'm almost completely recovered now.
I haven't been able to cook, so I'll start making meals again from today.

Taking a bath is a hassle.
But I've never regretted taking one.
Far from regretting it, it feels good, and
sometimes I wish I could stay in the tub forever.

I can't quite figure out why I find it so bothersome before I do it.
Is it taking off my clothes, the brief chill,
or drying my hair?
Well, all of those resonate a little, but
none of them are critical.
Maybe it's the accumulation of small things.

Cooking feels similar.
The moment before I absolutely have to start cooking to make it on time is when I feel the least motivated,
but once I'm cooking or it's done, I don't feel anything.

I also felt really sluggish before going to school or work,
so I vaguely thought that things are always most bothersome before you do them.
But then I remembered something I heard: "Motivation only kicks in after you start."

Right.
It's not so much that it's a hassle before I do it, but rather that
once I start, motivation kicks in, and the hassle disappears.
That explanation feels more fitting.

When you lack motivation, just do it without thinking.
I'm off to take a bath!

I once asked an acquaintance who owned many scarves, "You only have one neck, so why do you have so many scarves?" They replied, "You can never have too many scarves!" I don't know what dialect it was, but the answer conveyed strong conviction.

Huh. For a moment, I almost thought it was cool, but no, no. I just thought it was the cry of someone who'd bought too much.

Now, what I'm thinking is, "You can never have too many dishes!"

A meal isn't just about the food you've cooked; I believe whether it tastes good or not, or if you enjoy it or not, depends on various factors: the weather, your mood, how hungry you are, the company, the time, the light, and so on.

Among these, dishes are something I can control and have a significant impact.

Depending on the situation, whether you need individual portions or a large platter, something flashy or elegant, dishes can change the atmosphere with their color, shape, size, texture, and how they're arranged.

Of course, making the food taste good is important, but with the right dishes, you can make it look even better.

That's why, "You can never have too many dishes!"

I bet the scarf person would say "Huh." to me.