Today begins a new microseason! If this is your first time joining us, scroll down past the forecast to read about what exactly a microseason is. For the rest of you, let’s jump in!
The Current Solar Term: Usui
The current solar term (節気, sekki) is Usui (雨水), the 2nd solar term, which means Rain Water. We are one third in! It started Feb 19th. We covered it last time so go read there if you want more info.
Usui lasts until March 5th.
The Current Microseason: Mist and Haze rolls in
Today, Feb 24th, begins 霞始靆, the 5th microseason (候, kō) which is read kasumi hajimete tanabiku and means Mist and Haze rolls in. This is the second microseason of Usui, which is itself the second solar term of spring.
It is continuing to grow warmer. One consequence of the changing temperatures is that the air is filled with water drops, making mist. In Japan the mountains, which were so clear in winter, are now hidden behind this mist.
Seasonal Event: Three Cold, Four Warm
The beginning of spring is always very changeable; it can feel warm one day and cold the next. Last time I talked about haru ichiban, and how this brings warm are but then things turn colder as the cold air rushes back. This cycle of warm and cold is referred to as sankan, shion (三寒四温), or “three cold, four warm”. This phenomenon will last all spring, gradually becoming warm more often than cold.
Actually, this is another one of those things that Japan took from China (and Korea). As the Japan Wikipedia points out, it describes the weather over there better than in Japan, where things are a bit less definite. Even so, as an idiom for back and forth between hot and cold, it works well.
Here is a haiku for this microseason:
kaerimireba yuki-aishi hito kasumi keri
the person I just passed
disappeared into the mist
—Shiki
Shiki was perhaps being a little dramatic here, but the mist can come in pretty strong at night sometimes, especially (I’m told) in his hometown Matsuyama, in Shikoku. Before electric lights, one might imagine that the mist would have an even stronger effect than it does today.
Will move this info to another post one of these days, but for now, briefly:
- Each month has two seasons, called solar terms (節気, sekki), giving us a total of 24 seasons. This gives the system its name, the 24 Sekki (二十四節気). I usually refer to this entire system as The Japanese Almanac. It is more than a little similar to the American Farmer’s Almanac.
- Each of these 24 seasons is further subdivided three more times, giving us a grand total of 72 seasons, or microseasons (候, kō).
- Each microseason is about 5 days. With time periods so short, they can get pretty specific about what in nature we might expect to be happening around now.
- The system was originally from China, but it was reformatted during the Edo Era (1603–1868) to fit better with Japan’s climate. I find it also fits fairly well with much of the Midwest in the Eastern half of the US. But if you live in a different area, your milage may vary.
- The entire system is based on the equinoxes and solstices, so it is fluid and the exact dates will vary by a day or two from year to year. Luckily there are a great many Japanese sources that do the astrological computations for us and tell us exactly when each one starts and ends every year.
The next microseason starts on Feb 29. See you then for the next forecast!