Susu-harai, which literally translates as "dusting off soot," is a traditional year-end ritual for exorcising the year's misfortunes and preparing for the new year. A haiku poem by Takashi Matsumoto goes: "While the house is being dusted/ People not involved escape outdoors."

While able-bodied family members worked busily around the house, the elderly, the infirm and the children were cooped up in a room or told to stay outside. Apparently, those who wanted to goof off simply made themselves scarce.

In the olden days, most households chose a sunny afternoon for their year-end housecleaning. Cold air would rush in from open doors and shoji sliding interior panels, cooling off perspiration. Some people must recall that sensation on their skin. Before the age of vacuum cleaners and store-bought cleaning detergents, people used rags, buckets, brooms and tawashi scrubbing brushes.

Kamenoko Tawashi is the brand name of a classic scrubbing brush. The product is said to have debuted exactly a century ago.

The small, U-shaped design, looking like the shell of a baby tortoise, or kamenoko in Japanese, was created in 1907 to fit snugly in a woman's hand. The Tokyo-based maker is celebrating the 100th anniversary of this invention. Until cleaning sponges overtook traditional scrubbing brushes, innumerable "baby tortoises" kept kitchens of the Showa Era (1926-1989) gleaming. The original tangerine-colored wrapping has not changed to this day, and it still proclaims the same product features--"all-natural material," "well-known comfortableness," and "quality first."

A colleague of mine, who loves mountain-climbing, swears by Kamenoko Tawashi as a wintertime must-have for scrubbing snow off clothing and mountaineering gear.

Unlike pristine snow on the mountains, the dirt and filth generated by our affluent lifestyle are quite nasty, even toxic. This requires us to be armed with chemically treated cleaning supplies, and Duskin Co. is a major supplier. Every year, the company invites the public to send in their senryu humorous haiku about year-end housecleaning.

One entry goes: "Kept saying 'tomorrow' every day/ To put off year-end housecleaning/ And now, tomorrow is New Year's Eve."

Even if it is done on the very last day of the year, there is significance in keeping up the practice every year. Years of accumulated grime could result in permanent discoloration.

This year, again, our country has been through a lot of unpleasant things we don't need again--food makers and distributors cheating consumers, the disappearance of pension records, people killing their family members, defense-related scandals, and so on.

It would be wonderful if all we need to clean up society and politics is our elbow grease, with help from a Kamenoko Tawashi.We should be prepared for the fact that there is no way for us to goof off.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 9 -END-(IHT/Asahi: December 11,2007)