April is the month of late spring, and its season words centre on the cherry. Around Seimei, Clear and Bright (around 5 April), choose words of the blossom; after Kokuu, Grain Rain (around 20 April), choose wisteria, kerria and words of reluctance to let the passing spring go.
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
- 花冷えSpring
- The chill of blossom time hanabie A sudden return of the cold when the cherries are in flower.
- 八十八夜Spring
- The eighty-eighth night hachijūhachiya The eighty-eighth day counted from Risshun, the Beginning of Spring, around 2 May; it marks the time to pick tea and to sow seed.
- 行く春Spring
- Departing spring yuku haru Spring about to leave, with a heart reluctant to let the season go. 行春や鳥啼魚の目は泪BashōSpring is passing — / the birds cry, and in the eyes / of the fish, tears
- 春惜しむSpring
- Sorry to see spring go haru oshimu A word for the feeling of being loath to part with the passing spring.
Sky and weather 天文
- 朧月Spring
- Hazy moon oborozuki The moon of a spring night, blurred and soft in the moist air. 大原や蝶の出て舞ふ朧月JōsōŌhara — / a butterfly comes out and dances / under the hazy moon
- 花曇Spring
- Blossom-time clouds hanagumori The soft, thinly clouded, dull sky of cherry-blossom time.
Land and water 地理
- 山笑ふSpring
- The mountains laugh yama warau The mountains in spring, budding and in flower, looking as bright as if they were laughing.
- 苗代Spring
- Rice seedbed nawashiro A small field for raising rice seedlings; the seed rice is sown in it in spring.
Daily life 生活
- 花見Spring
- Blossom viewing hanami Enjoying the sight of the cherry blossom, long held to be the greatest pleasure of spring. 何事ぞ花見る人の長刀KyoraiWhat is this — / a blossom viewer / with a long sword
- 入学Spring
- Starting school nyūgaku Entering a new school; in April, entrance ceremonies are held all over Japan.
- 遠足Spring
- School outing ensoku A day trip, by a school or the like, to the spring countryside or a famous place.
Observances 行事
- 花祭Spring
- The flower festival hanamatsuri Kanbutsue, the celebration of the Buddha's birth on 8 April, when sweet tea is poured over a small statue of the newborn Buddha.
- 昭和の日Spring
- Shōwa Day shōwa no hi A national holiday on 29 April, a day for looking back on the Shōwa era (1926–1989) and thinking of the country's future.
Animals 動物
- 燕Spring
- Swallow tsubame A bird that arrives from the south in spring and builds its nest under the eaves and in like places.
- 蛙Spring
- Frog kawazu The frogs that call in rice fields and ponds in spring; in haiku the word, usually read kaeru, has long also been read kawazu. 古池や蛙飛こむ水の音BashōThe old pond — / a frog jumps in, / the sound of water
- 雀の子Spring
- Young sparrows suzume no ko Sparrow chicks born in spring, small and young, just out of the nest. 雀の子そこのけそこのけ御馬が通るIssaYoung sparrow, / out of the way, out of the way, / a horse is coming through
- 若鮎Spring
- Young sweetfish waka ayu Young ayu, or sweetfish, which have grown in the sea and swim up the rivers in spring. 若鮎の二手になりて上りけりShikiThe young sweetfish / part into two / and go upstream
Plants 植物
- 桜Spring
- Cherry blossom sakura The flower that stands for spring in Japan, in many kinds, among them the wild mountain cherry and the Somei Yoshino. さまざまの事おもひ出す桜かなBashōSo many things / brought back to mind — / the cherry blossom
- 花Spring
- The blossom hana In haiku, hana, "flower", on its own means the cherry blossom, in the splendour of its full flowering. 花の雲鐘は上野か浅草かBashōClouds of blossom — / the bell, from Ueno / or from Asakusa?
- 花筏Spring
- Blossom rafts hanaikada Fallen cherry petals drifting together on the water, seen as a raft.
- 藤Spring
- Wisteria fuji A woody climber whose long purple clusters of flowers hang down in late spring; it is trained over trellises to be enjoyed. 草臥て宿かる比や藤の花BashōTired out, / the hour I look for lodging — / wisteria flowers
- 山吹Spring
- Kerria yamabuki A shrub with golden-yellow flowers in late spring, often seen beside mountain streams. ほろほろと山吹ちるか滝の音BashōFluttering, fluttering, / the kerria petals fall — / the sound of the waterfall
- 躑躅Spring
- Azalea tsutsuji A shrub with red, white, purple and other flowers in late spring, planted in many gardens and parks.
- チューリップSpring
- Tulip chūrippu A bulb flower that brightens spring flower beds, in red, yellow and many other colours.
- 蓮華草Spring
- Chinese milk vetch rengesō A plant that covers the spring rice fields with reddish-purple flowers; it is also called genge.
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.
