『芒種』(ぼうしゅ) 初候、蟷螂生(かまきりしょうず)

"Boushu" (Boushu) First season, Mantis life

From today, the twenty-four solar terms will change to "Boshu".

In the calendar manual "Calendar Handbook" published in Tenmei 7 (1787), it is written that "It's time to harvest grains with awns."

Nogi is a needle-like protrusion that appears at the tip of gramineous plants such as rice and barley when they ripen.

The meaning of ``earning'' in ``earning seeds'' includes the meaning of planting, cultivating, and cultivating.

At the same time, ``It's time to grow seeds with awns'' means that it's time to sow the seeds of plants with awns.

Manshu Rice Field

Kamakiri Shozu is the first season of "Mantis".

The main character is a baby praying mantis hatched from a mantis egg laid in autumn.

Why do praying mantises appear in the seventy-two climates that serve as guidelines for field work?

Praying mantises, which prey on pests that eat crops, have long been relied on as "beneficial insects (organisms that directly benefit human life)".

It is an ecosystem of living creatures that catch pests without touching rice and vegetables.

At the Gion Festival in Kyoto, one of Japan's three major festivals, there is a float called ``Tourouyama'', also known as ``Kamakiriyama'', which is the only karakuri device in which praying mantis raises a sickle and moves.
At the Gion Festival, the praying mantis is worshiped as a messenger of the gods with divine powers.

Gion Festival Mantis Mountain and Mantis Mountain

Gion Festival/Tourouyama

Also, this season is called ``the day of the beginning of practice,'' and since ancient times in the world of performing arts, there is a reason that if you start training on the 6th of June when you are six years old, you will become good at it.

When counting six on one finger, the number "6" is exactly where the little finger stands up, so it is said that "a child stands up" because it is auspicious.

Similarly, there is a legend from the Muromachi period.

Zeami's Noh guidebook ``Fushikaden'' states that ``in most cases, the first age for this art is at the age of 7.'' There was a passage that said to start.

“It is best to start practicing Noh theater around the age of seven. There are certain movements that children naturally begin to be good at. If you are careful, the child will lose motivation and "Noh" will stop. At this stage, do not imitate adults, and do not let them do anything other than the basics of Noh. "That's what it means.

"Don't force your child to do what he or she has set out to do, let them do it freely and freely."
This is a concept that is still relevant today.

For this reason, it is also a day for training, a day for musical instruments, and a day for ikebana, all of which are good days to start practicing.

It may be a good time to give them various experiences as an opportunity to expand their world.

It's the time to sow rice and wheat, and the time to start training.

Why don't you all start something?

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