昨日は「どんど焼き」の日でした。松の内（1月7日）が過ぎて、不要になったお正月の飾り物や古だるまなどを一カ所に高く積み上げて焼くイベント。その火であぶった餅や団子を食べると、この１年無病息災で過ごせるそうです。また、書初めを燃やして、その灰が高く舞い上がると字が上手になるとか。近所の公園で「どんど焼き」が行われるというので、私も輪飾りとしめ飾りを持参でどんな感じか見てきました。
Yesterday was 'Dondo yaki' day. New Year's decorations (
kadomatsu or
shimenawa, etc) and good-luck charms are burned in huge fires. Rice cakes are toasted on the fire and eaten to protect against disease and illness. People burn their first Calligraphy of the New Year, believing that the higher the ashes rise, the more their writing will advance. There was a Dondo yaki ceremony in the park near our place, so I went there with our New Year's decoration. It was my first time to visit this ceremony.
