The season words (kigo) of Japanese haiku, gathered month by month from January to December. On each month's page every word has its reading, its meaning in English and a line on it, and many have an old haiku with an English version.
Our company renku circle (社内連句会) gathered these words month by month, to choose the season word of a renku's opening verse.
What a Season Word Is
A haiku names its season with one word, its kigo (季語). The word carries the season with it: a reader of 寒月 (kangetsu), the winter moon, feels the cold of the night without being told. Japanese poets look such words up in a saijiki (歳時記), a book of season words arranged by season and, within it, by kind: the season itself, the sky and weather, land and water, daily life, observances, animals and plants. This list keeps that order, month by month.
The renku, the linked verse that haiku grew out of, opens with a verse of the season in which it is written. That is why our circle gathered the words by month.
How to Use It
- Open a month. The month you are writing in, or the month of the scene you want to catch. The seasons follow the old calendar, so spring begins in early February.
- Find a word for what you see. The words are grouped as books of season words group them: the season itself, sky and weather, land and water, daily life, observances, animals and plants. Each has its reading, its meaning and a line on it.
- Write, and count. Read the old haiku that use the word, then write your own and count it with the Haiku Sound Counter.
Examples
A word of each season, as its month's page gives it.
- 初日New Year · January
- The first sunrise hatsuhiThe sun that rises on the morning of New Year's Day; the custom of going out to watch it rise and bow to it is called hatsuhi no de.
- 桜Spring · April
- Cherry blossom sakuraThe flower that stands for spring in Japan, in many kinds, among them the wild mountain cherry and the Somei Yoshino.
- 蛍Summer · June
- Firefly hotaruAn insect that flies quietly to and fro by the water on early summer nights, its light flickering on and off.
- 月Autumn · September
- Moon tsukiIn haiku, "moon" said alone means the moon of autumn, held to be the clearest and loveliest of the year.
- 時雨Winter · November
- Winter shower shigurePassing showers in early winter that come and go again and again; those of the Kitayama hills north of Kyoto are well known.
- 雪Winter · December
- Snow yukiThe season word that stands for winter; with the moon and the flowers, it has been sung in poems since the earliest times.
Season Words by Month
- JanuaryNew Year and Winter
- FebruaryWinter and Spring
- MarchSpring
- AprilSpring
- MaySpring and Summer
- JuneSummer
- JulySummer
- AugustSummer and Autumn
- SeptemberAutumn
- OctoberAutumn
- NovemberAutumn and Winter
- DecemberWinter
Questions People Ask
Does every haiku need a season word?
A haiku in the Japanese tradition has one, and many poets keep to it. A senryū, which has the same five, seven and five sounds but looks at people rather than the seasons, needs none, and many haiku written in English have none either.
Why does the moon mean autumn?
In Japanese poetry the moon on its own, 月 (tsuki), is the moon of autumn, when the air is clear and the moon is at its brightest; the harvest moon of the eighth month of the old calendar is its height. The moon of the other seasons is named with its season: the hazy moon of spring, the cold moon of winter.
Why are the seasons different from the calendar?
Season words follow the old calendar, whose seasons begin with Risshun, Rikka, Risshū and Rittō, around 4 February, 6 May, 8 August and 7 November. So the plum blossom of February is a word of spring, and early August is already autumn.
What is a saijiki?
A book of season words, arranged by season and then by kind: the season itself, sky and weather, land and water, daily life, observances, animals and plants, each word with its meaning and haiku that use it. Large saijiki hold many thousands of words; our circle’s list holds the few hundred it uses most, by month.
Can I use these words in an English haiku?
Yes. Many poets writing in English use season words in translation, such as cherry blossom, autumn rain or the first snow, and the English names on these pages can serve. A word keeps its season in a poem only when the reader knows it, so a plain image of the season works as well.
