杉玉
日本酒の醸造店の軒先には、スギの葉の穂先をボール状に束ねた杉玉（すぎだま）が吊される。緑の杉玉は新酒が出来たことを知らせる合図である。
A sugi-dama – ball formed from bunches of leaf tips from Japanese cedar trees – hangs from the eaves of a sake brewery. When a brewery hangs a green sugi-dama from its eaves, it is a signal that new sake has been brewed.
杉玉の発祥
森羅万象に神を感ずる日本古来の考え方に基づき、お酒の神様も奈良県の神社にて古くから祭られてきた。
酒造りの時期になると「今年もおいしいお酒ができますように」との願いを込めて杉玉が飾られたが、その風習が江戸自宅初頭から日本全国の酒蔵に広まったと言われる。
Based on the ancient Japanese belief that everything in the world is sacred, the God of Sake has also been worshipped at a shrine in Nara Prefecture since ancient times.
At the time of sake brewing, Sugi-dama were decorated with wishes for a good year’s sake brewing, and it is said that this custom spread to all the sake breweries in Japan from the beginning of the Edo period.
新酒の熟成を告げる杉玉
飾られたばかりの杉玉はまだ蒼（あお）いが、徐々に枯れて茶色に変わる。
この色の変化が人々に新酒の熟成の度合いを伝えている。
Freshly decorated sugi-dama are still green, but they gradually wither and turn brown.
This change in color tells people the degree of maturity of the new sake.