A is a list of Japanese ''

kigo A is a word or phrase associated with a particular season, used in traditional forms of Japanese poetry. Kigo are used in the collaborative linked-verse forms renga and renku, as well as in haiku, to indicate the season referred to in the stan ...

'' (seasonal terms) used in

haiku is a type of short form poetry that originated in Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases composed of 17 Mora (linguistics), morae (called ''On (Japanese prosody), on'' in Japanese) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern; that include a ''kire ...

and related forms of poetry. An entry in a ''saijiki'' usually includes a description of the ''kigo'' itself, as well as a list of similar or related words, and some examples of haiku that include that ''kigo''. A is similar, but does not contain sample poems. Modern ''saijiki'' and ''kiyose'' are divided into the four seasons and New Year, with some containing a further section for topics. Each seasonal section is further divided into a standard set of categories, each containing a list of relevant ''kigo''. The most common categories are the season, the heavens, the earth, humanity, observances, animals and plants.

Japanese seasons

In the

Japanese calendar Japanese calendar types have included a range of official and unofficial systems. At present, Japan uses the Gregorian calendar together with year designations stating the Japanese era name, year of the reign of the current Emperor. The written f ...

, seasons traditionally followed the

lunisolar calendar A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures, that combines monthly lunar cycles with the solar year. As with all calendars which divide the year into months, there is an additional requirement that the year have a whole number of mont ...

with the

solstice A solstice is the time when the Sun reaches its most northerly or southerly sun path, excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around 20–22 June and 20–22 December. In many countries ...

s and

equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun appears directly above the equator, rather than to its north or south. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise directly east and set directly west. This occurs twice each year, arou ...

es at the middle of a season. The traditional Japanese seasons are: * Spring: 4 February–5 May * Summer: 6 May–7 August * Autumn: 8 August–6 November * Winter: 7 November–3 February In categorising ''kigo'', a ''saijiki'' or ''kiyose'' divides each season into early, middle, and late periods, as follows:Higginson, William J. ''Kiyose (Seasonword Guide)'', From Here Press, 2005, p.24 * Early spring: 4 February–5 March * Mid-spring: 6 March–4 April * Late spring: 5 April–5 May * Early summer: 6 May–5 June * Mid-summer: 6 June–6 July * Late summer: 7 July–7 August * Early autumn: 8 August–7 September * Mid-autumn: 8 September–7 October * Late autumn: 8 October–6 November * Early winter: 7 November–6 December * Mid-winter: 7 December–4 January * Late winter: 5 January–3 February

Bibliography

English

The Five Hundred Essential Japanese Season Words
selected by Kenkichi Yamamoto, on Renku Home * William J. Higginson, ed. ''Haiku world: an international poetry almanac''. Kodansha, 1996.
The Japanese Haiku Topical Dictionary
at the University of Virginia Japanese Text Initiative
World Kigo Database
worldwide ''saijiki''

French

LE SAIJIKI: Ephéméride poétique à l'usage des poètes composant des haïku en langue française
- Le Saijiki, the French version of the Saijiki by Seegan Mabesoone, has been available since 1998.

Japanese

Masaoka Shiki , pen-name of Masaoka Noboru (正岡升), was a Japanese poet, author, and literary critic in Meiji period Japan. Shiki is regarded as a major figure in the development of modern haiku poetry, credited with writing nearly 20,000 stanzas during ...

, ed. ''Kiyose''. 1930 () *

Kyoshi Takahama was a Japanese poetry, Japanese poet active during the Shōwa period of Japan. His real name was ; Kyoshi was a pen name given to him by his mentor, Masaoka Shiki. Early life Kyoshi was born in what is now the city of Matsuyama, Ehime, Matsuyama ...

, ed. ''A New Saijiki'', 1934 () * Teiko Inahata, ed. ''The New Hototogisu Saijiki'', 1996 ()

References

External links

A Dictionary of Haiku, Classified by Season Words with Traditional and Modern Methods, by Jane Reichhold (AHA Books)