December's season words are all words of winter. From Taisetsu, the Greater Snow (around 7 December), they speak of snow and of shutting oneself in for the winter; after Tōji, the Winter Solstice (around 22 December), come the words that close the year, such as the yuzu bath and the year's end.
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
- 師走Winter
- The twelfth month shiwasu The old name for December, a word that calls up the bustle of the year's end.
- 冬至Winter
- Winter solstice tōji Tōji, the Winter Solstice, one of the twenty-four solar terms, falls around 22 December: the day of the year with the shortest daylight.
- 冬の夜Winter
- Winter night fuyu no yo A long, cold winter night; the word also brings the quiet beneath the lamp.
- 寒き夜Winter
- Cold night samuki yo A winter night when the cold goes to the bone; a phrase that comes from the season word samushi, cold.
- 年の暮Winter
- Year's end toshi no kure The last days of the year, full of bustle and of looking back over the year. ともかくもあなた任せのとしの暮IssaWhatever comes, / all left to you — / the year's end
- 行く年Winter
- The departing year yuku toshi The year that is slipping away, said with sorrow at parting from it.
- 大晦日Winter
- New Year's Eve ōmisoka The last day of the year, 31 December, which is also the day of making ready for the New Year.
Sky and weather 天文
- 霜Winter
- Frost shimo The white that forms on the ground and the grass on clear winter nights, as the moisture in the air freezes.
- 初雪Winter
- First snow hatsuyuki The first snow of the winter, met with joy at the first whiteness. 初雪や水仙の葉のたわむまでBashōFirst snow — / until the narcissus leaves / bend
- 雪Winter
- Snow yuki The season word that stands for winter; with the moon and the flowers, it has been sung in poems since the earliest times. いくたびも雪の深さを尋ねけりShikiAgain and again / I ask / how deep the snow is
Land and water 地理
- 霜柱Winter
- Needle ice shimobashira On cold winter mornings the water in the soil freezes into columns that lift the surface of the ground.
Daily life 生活
- 冬籠Winter
- Wintering indoors fuyugomori Staying inside the house through the winter, out of the cold. 金屏の松の古さよ冬籠BashōThe pine on the gold screen, / how old it is — / wintering indoors
- 埋火Winter
- Banked fire uzumibi Charcoal buried in the ash of a hearth or a brazier, to keep the fire alive for a long time.
- 蒲団Winter
- Futon futon The bedding of winter, written of as what wraps the body warmly on a cold night. 蒲団着て寝たる姿や東山RansetsuWearing a quilt, / the shape of one asleep — / Higashiyama
- 煤払Winter
- Soot sweeping susuharai At the year's end, sweeping the dust and soot out of the house to make ready for the New Year.
- 柚子湯Winter
- Yuzu bath yuzuyu On the day of the Winter Solstice, a bath with yuzu fruit floating in it, said to keep colds away.
- 年忘Winter
- Forgetting the year toshiwasure A party at the year's end at which close friends gather to forget the troubles of the year.
Observances 行事
- クリスマスWinter
- Christmas kurisumasu The feast of 25 December that celebrates the birth of Christ; the night before is Christmas Eve.
- 除夜の鐘Winter
- New Year's Eve bell joya no kane On the night of New Year's Eve, temples strike their bell 108 times to drive away the worldly desires of humankind.
Animals 動物
- 鴨Winter
- Wild duck kamo Water birds that come from the north in winter and gather in flocks on ponds and lakes. 海くれて鴨のこゑほのかに白しBashōThe sea darkens — / the voices of the wild ducks / faintly white
- 鰤Winter
- Yellowtail buri A fish that grows rich with fat and is at its best in winter; yellowtail caught in the cold, kanburi, are especially prized.
Plants 植物
- 葱Winter
- Welsh onion negi A vegetable at its best in winter, indispensable to hot pots and soups.
- 万両Winter
- Coralberry manryō A shrub that hangs clusters of red berries in winter; its lucky name, "ten thousand gold pieces", puts it among the New Year decorations too.
- 枯木Winter
- Bare tree kareki A tree that has shed all its leaves in winter and looks as if it were dead.
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.
