Preparing for the Future Body with My Children

Today, I went to make miso with my children.
Actually, my eldest son just loves miso soup.

Ever since he was in nursery school,
he was the kind of child who would ask, "What's in the miso soup today?"

Before I knew it,
I naturally started becoming particular about miso and dashi stock.
It's just a single bowl of miso soup,
but since it's something that goes into our bodies every single day,

I realized I couldn't just be casual about it.
We prepared 8 kilograms of miso this time.
Honestly...

This is beyond my physical limits on my own (laughs).

Crushing the beans,
mixing them,

kneading them,
and packing them.
Even though it's a simple task,
my arms and lower back are slowly starting to scream.

But watching the children chatting away beside me,
saying things like "Are we done yet?" or "What do we do next?"

strangely, the fun outweighed the exhaustion.
And something I secretly look forward to every time
is the rice balls that the miso teacher makes for us.

They are truly delicious.

"I want to let my children eat this, too."

That's the kind of flavor it is.

It's not flashy or special, but
it's a flavor that soaks gently into the body,
a flavor that makes you naturally relax and think, "Ah, this is delicious..."

I once heard a story like this.

"The nutritional value of vegetables is quite different now compared to before the war.
That's exactly why you should choose proper seasonings."

At that moment, it really made sense to me.

Our bodies
are truly made of "what we eat."

Especially the children's bodies,
which are the important foundation they will use for decades to come.

When I heard this story when they were small,
I thought, "This is the one thing I really want to be particular about."

It doesn't have to be perfect.
It doesn't have to be organic every day.

But,
for the "things that become the foundation,"
I want to choose properly within my means.

The miso we prepared like that
will surely, in half a year or a year,
quietly support our bodies.

Today's hard work
is a savings account for our future health.

Thinking that,
while rubbing my slightly heavy arms,
I felt strangely very fulfilled on the way home.