Matsukaze for lunch

Today I had lunch at 松風 in Tomiku. まつかぜ! OK try ma-tsu-ka-zé. And I enjoyed it so much it got added to our dining page.

I started wondering about the name, which literally means 'Pine wind'. Yes, we all know kami-kaze (don't we?), but maybe not that it means 'God Wind'!

Anyway, I fell upon this wonderful image above

Ariwara no Yukihira and the two brinewomen, Murasame and Matsukaze", an 1886 woodblock print by Yoshitoshi

and a better translation of 松風 as

     'Wind in the Pines'

What I really didn't know was that it is also the name of a play. Now inside the restaurant the young owners seemed to like the arts, and so I'm guessing they may also know of this Noh play.

Of the image, well though Matsu can mean "pine tree" (松), it can also mean "to wait" or "to pine" (待つ). Matsukaze pines for the return of her courtier love!

All that from a quick drive and a curry for lunch. 

Wikipedia has four references on the word Matsukaze if you're really keen.