Ato no Matsuri, Eel Day
Ato no Matsuri, Eel Day
I found this fan.
I smiled when I saw it. It was like a pun.
The Japanese writing on the fan, 祭,is the kanji for matsuri, which means festival.
Since now is around the time for many summer festivals, I figured that the fan was probably dropped on the ground after a festival.
I remembered a Japanese expression I learned sometime back,
ato no matsuri, which means ‘after the festival.’
It’s used like the English expression “after the fact”.
To give an example of how this expression can be used, I want to tell you something about Eel Day.
Do you know about this unofficial national holiday? It is on a day in July, once a year, where many people eat eel for extra stamina in the summer. It happened to be this past Sunday, July 19. People wait on lines in some stores to buy eel that is grilled with a sweet soy sauce.
When I spoke to the editors of this site about posting something about this funny holiday, I realized that by the time it got here on the post, it would be too late. I abandoned the idea, for the reason that it would be after the fact.
Since I had just found the fan, it occurred to me that the two could work together. Eel Day, ato no matsuri.
Now that you know about both the expression, and the holiday, please don’t let it slip by for next year.
Happy Belated Eel Day to All!
And, there’s still time to enjoy a summer festival.
Enjoy!
JGY
Story by JGY from AIKAWARAZU LIFE IN JAPAN
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