＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49) on X
(Reference) Original article in Japanese
・前栽の「高野槙」と「飛び石・沓脱石・手水鉢」にまつわる思い出話
The Kyoto townhouse where I lived as a child, built in the 1880s (Meiji 20s), had a “senzai（「前栽（せんざい）」）” (front garden). This house was demolished 15 years ago when we built our new home, but it holds many memories.
1. Japanese Umbrella Pine (Koyamaki)
高野槙（こうやまき）
In modern terms, this large Japanese umbrella pine, a “symbol tree,” stood in the center of the senzai. Its roots, though partially exposed, spread throughout the entire garden. This tree was there even before our house was built in the Meiji era, meaning it had taken root here since the Edo period, witnessing the passage of time.
Thinking of this tree reminds me of Masaharu Fukuyama’s song, “Kusunoki” (Camphor Tree).
“My soul is rooted in this soil, never decaying, never falling. I live on this hill, on this hill, for hundreds of years, blown by the winds of time…”
Although some branches were broken during the Muroto Typhoon of 1934 (Showa 9), it has lived in this garden for over a hundred years, watching over the people who live in this house.
When the old house was demolished, this tree was also to be cut down, so my father poured sake at the base of this Japanese umbrella pine to express his apologies for cutting it down and his gratitude.
2. Stepping Stones（Tobiishi）
飛び石（とびいし）
There were about ten stepping stones in the front garden. Because of the dense trees, the full extent of them wasn’t usually visible. When we built our new house, I felt it would be a shame to throw them away, so I decided to reuse them as part of the approach from the south garden to the paving stones of the parking area.
I thought they were small stones because only the above-ground portion was visible, but when I dug them up, I found they were much larger than the above-ground portion. Stepping stones sold at home improvement stores like Kohnan today are flat, cut stones, but in the past, large natural stones were used.
3. Stepping Stone (Kutsu-nugi-ishi)
沓脱石（くつぬぎいし）
This is a large rectangular stone, which I also reused in the south garden.
4. Water Basin (Chōzubachi)
手水鉢（ちょうずばち）
Although it had been demolished when I was a child, there used to be a water basin at the toilet, which was located by walking along the front garden from the veranda of the tatami room.
Since it would be a waste to throw this away, we’ve repurposed it as an ornamental “tsukubai（「蹲（つくばい）」）” (stone basin) in the courtyard of our newly built house.
In this way, while we couldn’t preserve the living “tree,” the “stone” continues to watch over the people who have lived in this house for over 100 years.
I don’t believe in artificial “religions” at all, but I think I understand the “animism” that people in the past held in reverence for nature.
“Animism” is the idea that a soul or spirit resides in all things, regardless of whether they are living or inanimate. It was popularized in the late 19th century by the British anthropologist E.B. Tylor (1832-1917) in his book “Primitive Cultures.” Incidentally, he is called the “father of cultural anthropology.”