In February the season words pass from winter to spring at Risshun, the Beginning of Spring (around 4 February). Until Setsubun, the day before, choose the words of winter, and from Risshun the words of early spring; after Usui, Rain Water (around 19 February), come words of melting snow and of buds.
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
- 春近しWinter
- Spring is near haru chikashi A word of late winter for the feeling that spring is just around the corner.
- 春立つSpring
- Spring begins haru tatsu Risshun, the Beginning of Spring, around 4 February; by the calendar, spring starts on this day.
- 寒明Spring
- The end of the cold kan ake The end of kan no uchi, the cold season, as Risshun, the Beginning of Spring, arrives; a word that feels a brightness within the cold.
- 春浅しSpring
- Spring is still young haru asashi The time when spring has come but the cold lingers, and the signs of spring are not yet all in place.
- 余寒Spring
- Lingering cold yokan The cold that lingers after Risshun, the Beginning of Spring; the word is often used in the greeting that opens a letter.
- 冴返るSpring
- The cold returns saekaeru The cold coming back once more, just as spring was beginning to grow warm.
Sky and weather 天文
- 東風Spring
- The east wind kochi The wind that blows from the east in spring; it is said to announce the end of winter and to bring the plum trees into flower.
- 春の雪Spring
- Spring snow haru no yuki Snow that falls after spring has begun; it is wet, and even where it settles it soon melts.
- 春一番Spring
- The first spring gale haru ichiban The first strong southerly wind of the year after Risshun, the Beginning of Spring.
- 霞Spring
- Spring haze kasumi The way the fields and hills of spring look soft and blurred through fine droplets and dust; at night the same haze is called oboro. 春なれや名もなき山の薄霞BashōIt is spring — / on a hill without a name, / a thin haze
Land and water 地理
- 雪解Spring
- Snowmelt yukige The lying snow melting in spring, when rivers and rice fields brim with meltwater. 雪とけて村一ぱいの子ども哉IssaThe snow melts, / and the village is full / of children
- 薄氷Spring
- Thin ice usurai The thin ice that forms on ponds and puddles on cold mornings in early spring, and melts as soon as the sun touches it.
- 残雪Spring
- Lingering snow zansetsu Snow that stays on the mountain tops and in shady places after spring has come.
Daily life 生活
- 野焼Spring
- Burning the fields noyaki Burning the dead grass of the fields in early spring, so that its ash feeds the soil and the new grass comes up.
Observances 行事
- 節分Winter
- The eve of spring setsubun The day before Risshun, the Beginning of Spring, when beans are thrown to drive out demons and welcome the spring.
- 豆撒Winter
- Bean throwing mamemaki On the night of Setsubun, the eve of spring, beans are scattered with the words "Demons out, good fortune in" to drive away evil.
- 初午Spring
- The first Day of the Horse hatsuuma The first Day of the Horse in February, by the old cycle of twelve day-signs, when festivals are held at Inari shrines across the country.
- 針供養Spring
- A memorial for needles hari kuyō Around 8 February, broken needles are stuck into tofu or konnyaku and given a memorial service, with a prayer for skill in sewing.
- バレンタインの日Spring
- Valentine's Day barentain no hi 14 February, known in Japan as a day for giving chocolate and other presents to the people one is close to.
Animals 動物
- 鶯Spring
- Japanese bush warbler uguisu A small bird whose song, "hō-hokekyo", is heard in early spring; as the bird that announces spring it is also called harutsugedori, the spring-telling bird. 鶯や餅に糞する縁の先BashōA bush warbler — / leaving droppings on the rice cakes / at the veranda's edge
- 猫の恋Spring
- Cats in love neko no koi In early spring, cats in their season of love calling for a mate, night and day. 猫の恋やむとき閨の朧月BashōWhen the cats in love / fall quiet, in the bedroom / the hazy moon
- 白魚Spring
- Icefish shirauo A small, see-through fish that swims up the rivers in early spring, enjoyed as a taste of spring.
Plants 植物
- 梅Spring
- Plum blossom ume The blossom that opens in early spring ahead of all other flowers; poets have long written of its scent as well. 梅が香にのつと日の出る山路かなBashōInto the scent of plum / all at once the sun comes up — / the mountain path
- 椿Spring
- Camellia tsubaki A tree with red or white flowers in spring, known for the way its flowers drop to the ground whole. 赤い椿白い椿と落ちにけりHekigotōA red camellia / and a white camellia / have fallen
- 下萌Spring
- New grass under the old shitamoe In early spring, new shoots of grass coming up from under the dead grass.
- 猫柳Spring
- Pussy willow nekoyanagi A willow that bears soft, silver catkins by the water in early spring; its Japanese name, cat willow, comes from their likeness to a cat's tail.
- 蕗の薹Spring
- Butterbur buds fuki no tō The flower buds of the butterbur, which push up through the soil as the snow melts in early spring; their gentle bitterness is enjoyed as a taste of spring.
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.
