We are in a new microseason! If this is your first time joining us, scroll down past the forecast to read about what exactly a microseason is. For the rest of you, let’s jump in!

The Current Microseason: North Wind Scatters Leaves

Today, Nov 28, begins 朔風払葉, the 59th microseason (候, kō) which is read kitakaze konoha wo harau and means north wind scatters leaves. This is the second microseason of Shōsetsu, which is itself the second solar term of winter.

As mentioned last time, the north wind is showing up more and more. This microseason is when it is starting to pull the dried leaves from the trees and scatter them. Much poetry has been written about this time of the year. It is sad to see the beautiful leaves go away, but there is also a beauty in the bareness of the trees that has been revealed to us, more subtle and profound, which we can refer to as yūgen (幽玄).

^{”Winter Tree” by Tanaka Ryōhei}

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Seasonal Vegetable: Shiitake Mushrooms

Ah shiitake. If you know one mushroom by name, this is probably it. They have become famous world-wide due to their wonderful taste and health benefits. There are several varieties of them, all of which can be farmed which helps keep the price of these delicious mushrooms reasonable.

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Here is a haiku for this microseason:

木枯や鐘に小石を吹あてる
kogarashi ya kane ni koishi o fukiateru winter wind—
blown pebbles
strike the temple bell
—Buson

The kigo (season word) here is kogarashi which means something like “withering wind”, or in other words that cold winter wind this microseason is talking about that strips the leaves from the trees and brings us even more into winter.

^{”Ejiri in Suruga Province” by Hokusai}

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Will move this info to another post one of these days, but for now, briefly:

• Each month has two seasons, called solar terms (節気, sekki), giving us a total of 24 seasons. This gives the system its name, the 24 Sekki (二十四節気). I usually refer to this entire system as The Japanese Almanac. It is more than a little similar to the American Farmer’s Almanac.
• Each of these 24 seasons is further subdivided three more times, giving us a grand total of 72 seasons, or microseasons (候, kō).
• Each microseason is about 5 days. With time periods so short, they can get pretty specific about what in nature we might expect to be happening around now.
• The system was originally from China, but it was reformatted during the Edo Era (1603–1868) to fit better with Japan’s climate. I find it also fits fairly well with much of the Midwest in the Eastern half of the US. But if you live in a different area, your milage may vary.
• The entire system is based on the equinoxes and solstices, so it is fluid and the exact dates will vary by a day or two from year to year. Luckily there are a great many Japanese sources that do the astrological computations for us and tell us exactly when each one starts and ends every year.

The next microseason starts on Dec 1. See you then for the next forecast!

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David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku.

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