歳時記の言葉 Vol.4 "麦の秋" / The seasonal words in Japanese haiku. Vol.4 "Mugi_no_aki"


「麦の秋」、「麦秋」は共に俳句の季語として「麦の収穫時」を指し、初夏を示すものです。
「麦の秋」は直訳すると"Autumn of barley"となります。一般的に、秋は多くの農作物の収穫期ですが、日本では、麦は秋に植えられ初夏に収穫されます。その点がこの季語の元来の意味で表現されています。私たちは麦自体を食べ物として扱いますが、同様に多くの加工食品の材料としても利用します。醤油、ビール、味噌などです。収穫が終えると、農民は稲の苗を同じ土地に植えるものです。
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"Mugi_no_aki" or "Bakushu" refer to "The time of the barley harvest " as seasonal words in haiku, and denote early summer.
"Mugi_no_aki" can translate literally into "Autumn of barley". Generally speaking, autumn is the time of harvest in many farm products. Having said that, barley is planted in autumn, and harvested in early summer in Japan. The point is expressed by the original meaning of this seasonal word. We have barley itself as a food, and also process the material into several fermented foods like, soy sauce, beer, "miso", etc. Following the harvest, farmers plant rice seedlings on the same fields. 

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