We broke down and bought a kadomatsu for mom. I don't recall seeing this in my childhood, but then I was and still am pretty oblivious to things. Apparently putting out a kadomatsu during the new years is a long honored tradition in the islands.
I put it in mom's room to surprise her. After her initial, "You shouldn't have. It's too expensive!" she happily relocated it to our living room entrance.
I then looked up what the whole thing was about and got this from the Hawaii Midweek newspaper.
Oh dear! How do we burn green bamboo? I guess we've got until the 15th to figure that out. Then again, people in Hawaii are saying we need to burn it on the 8th!
What to do... what to do?
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| Kadomatsu with photo of Tiffany and Jonathan |
I then looked up what the whole thing was about and got this from the Hawaii Midweek newspaper.
Kadomatsu translates literally to gate pine, implying a guard for the house. In the Edo Period of the 1400s in Japan, giant pieces of bamboo were filled with water and sand, and placed at doorways in case of fire emergency. The first generation of immigrants to Hawaii made these symbols of the new year using ironwood branches and local bamboo.I found this article in the old Star Bulletin about the kadomatsu.
Bamboo symbolizes growth and strength, fresh pine represents long life and endurance.
"The bamboo signifies flexibility and the pine with its pointy needles represents power to protect the family," said Asakura. "It is bound with rice straw cording, representing the union of man with heaven and earth. There's a reason we do these rituals, it's strongly linked in the animism of the old Shintoism."According to Wikipedia, we're supposed to then burn it.
After January 15 (or in many instances the 19th) the kadomatsu is burned to appease the kami or toshigami and release them.Also from Wikipedia:
Toshigami (年神) is a Kami of the Shinto religion in Japan. The term consists of two Chinese characters, toshi (年 year) and kami (神), meaning a deity or spirit. Toshigami are thought to be deities of the year believed to bring with each New Year. Toshigami are also thought to be the spirits of ancestors.
Oh dear! How do we burn green bamboo? I guess we've got until the 15th to figure that out. Then again, people in Hawaii are saying we need to burn it on the 8th!
What to do... what to do?
A drop of paraffin should do the trick;-)
ReplyDeleteBetter late than never in learning well these old traditions.
ReplyDeleteIt's certainly beautiful. You did the right thing, giving her this lovely gift. But burning it? I look forward to hearing how that turns out! :-)
ReplyDeleteNice surprise for your mom. Happy New Year Kay. Sending you wishes for a blessed year ahead.
ReplyDeletetoo bad you don't' have a fireplace...lol! Lovely tradition.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the information. I'm sure when you learn how to burn it (doesn't your mom know?) you'll share the information with us :-)
ReplyDeleteThat is so nice for you to help your mom carry on her tradition....well worth the cost. I will be interested to hear how the burning goes.
ReplyDeleteAfter your post yesterday, I had to look this up. I found some great photos of Kadomatsu on Wiki. Thanks for sharing this. I too wondered how one burns green stuff. Should smell good. Dianne
ReplyDeletePS fun to treat Mom.
what a wonderful tradition, our Japanese friends family burn thiers but I think it must be difficult to burn reen bamboo, we hate burning green wood in our fireplace, you need a heavy ember base to burn green wood.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful gift for a lovely lady.Happy New Year to you and family, I guess your mum moved it to protect your home.
Lovely!!! However, it's so pretty that it would break my heart to burm it.
ReplyDeleteTry asking Mom how she burned the one we bought her years ago. OR you could wait until there's another fire somewhere and just throw it in...ceremoniously of course.
ReplyDeleteburn it in your grill by adding a lighter fluid to ignite it. This is a Japanese custom, not a Korean or Hawaiian one. HAPPY NEW YEAR, KAY!
ReplyDeleteI love visiting. I'm always learning something.
ReplyDeleteBTW
I was beginning to tidy up Christmas things, and hubby, who hasn't really had a great Christmas until he met me (2000!), told me he believe we should keep up the decorations until Jan 6th. He was Catholic. He's never done the 12 days of Christmas.
sigh
From 1993 when I divorced, until 2000, I had my kids with me the first week of the 2-week vacation, and then they went to their father's home. I disdecorated, as my late mom called it, when I felt like it!
Happy New Year!
Nancy: I just asked mom. Sigh. I'm sorry, but she doesn't remember. She says that you may have given it to her when they lived on Kaiki Street many decades ago and if so Dad burned it under the avocado tree. Since open burning is no long allowed, we can't do that. She says people used to also bring it to the temple to be burned, but she hasn't received any notification of that.
ReplyDeleteMom remembers well the things that happened before we were born. We brought her samma (fish) this week and she said she hadn't had it in 20 years. We had bought it for her a month ago, but she didn't remember. It's worrisome. Why can't she forget the horrors of the war years instead of having them plague her sleep?
This is why we take detailed photos of all our trips so she'll remember the good times clearly.
Kay - You are such a good daughter for your lovely Mom. Maybe her temple will know, or has a burning. Is there a Japanese consulate? Or one of the Japanese societies may know. The Kadomatsu is beautiful! Maybe you can make one next year. The one you got is far easier than getting a long bamboo piece and filling it with water and sand! Enjoy the new year. You have now educated many people and promoted peace amongst different traditions! DrumMajor
ReplyDeleteOh yes, forgot to mention: I had a maile leaf lei for years in my house, as they are supposed to provide protection. I got a new one, and I knew that using real greenery for hula and display was sacred, as we borrowed the item from nature. My hula friend said lei and adornments for hula performers are returned to the earth (ground or water) when they've been used. DrumMajor
ReplyDeleteBeautiful tradition but I'd hate to burn something so pretty.
ReplyDeleteKay, I love learning Hawaiian traditions old and new from you! Happy New Year to you, your Mom and Art (also the rest of your family too!)!!
ReplyDeletenice! Happy 2012!
ReplyDeleteGive Izumo Taisha on N. Kukui St. a call. They do take kadomatsu and other omamori items for proper burning in January.
ReplyDeleteA lovely tradition. I learn so much from your posts, Kay.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you and your lovely family.
I wasn't familiar with this..interesting...
ReplyDeleteThis is a classic case of how we take things for granted! Recently I too was investigating these guys. Costco had them on sale and Times Supermarket had them in the fridge with the other flowers. They are truly beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI was looking at them for different reasons. I'm not Japanese so it was more a cultural understanding thing.
As it turned out, it didn't fit the reason I was looking. But, I still think they're beautiful! Thank you for further elaborating on their meaning! I'm so glad Mom knew where to put it -- she remembers! What a wonderful Happy New Year!
I was unaware of the burn thing. Hmmm...
I'm glad you bought it! Learning about and practicing old traditional customs can be fun, and meaningful.
ReplyDelete