12 28 2020

Kyoto
Hayato & Mika Nishiyama from Mitate

京都の紫竹にある「みたて」。西山隼人さんと美華さんが「みたて」を始める前のこと、一年中色とりどりの洋花が並ぶ花屋で働いていたときに商業ベースの植物の扱い方に疑問を感じ、「うそのない、本当の季節を伝える花を扱いたい」という気持ちから生まれた花屋である。

“みたて”、つまり見立ては、茶の湯をはじめ、庭園や落語などさまざまな日本文化の中に息づく美意識のことを言う。ものを本来あるべき姿でなく、まったく別のものとして見立てることで、新しい価値を見出す。時に普段見逃しがちなものや時間、場所に対しての気づきを与える。それは例えば、割れてしまったお椀を花器に見立て、庭で採取してきた生き生きとした草花をいけ、四季を感じるというようなことに近い。

「みたて」では、毎年来たる新年に願いを込めてお正月飾りを制作している。西山さんご夫婦が、神社にお参りをし、山へ出向き、そこで採取してきた山野草などを”みたて”たお正月飾り。蓬莱山に登る龍を表す、縁起物の掛蓬莱（かけほうらい）、初夢に出てくると縁起がいいとされる富士山を、八十八本の稲藁で末広がりの形に仕上げた富士（ふじ）。そして歳神様を迎い入れるための依り代とされる門松（かどまつ）。

SHIHARA LAB（東京）、SHIHARA OSAKA（大阪）ではみたての正月飾りとともに、2021年を迎えます。皆さまも良いお年をお迎えくださいませ。

Back before Hayato and Mika Nishiyama opened Mitate in Shichiku, Kyoto, they worked at an ordinary flower shop, where they couldn’t help but wonder why the market carried mostly foreign species that were available all throughout the year. Mitate was born on a quest to create a flower shop that stays true to the passing of seasons.

The name Mitate, which roughly translates to ‘resemble’ or ‘symbolize’, refers to the sense of beauty seen in many Japanese arts such as tea ceremonies, Japanese gardens and rakugo. By showing something in a different context than how it is normally seen, we are able to discover new value and awareness of things, times, and places that may be overlooked otherwise. For instance, by picking seasonal lively plants and flowers from the garden and arranging them in a broken bowl in place of a vase, we are able to appreciate the season as we live through it.

Every year, Mitate creates a unique collection of Japanese New Year decorations as a way to usher in prosperity. Hayato and Mika visit the shrine before going into the mountains where they collect wild grasses and branches, which are then turned into decorations such as “Kake-Horai,” representing a dragon climbing Mt. Horai which is said to bring in good luck, “Fuji,” a composition of Mt. Fuji which is said to be auspicious when appeared in the first dream one has in the new year, made by 88 pieces of rice straws, and “Kadomatsu,” which is said to welcome the toshigami diety, from the Shinto belief that divine spirits reside in trees.

Shihara Lab and Shihara Osaka will celebrate the coming of 2021 with New Year decorations from Mitate. May the New Year bless you with health and happiness.