TRG Info and Advice

“Japan has four beautiful seasons!”
“Japan has four distinct seasons.”
“Japan has interesting seasonal changes!”

You have probably heard or read these catchphrases about Japan. And, did you not think that other countries also have four distinct seasons just as beautiful? Indeed, seasons in the countries located in the temperate regions are quite similar to those in Japan. However, it is fair to say that Japanese culture is deeply in-tune with nature, and therefore, even extremely subtle changes in the seasons are recognized, and even celebrated, making calendars in Japan a bit more complicated. The four regular seasons are subdivided into twenty-four seasons called Nijushi-sekki (24 solar terms), each of which is further separated into three for a total of seventy-two microseasons (Shichijuni-ko or 72 pentads). The 24 Sekki and 72 Ko are closely related to the old Japanese calendar, which dates back to the age of the samurai.

The Twenty-Four Solar Terms were imported from ancient China (China’s 24 Solar Terms have recently been inscribed on UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritages), and took root in Japan in the late 6th century. This system originated in the areas along the Yellow River, and this is why there seem to be gaps between the seasons indicated by the Terms, and what we actually feel in Japan. As a result, Zassetsu were invented to complement the solar terms and specifically identify Japan’s unique seasonal changes. Many of those supplementary solar terms are related to agriculture. For example, one of them indicates the period when less frost forms (Hachijuhachiya: the eighty-eighth night from the vernal equinox), and another indicates the periods when typhoons are coming (Nihyakutoka and Nihyakuhatsuka: the two-hundred-tenth day, and the two-hundred-twentieth day, respectively, from the vernal equinox). This information is important when considering the time frames for seeding and harvesting. Zassetsu include Setsubun and Higan, which are recognized with events and traditional activities even today (we will introduce you to the details of these in the next article about annual events in Japan).

The Shichijuni-ko (seventy-two pentads), as mentioned earlier, indicate the solar terms of the seasons. One solar term lasts about fifteen days, and is split into three sections of five days each, adding up to seventy-two. The 72 Ko depict subtle changes within the seasons, observed from the surrounding natural phenomena, including weather, and the growth and behavior of plants and animals. The Shichijuni-ko are also derived from ancient China, but adjusted to fit the climate of Japan, and the ones currently referred to were established in 1874.

Not many people are familiar with the Shichijuni-ko, but 24 Sekki and Zassetsu are still in use to express the changes in seasons. For example, we often hear “Risshun (Beginning of Spring)” and “Keichitsu (Insects Awakening)” in weather forecasts. Even now, every February the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan sets the official dates for the following year’s solar terms and Zassetsu.

For Part 2 of this article, please click here.

• ・Annual Events and Folklore Customs Part 1
• ・Annual Events and Folklore Customs Part 2
• ・Wagashi: Traditional Japanese Confectionery that Delights the Senses
• ・Three Themes of Autumn in Japan
• ・Winter in the Land of the Rising Sun: Eat, Ski and Soak
• ・Gearing Up for Summer in Japan, Part 1 Country vs City
• ・Gearing Up for a Japanese Summer, Part 2 Food and Festivals