North Wind #ShirokumaLiteratureClub

It is written as 'North Wind' and read as 'Kitafu'. It is a local confection from the region where I live.

It is yokan (sweet bean jelly) dusted with powdered sugar, and there is no particularly special way to make it. While the versions sold at Japanese confectionery shops and souvenir stores claim to have secret recipes, when we eat it as a snack at home, we just take yokan bought at the supermarket and powdered sugar, put them on a plate, and eat it while coating the jelly.

Most of the women in this area love it; for example, my grandmother, who is 113 years old, can be found eating it before I even realize it.

Setting aside the joke that this is the secret to her longevity, my grandmother sometimes says with a serious face,

'Don't you ever forget, this is food for the gods.'

Of course, since my grandmother isn't eating Kitafu at that moment, I nod with a somewhat solemn expression as well.

'Even if I'm gone, don't you forget it.'

She says this with emphasis, but in reality, it sounds a bit muffled and indistinct. Her mouth, which has no trouble eating Kitafu, has completely weakened, but because I have heard it many times since I was a child, I understand it perfectly.

According to my grandmother, this Kitafu took on its current form after the war. When I asked more closely, it seems it was during the bubble economy, shortly before I was born. Feeling a bit disappointed that it had no tradition or anything, I looked at my grandmother, who then looked at me with an exasperated expression.

'Of course, you couldn't have eaten powdered sugar that long ago, could you?'

That is true. Besides, dusting yokan with sugar is, if anything, a luxury—or perhaps going too far.

Originally, it seems it was cooked glutinous rice packed tightly into a square wooden frame, like a measuring box. It was offered to the gods at festivals celebrating a good harvest.

However, there was a year when the glutinous rice crop failed, and it became impossible to fill the wooden frame completely. It is unthinkable now that we wouldn't have enough to fill a box, but in the old days, there were times when only a handful of rice would grow.

At that time, to make it look fuller, they put cooked beans at the bottom. They say everyone did it with a desperate heart, feeling terrible about deceiving the gods.

That deception was accepted by the gods. The following year brought a bountiful harvest, and many children were born afterward. Even in years when famine or disasters occurred in neighboring areas, this place remained unharmed. The gods, it turned out, liked beans better than glutinous rice.

How that eventually led to dusting yokan with powdered sugar is a matter of debate. According to my grandmother, it was already in this form when a long-established Japanese confectionery shop started selling it.

By the way, the origin of the name 'Kitafu' is also ambiguous. According to a conversation between my grandmother and her friend, the kanji characters seem to be phonetic, but they didn't seem to know the exact meaning either.

Recently, every region has been focusing on tourism, and this area is no different. Kitafu is sometimes featured on television as one of the main souvenirs.

Perhaps because of that, the variations have increased, such as dice-sized Kitafu that are easy to eat, or perfectly round, spherical Kitafu.

I have even seen pink, heart-shaped Kitafu being sold for Valentine's Day. I remember a young girl, who looked like a tourist, buying them with great delight. Well, for the sellers, perhaps it doesn't matter what it is, as long as it sells.

Eventually, a style called "Ima-Kitakaze" (Now-North Wind) appeared, which can be eaten by pushing it out with one hand. It is made to be softer than regular North Wind, and is designed so that it gets dusted with powdered sugar every time it is pushed out.

By the way, there is a proper way to eat this "North Wind." It is said that one must eat it while crying out loud.

This is because North Wind is food for the gods. For us to consume the food of the gods, there must be a corresponding reason. We must make the gods understand that we have nothing else to eat, and that if we do not eat the North Wind, both I and this child will die.

For that reason, we cry.

We eat it while sobbing and wailing.

Sometimes, we actually choke on the powdered sugar.

My elderly grandmother also cries vigorously. Well, in a sense, that might be the secret to her longevity.

"If we don't do that, we'll end up as a sacrifice to the gods."

This is also a story I have been told many times since I was a child. That is why, whenever someone in the neighborhood passed away, I used to think it was because they had eaten the North Wind without crying.

In reality, I have never tried it, so I do not know. I just feel like I have to do it, so I always eat it while crying.

This year, on Respect for the Aged Day, the residents of this area were featured on television for their rare longevity. Of course, the North Wind was also featured, and it seems sales have been growing even more since then.

The response to the tourism project has been good, and the region is very prosperous. Perhaps because we have become wealthy, the number of children has increased, and above all, very few people have been passing away.

My grandparents, my friends' grandparents, and even my senior colleague's great-grandmother are all still alive and well. Everyone loves the North Wind dearly.

However, I sometimes wonder.

Do the tourists who bought it as a souvenir, or perhaps the people who received it as a gift, know? Maybe there is an instruction sheet included. But would they believe such a thing?

Whenever I hear about someone dying young, I cannot help but wonder if they ate the North Wind.

(This story is a work of fiction.)

#ShirokumaLiteratureClub

I see the Shirokuma Literature Club everywhere and wondered what it was, so I thought I'd give it a try since it looked interesting, and this is what I came up with.
As I read the works of others, I started to feel like a complete fool, but since I went to the trouble of writing it, I'll go ahead and post it...