Hello everyone. This is Iwasaki from the retail department.
How are you doing these days in the middle of the rainy season?
The seventy-two climates will change from today, and it will be the end of the summer solstice and half summer.
When half summer begins to grow.
When the medicinal herb called Karasubishaku grows, rice planting should be completed. Around this time, the blades of grass in Hangesho are also dyed white. 
Crows are brisk 
Where the spring water flows, the han-gesho is in full bloom.
At the summer solstice, the length of the day is about 5 hours longer than the winter solstice, making it the longest day of the year.
However, when it rains for a long time, the sun does not come out easily, and I feel the gratitude of the sun.
On the other hand, in the rice fields, the rice plants have taken root and are growing quickly.
By this time, rice planting had ended for all farmers. It's finally time to take a break from being busy.
The time when the farmers finish planting rice and take a rest is called hange (or shozu), and it is exactly the 11th day after the summer solstice. 
It is customary in Kansai to eat octopus. What does it mean?
It is said that they eat it with the wish that "the rice plant will take root in all directions like the legs of an octopus." 
Come to think of it, the ingredients that are said to be in season during the summer solstice are all good for health management in the summer, to relieve fatigue and prevent summer fatigue. Let me introduce you a little.
"Okra" has a sticky component that regulates the intestines and stomach.
“Loach” and burdock boiled in Yanagawa Nabe are traditional dishes that have been around since the Edo period, and are effective against summer fatigue! And the effect was very popular.
"Cucumber", this is also said to have been chilled with Edokko's ice sensation since the Edo period.
"Natsu solstice" is written as "coming to summer", and in fact, just before summer, the earth is very rich and moist, and the physical strength to overcome the hot summer is supplemented by the seasonal ingredients harvested from the earth.
We used to eat it naturally without knowing it, but in the olden days, the people of the past felt the subtle changes in nature and lived while sharing it with everyone.
It's time to thank those predecessors, as well as our fathers, mothers, grandfathers, and grandmothers who cared about our bodies and raised us with plenty of natural ingredients.
