開封され、プラスチックの袋に戻され放置されている”御仏前”封筒…。私が察するに、母国の友人へ手紙を書いたあかりのゲストが封筒を探しにすぐ裏にあるナガサキストアへ（ナガサキストアの値札あり）。「しぶい和風の封筒だ！」とちょっと高いけど買って宿に戻り開封すると・・・・「あれ？！これ、封筒じゃないぞ！」と。使い方が分からないのでリビングで誰か他の人が使ってくれるかな、と放置してみた。
という感じでしょうか？
でも・・・そうですよね。こんな習慣は日本だけでしょう。かっこいい和風の封筒に見えますよね。
世界各国からゲストの集まるあかりでは日々おもしろいことが起こっています。
This morning, I found one interesting envelope in our hostel's living room. I thought some of our guests bought this envelope to send a letter, but when he/she opens, he found out that it is not a normal envelope and left it in the living room.
Yes, this is a special envelope. Japanese will never use it to send a letter.
This envelope is called "Gobutsuzen" and this special envelope is used to wrap the condolence money for the person who has passed away.
But, we totally understand how our guest felt when he found this in the store. It looks just nice to send a letter in a Japanese nicely decorated envelope. So, don't worry! There are lots of things that you'll never understand in foreign countries. That's the way how you enjoy traveling to other countries, right?
