A YEAR IN 24 SEASONS — 二十四節気

The 24 Sekki —
Japan's Micro-Seasons

Long before calendars hung on walls, Japan divided the year into twenty-four small seasons — each about fifteen days, each with its own weather, its own harvest, its own table. Choose one below.

立春

Risshun — “Beginning of Spring”

February 4 – 18

The coldest days are still ahead, yet the light has already changed. Plum buds swell; the year quietly turns its face toward spring.

THE TABLE IN THIS SEASON — この季節の食卓

Bitter greens — nanohana, fukinotō — arrive to wake the palate from winter. The donabe still simmers nightly, and fresh tofu is warmed gently in kombu broth.

A CUSTOM KEPT — 暮らしの知恵

On Setsubun eve, roasted soybeans are scattered at the door — fortune in, demons out — one bean eaten for every year of your life.

FROM THE 72 KŌ — 七十二候より

東風解凍 Harukaze kōri o toku — The east wind melts the ice.

雨水

Usui — “Rainwater”

February 19 – March 4

Field notes for Usui are still being written — they arrive season by season, as the year turns.

啓蟄

Keichitsu — “Insects Awaken”

March 5 – 19

Field notes for Keichitsu are still being written — they arrive season by season, as the year turns.

春分

Shunbun — “Spring Equinox”

March 20 – April 3

Field notes for Shunbun are still being written — they arrive season by season, as the year turns.

清明

Seimei — “Pure Brightness”

April 4 – 18

Field notes for Seimei are still being written — they arrive season by season, as the year turns.

穀雨

Kokuu — “Grain Rain”

April 19 – May 4

Field notes for Kokuu are still being written — they arrive season by season, as the year turns.

立夏

Rikka — “Beginning of Summer”

May 5 – 19

Field notes for Rikka are still being written — they arrive season by season, as the year turns.

小満

Shōman — “Lesser Ripening”

May 20 – June 4

Field notes for Shōman are still being written — they arrive season by season, as the year turns.

芒種

Bōshu — “Grain in Ear”

June 5 – 20

Field notes for Bōshu are still being written — they arrive season by season, as the year turns.

夏至

Geshi — “Summer Solstice”

June 21 – July 6

The longest light of the year. Rice paddies stand full of water and sky; evenings stretch thin and blue, reluctant to end.

THE TABLE IN THIS SEASON — この季節の食卓

Cold somen noodles slip from glass bowls; new ginger and myōga sharpen the heat-dulled appetite. The iron kettle rests — barley tea is chilled instead.

A CUSTOM KEPT — 暮らしの知恵

In parts of Kansai, octopus is eaten at Geshi — a wish that rice roots grip the earth as firmly as eight arms.

FROM THE 72 KŌ — 七十二候より

乃東枯 Natsukarekusa karuru — The self-heal herb withers, alone against the season.

小暑

Shōsho — “Lesser Heat”

July 7 – 22

The rains lift and true summer arrives. Cicadas fill the air, and the heat is young enough, still, to feel like a promise.

THE TABLE IN THIS SEASON — この季節の食卓

Hiyayakko — cold tofu under ginger and shiso — anchors the table in small glass bowls; edamame comes salted, watermelon after the bath. On Tanabata night, sōmen is served — its threads said to stand in for the Milky Way.

A CUSTOM KEPT — 暮らしの知恵

Shochū-mimai — midsummer greeting cards — are sent from Shōsho onward, asking after a friend’s health in the heat. Once autumn begins on the calendar, the phrase itself must change.

FROM THE 72 KŌ — 七十二候より

温風至 Atsukaze itaru — Warm winds arrive.

大暑

Taisho — “Greater Heat”

July 23 – August 6

The deep end of summer. Air shimmers over the stones, and the day is planned around shade, water and the first cool hour of evening.

THE TABLE IN THIS SEASON — この季節の食卓

Doyō no ushi usually falls in these weeks — unagi glazed dark over rice, eaten to stand the heat. Kakigōri is shaved fine into glass; barley tea goes by the ladleful, never hot.

A CUSTOM KEPT — 暮らしの知恵

Uchimizu — water scattered on doorsteps and pavements at morning and dusk — cools the street by a degree or two, and says, quietly, that summer is being managed.

FROM THE 72 KŌ — 七十二候より

桐始結花 Kiri hajimete hana o musubu — The paulownia begins to set its seeds.

立秋

Risshū — “Beginning of Autumn”

August 7 – 22

Autumn arrives on paper while the heat stands its ground. But the light leans, the cicadas change voice, and evening comes a little sooner each day.

THE TABLE IN THIS SEASON — この季節の食卓

The first nashi pears arrive, watery and cool; okra and myōga keep the dishes light while the heat lingers. The tetsubin still rests — barley tea over ice a while longer.

A CUSTOM KEPT — 暮らしの知恵

Obon falls within these weeks: fires are lit at the door to guide the ancestors home, and cucumber horses and eggplant oxen are set out — swift legs to carry them in, slow ones to carry them back.

FROM THE 72 KŌ — 七十二候より

涼風至 Suzukaze itaru — Cool winds arrive.

処暑

Shosho — “Lingering Heat”

August 23 – September 6

The heat loosens its grip. Mornings carry a first hint of coolness, the sky climbs higher — and the season keeps one wary eye on the sea.

THE TABLE IN THIS SEASON — この季節の食卓

Grapes and early pears take over the fruit bowl. The rice fields turn gold at the edges, and the kitchen begins, cautiously, to simmer again — nimono in the evening, stoneware back within reach.

A CUSTOM KEPT — 暮らしの知恵

Nihyaku-tōka — the two-hundred-and-tenth day from Risshun, around September 1 — was long feared for typhoons striking just as the rice flowered; a day for lashing down and watching the sky.

FROM THE 72 KŌ — 七十二候より

綿柎開 Wata no hanashibe hiraku — Cotton bolls crack open.

白露

Hakuro — “White Dew”

September 7 – 21

Mornings turn cool enough for dew to gather and glint white on the grass. Summer ends not with a door closing, but with condensation.

THE TABLE IN THIS SEASON — この季節の食卓

The first sanma is grilled over open flame; chestnuts and young sake arrive. The donabe returns from the cupboard for the season’s first rice.

A CUSTOM KEPT — 暮らしの知恵

Tsukimi — on the harvest moon, dumplings and susuki grass are set by the window, an offering to the clearest moon of the year.

FROM THE 72 KŌ — 七十二候より

草露白 Kusa no tsuyu shiroshi — Dew glistens white on grass.

秋分

Shūbun — “Autumn Equinox”

September 22 – October 7

Day and night stand equal, and the year tips gently toward darkness. The air clears; the light turns gold and thin.

THE TABLE IN THIS SEASON — この季節の食卓

Ohagi — sweet rice wrapped in azuki paste — are made for the equinox. Mushroom rice steams in the donabe, and hiyaoroshi, sake rested through the summer, is poured into small cups.

A CUSTOM KEPT — 暮らしの知恵

Higan — the week around the equinox — is for visiting the family graves. As the saying goes, atsusa samusa mo higan made: both heat and cold last only until the equinox.

FROM THE 72 KŌ — 七十二候より

雷乃収声 Kaminari sunawachi koe o osamu — Thunder quiets its voice.

寒露

Kanro — “Cold Dew”

October 8 – 22

The dew that gathered white now turns cold. Skies clear and deepen, the first geese arrive from the north, and the mountains begin, at their edges, to burn.

THE TABLE IN THIS SEASON — この季節の食卓

New rice is fully in, steamed with chestnuts in the donabe; matsutake and shimeji scent the evening, and the year’s first nabe simmers as the nights turn cold. Persimmons ripen orange on bare branches.

A CUSTOM KEPT — 暮らしの知恵

Jūsan’ya — the “later moon” of the thirteenth night — follows the harvest moon in these weeks, honored with chestnuts and beans. To view one moon and not the other, they said, was katami-zuki: a luck left incomplete.

FROM THE 72 KŌ — 七十二候より

鴻雁来 Kōgan kitaru — The wild geese arrive from the north.

霜降

Sōkō — “Frost Falls”

October 23 – November 6

Autumn’s last node. Frost finds the grass at dawn, the maples come down out of the mountains a little further each week, and the year begins, visibly, to close.

THE TABLE IN THIS SEASON — この季節の食卓

Ginnan is cracked from the shell and roasted in a heavy pan until it turns jade. Satoimo and carrot simmer down in the donabe, and sweet potatoes are roasted whole until the skin blisters. Greens and daikon caught by an early frost turn sweeter — the plant quietly converting its stored starch to sugar to keep from freezing.

A CUSTOM KEPT — 暮らしの知恵

Kogarashi ichigō — the first “withering wind” of the year — is announced like news when it comes: the weather agency declares it only once each season, and only for Tokyo and the Kinki region. Every wind after that is simply winter’s.

FROM THE 72 KŌ — 七十二候より

霜始降 Shimo hajimete furu — Frost begins to fall.

立冬

Rittō — “Beginning of Winter”

November 7 – 21

Winter opens on the calendar while the maples are still burning. Cold rain passes through in short bursts, the light thins by afternoon, and the house begins to arrange itself around a source of heat.

THE TABLE IN THIS SEASON — この季節の食卓

Nabe season starts in earnest — the donabe on the table most nights, hakusai and negi cooked down in broth until they turn sweet. Oysters come in as the water cools and buri starts to take on its winter fat; the tetsubin goes back on the heat and sings through the afternoon.

A CUSTOM KEPT — 暮らしの知恵

Inoko — the day of the Boar in the tenth lunar month — was when the hearth and the kotatsu were lit for the first time each year. The boar belongs to water among the five elements, so its day was thought to hold fire in check; in the tea room, the same day opens the ro, the sunken winter hearth, at a gathering tea people call their New Year.

FROM THE 72 KŌ — 七十二候より

山茶始開 Tsubaki hajimete hiraku — The sasanqua begins to bloom.

小雪

Shōsetsu — “Lesser Snow”

November 22 – December 6

Field notes for Shōsetsu are still being written — they arrive season by season, as the year turns.

大雪

Taisetsu — “Greater Snow”

December 7 – 21

Field notes for Taisetsu are still being written — they arrive season by season, as the year turns.

冬至

Tōji — “Winter Solstice”

December 22 – January 4

The shortest day. From tomorrow, the light returns by a sparrow’s step each morning — and so the solstice is quietly a beginning.

THE TABLE IN THIS SEASON — この季節の食卓

Kabocha simmered sweet with azuki, said to guard health through winter. The tetsubin sings all day; hot sake is poured into small cups.

A CUSTOM KEPT — 暮らしの知恵

Yuzu-yu — whole yuzu floated in the evening bath, their oils warming the body against the cold to come.

FROM THE 72 KŌ — 七十二候より

乃東生 Natsukarekusa shōzu — The self-heal herb sprouts, alone against the season.

小寒

Shōkan — “Lesser Cold”

January 5 – 19

Field notes for Shōkan are still being written — they arrive season by season, as the year turns.

大寒

Daikan — “Greater Cold”

January 20 – February 3

Field notes for Daikan are still being written — they arrive season by season, as the year turns.

ON THE TABLE THIS SEASON

Tools chosen for this turn of the season — iron, clay, wood and steel.

BROWSE THE TABLE 食卓 →