Himehajime - Himehajime

Japanese: 姫始 - ひめはじめ

One of the calendar notes written in the calendar of the Edo period. In many calendars, such as the Jokyo calendar, the second day of the New Year is written in kana as "hime hashime," along with other dates such as "kissho hajime" (beginning of writing a good book) and "hakatame" (teeth hardening). This has led to the use of Chinese characters such as "hime hashime" (flying horse) or "hime hashime" (fire and water), giving rise to various interpretations such as the beginning of horse riding and the beginning of using fire and water. There is also a theory that this is the day when women start sewing as "onna-gi hajime," or that it is the day when men and women have their first sexual encounter of the year. In particular, the popular belief that this is the day when men and women start engaging in secret affairs (himegoto) is widely accepted, and is often featured in literature of the Edo period.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

江戸時代の暦に記されていた暦注の一つ。貞享暦など多くの暦には，吉書始，はかため(歯固め)などとともに，正月2日の欄にかなで〈ひめはしめ〉と注されていた。そのためこれに飛馬（ひめ）始め，火水（ひめ）始めなどの漢字をあて，馬の乗始め，火水の使始めなどと解するなど諸説が生じた。女伎始めとして女性が裁縫始めとする説や，男女がその年最初の交わりをなす日だとする説もある。とくにこの男女の秘事（ひめごと）を始める日という俗説が一般に通用し，江戸時代の文芸などにもしばしばとりあげられている。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

<<: Ichneumon wasp (princess wasp) - Ichneumon wasp

>>: Polygala - Polygala