I have been seeing the pines in the store since the other day.

It reminds me of my late father who selected the pine trees at my parents’ house… I had no interest in them, but I wonder how he pruned them… I sometimes wonder now if I should have listened to him more carefully. Today’s tweet is about “Matsu.

The other day, I ordered a set meal at a soba (buckwheat noodle) restaurant, and as usual, it was ranked on a scale of “pine,” “bamboo,” and “plum” (shohtakubai). The other day, I chose “bamboo” instead of “pine,” and it seems that there are many people who have such extreme aversiveness (a psychological tendency to choose the middle to avoid the possibility of loss due to extreme choices).

It is said that the “Matsu, Take, and Ume” are often used in restaurant menus and the like, with the intention of allowing customers to order without hesitation by using “Matsu, Take, and Ume” for “Tokujo, Jojo, and Nami,” and it is also said to be a pun on the long wait at an eel restaurant, “Wait (Matsu) only (Take) Ume (Ume) E”. It is also said to be a pun on the long wait at an eel restaurant.

The origin of the words “pine,” “bamboo,” and “plum” is that pine trees are evergreen and keep their green leaves even in winter, symbolizing “longevity and longevity,” bamboo is a plant that is hard to break and symbolizes “growth and vitality,” and plum trees bloom beautiful flowers in spring even when they are so old that moss is growing on them, symbolizing “longevity and nobility. Pine, bamboo, and plum are all used as words of good fortune. They have been used as good luck charms since the Heian period (794-1185), but why was “Matsu” usually given the highest rank when divided into three grades?

There are various theories, but one theory is that it is because it is a good word. Certainly, “bai chikumatsu” and “chikubai shou” do not fit well, but this may be a matter of habituation. There are also various theories, such as “pine trees are said to be eaten by hermits, so they became the highest class” or “the order of pine trees was established as something auspicious,” but all theories agree that originally there was no pecking order among pine, bamboo, and plum trees. There are also various theories about the order of the history in which they came to be treated as lucky charms, with pine trees dating from the Heian period (794-1185), bamboo from the Muromachi period (1333-1573), and plum from the Edo period (1603-1868).

It is hard to order “Nami” at sushi restaurants even if you are hungry, and it can be said that the Matsu, Take, and Ume grades were assigned in consideration of such consumers’ mentality. However, the “Matsu, Take, and Ume” ranking is a blessing for me as a commoner.

But I am grateful for the rank of “Matsu, Bamboo, and Ume” because I am a commoner. I would like to order “Matsu” in a loud voice.

Have a good day.