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The custom of the winter solstice following the Edo period-The origin of Yuzuyu and the public bath culture-
Hello. I'm Hanes, an active correspondent.
December 21 is the longest day at night, the winter solstice.
On this day, you eat pumpkins, eat something with "n" to increase your luck, or get warm in Yuzuyu.
Even in public baths in Chuo-ku, yuzuyu is carried out every year during the winter solstice.
It has long been said that "If you enter Yuzuyu, you will not catch a cold", and it is said that the custom of Yuzuyu dates back to the Edo period when the public bath was established.
In addition, we hear that "winter solstice" was applied to "hot springs" and "yuzu" was applied to "melting".
This time, I would like to focus on Yuzuyu in order to survive the cold winter healthy and unravel the customs and public bath culture of Edo.
Kazuya Jinbo's "Ukiyo Bath-Edo no Sento" (Asahi Shimbun, 1977) described "Yuzuyu and Sotoyu" as follows.
「（...The day of the winter solstice is the day of the festival. It is a day when the sun begins in the shade, and the houses boil and eat porridge and pumpkins. In a public bath, yuzu-yu, which is made by slices of yuzu, was also fired. I took a bath to prevent a cold."
"The iris bath in May, the peach bath in summer, and the yuzu bath in winter solstice are a kind of herbal bath."
"It has long been called Itsukiyu or Itsuki Yabayu, and it is believed that it has medicinal properties. There was hot water boiled with leaves of trees and grass, but in the Edo period, commercial herbal bath began to appear in addition to public baths. In herbal bath he never brought a towel or a bran bag into the bathtub. Because I didn't change the hot water every day."
(I've heard about apple hot water, but Momoyu (leaf) was my first time!)
In addition, the "herbal bath and Regenerative Bath" of Nobuo Konno's "Edo no Bath" (Shinchosha, 1989) says "herbal bath is the sick bathhouseherbal bath, and puts it in a bath and boils it."
I'm worried about it as follows.
Itsuki: Plum (Enju), peach, willow, mulberry, cedar (Kaji)
Yakusa: Iris, Yomogi, Obako, Hasu, Onami, Nindo, Shimazuzura, Hakobe
In the Edo period, it was said that drying leaves and woodcuts and putting them in hot water would have the effect of longevity.
In particular, Kuko is said to have been a spiritual test of longevity for the elderly, and it is said that Kugiyu became popular.
The Shoguns set up medicine gardens in Edo Ushigome, Azabu, Kojimachi, and Koishikawa, and each daimyo imitated it and landscaping it.
However, since it is not easily available when it comes to medicinal herbs for the Shogun's family, it is relatively easy to obtain with citrons, ruffles, willows, udon, wormwood, radish leaves, buckwheat flour, pine needles, cedar leaves, rice bran, etc. It was done.
In this regard, Konno said, "Don't say it's true. It is said that cedar leaf hot water has a special effect on beef, and this is why cedar was used in hot water tanks and bathtubs. "
(Personally, I'm worried about the flower hot water (leaf).)
Although no clear origin of Yuzuyu was obtained from the literature referenced this time, Itsuki Yakusa, which is believed to have been a legend from ancient times (presumed to before the Edo period), along with Yuzu, contained irises and peaches, which are considered a kind of herbal bath, but did not contain yuzu.
Furthermore, in the Edo period, the history of Yuzuyu dates back to the Edo period, as it was said that the relatively easy-to- obtain yuzu was put in the hot water instead of the medicinal herbs used by the Shogun's family. You.
If you want to know more about public baths in the Edo period, senior correspondent yaz says, "Where is the first public bath in the Edo period? Why do you call the bathtub "to the world of Chuo-ku public baths" for the charm of public baths in Chuo-ku, please refer to the Chuo-ku town corner exhibition hall serialized article "To the world of public baths in Chuo-ku".
Today, the custom of Yuzuyu is fading.
Why don't you learn from the wisdom of your predecessors this year and enjoy Yuzuyu at home?
If you close your eyes, it will be a public bath from the Edo period....Maybe!