January's season words are the words of the New Year, from New Year's Day through the days while the New Year pines stand at the gate, together with the words of the end of winter. The cold season begins at Shōkan, the Lesser Cold (around 5 January), and around Daikan, the Greater Cold (around 20 January), come the words of the coldest time of the year.
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. The old haiku are by poets of the Edo period to the Taishō era; the English versions are ours, kept close to the Japanese.
The season 時候
- 初春New Year
- First spring hatsuharu A word that celebrates the New Year: in the old calendar the year and the spring began at nearly the same time.
- 去年今年New Year
- The old year, the new year kozo kotoshi A word for the night the year turns, when one feels last year and this year passing by as one unbroken stretch of time.
- 元日New Year
- New Year's Day ganjitsu The first day of the year, 1 January; its morning is also called gantan. 元日や手を洗ひをる夕ごころAkutagawa RyūnosukeNew Year's Day — / washing my hands / in the mood of evening
- 松の内New Year
- The days of the New Year pines matsu no uchi The days while the kadomatsu, the New Year decorations of pine and bamboo, stand at the gate: in most places until 7 January, in some regions until the 15th.
- 寒の入りWinter
- The start of the cold season kan no iri The day of Shōkan, the Lesser Cold; the thirty or so days from then until Setsubun, the eve of spring, are called kan no uchi, the cold season.
- 大寒Winter
- The Greater Cold daikan One of the twenty-four solar terms, which divide the year by the sun's course; it falls around 20 January, the time of the year's harshest cold.
- 寒しWinter
- Cold samushi The cold of winter itself, from a chill that goes to the bone to a loneliness of the heart. 塩鯛の歯ぐきも寒し魚の店BashōSalted sea bream, / even the gums are cold — / the fish shop
- 日脚伸ぶWinter
- The days grow longer hiashi nobu A word for the weeks after the winter solstice, when one feels the daylight lengthen a little more each day.
- 春待つWinter
- Waiting for spring haru matsu A word of late winter for longing, in the cold, for spring to come.
Sky and weather 天文
- 初日New Year
- The first sunrise hatsuhi The 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.
- 初空New Year
- The first sky hatsuzora The sky of New Year's Day; clear or cloudy, people look up at it as the sky of the new year.
- 寒月Winter
- The cold moon kangetsu The moon shining clear in the winter night sky, its light cold and pure. 寒月や門なき寺の天高しBusonThe cold moon — / above the gateless temple / the sky is high
- 吹雪Winter
- Blizzard fubuki Snow driven by a fierce wind, falling so thick that nothing around can be seen. 宿かせと刀投出す吹雪哉Buson"Give me lodging," / he throws down his sword — / the blizzard
Land and water 地理
- 寒の水Winter
- Water of the cold season kan no mizu Water drawn during kan no uchi, the coldest weeks of the year; it is said to keep fresh, and has long been used for brewing sake and for making medicines.
Daily life 生活
- 初夢New Year
- The first dream hatsuyume The first dream of the new year, usually the dream of the night of the first or the second of January.
- 書初New Year
- The first calligraphy kakizome Taking up the brush for the first time in the new year to write auspicious words or poems; by custom it is done on 2 January.
- 雑煮New Year
- Rice cakes in broth zōni A soup cooked with rice cakes at New Year; the shape of the rice cakes and the taste of the broth differ from region to region.
- 探梅Winter
- Looking for plum blossom tanbai Walking the fields and hills at the end of winter in search of early plum blossom.
Observances 行事
- 七草New Year
- The seven herbs nanakusa The custom of chopping the seven herbs of spring on the morning of 7 January and cooking them in rice porridge, as a wish for a year free of illness.
- 鏡開New Year
- Opening the mirror cakes kagamibiraki Around 11 January the kagami mochi, the round rice cakes offered at New Year, are taken down, broken into pieces and eaten in sweet red-bean soup or in zōni, rice cakes in broth.
- どんど焼New Year
- The New Year bonfire dondoyaki A fire festival around Koshōgatsu, the Little New Year in mid-January, to which people bring their pine decorations, straw rope ornaments and first calligraphy to be burnt.
Animals 動物
- 寒雀Winter
- Sparrows in the cold kansuzume Sparrows in the coldest weeks of the year; puffed up against the cold, they are also called fukura suzume, plump sparrows.
Plants 植物
- 福寿草New Year
- Amur adonis fukujusō A yellow flower grown in pots for New Year; for its happy name, which means good fortune and long life, it is also called ganjitsusō, the New Year's Day flower.
- 寒椿Winter
- Winter camellia kantsubaki Camellias that flower in the depth of winter, loved for their red flowers seen among the snow.
- 水仙Winter
- Narcissus suisen A flower of winter and early spring, loved for its white and yellow flowers and its clean fragrance. 水仙や寒き都のここかしこBusonNarcissus — / here and there / in the cold capital
- 冬木立Winter
- Bare winter trees fuyukodachi Winter trees standing together, every leaf fallen. 斧入れて香におどろくや冬木立BusonPutting in the axe, / startled by its scent — / the winter trees
- 蝋梅Winter
- Wintersweet rōbai A tree that bears yellow flowers like waxwork in the depth of winter, with a sweet scent.
The seasons follow the old calendar, as Japanese books of season words (saijiki) divide them. Around Risshun, Rikka, Risshū and Rittō, the first days of spring, summer, autumn and winter, one month holds the words of two seasons.
To count the sounds of a haiku, try the Haiku Sound Counter.
