I first learned about the microseasons during my second year in Japan when I was wandering thru Tokyo one day in February, and had an experience that introduced me to the bush warblers singing microseason.
I was looking for this bookshop owned by an older woman named yumi, who supposedly had a collection of ancient poems and stories, many of which encompassed the lore of the 72 kō (I never did end up finding it, sadly I had to leave Tokyo the next day, but would be nice to know if someone here has heard of it / visited).
while weaving through the backstreets of shibuya, i was entranced by a faint, melodious chirping that seemed out of place amidst the city's usual cacophony.
Following the sound, i found myself before this dilapidated, ivy-covered wooden house. A hand-painted sign hung at the entrance. "Oshiro's birds" I think it said
Anyway Oshiro was sitting outside and graciously welcomed me in. His living room was packed with birdcages, borderline horder situation. but everything was in beautiful condition, meticulously cleaned. Each cage was home to a bush warbler. the air was filled with their songs, transporting me miles away from the city, to misty mountains and serene valleys.
Oshiro explained the Japanese microseasons to me, and told me about a centuries-old family tradition that centered one in particular. every year, around the onset of february, when the microseason announced the singing of bush warblers, he would embark on a pilgrimage into the mountains. there, he would sit for hours, sometimes days, listening, absorbing, and sometimes even conversing with these birds through his bamboo flute. It was a ritual passed down through generations in his family.
I spent that afternoon with Oshiro, sipping on aged sake, as he told me about his strange (to me) ritual. He played his flute a bit, its notes intertwining with the bird songs, creating a symphony that felt as old as the mountains themselves. Each chirp, each note, was a story, a memory of ages gone by.
as the sun set, casting a golden hue on the room, i realized i hadn’t just discovered a bird enthusiast. in Oshiro, i had met a guardian of time, a man who, year after year, preserved a slice of japan's essence, ensuring that even in the heart of its busiest city, the song of the bush warbler would never fade away.
It is pretty beautiful how such small, centuries-old traditions seem to abound in Japan, where the condition of the west seems to be a state of persistent impermanence.
> It is pretty beautiful how such small, centuries-old traditions seem to abound in Japan, where the condition of the west seems to be a state of persistent impermanence.
You own traditions often seem trivial and normal compared to foreign ones. Especially so anglosaxon ones because of all the popculture and merchandise. But they are just as bizzare and ingrained in culture when you look at them from a different POV.
I'm from a western Slavic country - not that much different from western Europe. Yet Haloween, "telling the bees" or even baby gender reveal parties seem completely alien to me.
On the other hand we have a barely christianized fertility ritual during which boys sprinkle girls with water :)
> It is pretty beautiful how such small, centuries-old traditions seem to abound in Japan, where the condition of the west seems to be a state of persistent impermanence.
Japan is a monoethnic nation. Much of the West isn't anymore for various reasons, to the degree where people engaging in "centuries-old traditions" are seen as weird or even racist.
And in a different tack, there is the fascinating concept of "change merchants"[0] that may help better understand why everything seems to be swirling around so quickly.
Shibuya itself has been totally ripped up and reconstructed over the past few years, and people are tripping over themselves to appeal to western sensibilities as much as possible. Please stop with the orientalist hyperbole
> in Oshiro, i had met a guardian of time, a man who, year after year, preserved a slice of japan's essence, ensuring that even in the heart of its busiest city, the song of the bush warbler would never fade away.
There was a lump in my throat as I read your comment out loud to my wife. Thank you for sharing this beautiful vignette!
> It is pretty beautiful how such small, centuries-old traditions seem to abound in Japan, where the condition of the west seems to be a state of persistent impermanence.
Orientalism at its finest...
First of all, "the west" is not a single monolithic block, but dozens of countries, each one with its own peculiarities.
Second, Western countries also have plenty of traditions, in the case of Europe going back centuries or even millennia. The thing is that the environment you grew up in doesn't seem fancy to you, it is just normal life.
Third, some Japanese people care about traditions, some do not, same as Western people. Heck, to me it seems like Japan lives in a state of permanent consumerism, always catching the latest popular anime or idol group.
I know this is kind of silly, but it annoys me a bit to see this portrayed as some creative innovation of the Japanese on top of some ancient Chinese system, when it's really just a simplification of the Confucian text Yue Ling: https://ctext.org/liji/yue-ling
The Yue Ling is a beautiful text, and it speaks to an aspect of Confucianism which I find fascinating, which is the idea that the ideal scholar-official should have a deep understanding of both climate and ecology. It's also fascinating how Japan imported and creatively re-interpreted this text, but it's originally of Chinese creation.
The names were also originally taken from China, but they did not always match up well with the local climate.
In Japan, they were eventually rewritten in 1685 by the court astronomer Shibukawa Shunkai. In their present form, they offer a poetic journey through the Japanese year in which the land awakens and blooms with life and activity before returning to slumber
Although the origins of the text matter for presentation, my only thought when reading this text was "man, I wish my flavor of European culture had this as well and I wish it were taught in school at some point".
> Originally taken from Chinese sources, these are still well-known around East Asia.
> The names were also originally taken from China, but they did not always match up well with the local climate. In Japan, they were eventually rewritten in 1685 by the court astronomer Shibukawa Shunkai.
Japan did import A LOT of cultural things from the ancient Huaxia civilization (which makes sense, as they were pretty close geographically), and they're usually pretty clear about that.
I do think it would be hard to trace back to the first person who discovered "seasons" though...
It is interesting to compare the Japanese micro seasons with the 12 month names in the French Republican calendar [1]. The French month names derived from Latin or Greek words, translated here to English.
Autumn: Vendémiaire (vintage), Brumaire (winter cold), and Frimaire (frost)
Winter: Nivôse (snowy), Pluviôse (rainy), and Ventôse (windy)
Spring: Germinal (germination), Floréal (flower), and Prairial (meadow)
Summer: Messidor (harvest), Thermidor (summer heat), and Fructidor (fruit)
In Britain, a contemporary wit mocked the Republican Calendar by calling the months: Wheezy, Sneezy, and Freezy; Slippy, Drippy, and Nippy; Showery, Flowery, and Bowery; Hoppy, Croppy, and Poppy.
There’s an app for this [0,1]. It follows the calendar and shows you the current season, it’s haiku, seasonal foods, etc. It’s free to view the current season, but you can pay (one-time) to access to the entire calendar. The company that makes it [2] publishes a book as well, though last I checked, it was only in Japanese. They also have an app [3,4] for Nara, showcasing local activities in the area during each microseason.
I haven't used the Japanese calendar but I've spent the last year or so keeping up with what the current solar term is in the Chinese calendar[0]. I highly recommend giving it a try some time; if you don't work outside it's easy to forget about the seasons in general let alone the many variations that can occur within them. I've found solar terms hit a nice sweet spot where they're large enough periods to not be overwhelming or hyper local, but still capturing the rhythms of life.
It's super local for sure. I doubt this one even applies effectively to all of japan. I found out about this a long time ago and have used it as a loose structure for coming up with my own similar thing based on my own area and observations.
But at this level of granularity moving a couple hundred miles north/south or a thousand feet in elevation is enough to shift a lot of it around, both in timing and in most notable plant and animal life at the transitions.
It's really more of a years-long exercise in observation, record keeping, poetry, and sense of place. I doubt there's a pre-made one that works as is for anyone.
To me the entire calendar seems at least a month too "fast". For example:
August 8–12 涼風至 Suzukaze itaru Cool winds blow
When early August anywhere in mainland Japan more closely resembles Satan's armpit, with extreme heat and humidity and a distinct lack of cool breezes.
Things like this remind me of the bizarre notion that only Japan has four seasons. I’ve been surprised by how many times I’ve heard that from people who seemed to sincerely believe it.
I give that as much credence as, say, “only Missouri has grass”.
Though I would not be surprised as it has been very interesting to see Japan and Korea preserving many of the traditional east Asian cultures a lot better than China itself.
I wonder if these were independently derived, or if there was some cultural cross-pollination between China and India? Seems plausible since they're right next to each other.
Anyone can get to know their own locality on this intimate level. I've been spending more time in my yard, and it's really incredible seeing the waves of new plants and animals arising and dissipating over the months. Yesterday I was watching the birch tree behind my back porch losing its leaves (much earlier than most of the trees around). The lawn has large colonies of plants that I didn't see a single specimen of last year. Different insects, mammals, invertebrates, and fungi all show up too.
Oddly enough the more I think about it, Vancouver, Canada has seem parallels to Japan in terms of some of the produce (matsutake mushrooms and burdock root).
I'm not sure about seventy-two of them, but there do seem to be brief little shifts in the climate here. A time to expect lightning bugs, that sort of thing. "Fall" seems grossly inadequate at times.
Australia has many different seasons depending on the area's climate, which all define what is possible to eat: Noongar people from South-west Australia and Yolnu people from Northern Arnhem land have six seasons, Anangu of central Australia have ~five seasons.
Global Warming will (and probably already has) completely ruined that calendar. The problem with creating such optimizations is over fitting (every ML person here should understand this). And since now the underlying system (the climate system) is changing rapidly (causing change in underlying probability distributions), you can throw this calendar out.
canvascritic|2 years ago
I was looking for this bookshop owned by an older woman named yumi, who supposedly had a collection of ancient poems and stories, many of which encompassed the lore of the 72 kō (I never did end up finding it, sadly I had to leave Tokyo the next day, but would be nice to know if someone here has heard of it / visited).
while weaving through the backstreets of shibuya, i was entranced by a faint, melodious chirping that seemed out of place amidst the city's usual cacophony.
Following the sound, i found myself before this dilapidated, ivy-covered wooden house. A hand-painted sign hung at the entrance. "Oshiro's birds" I think it said
Anyway Oshiro was sitting outside and graciously welcomed me in. His living room was packed with birdcages, borderline horder situation. but everything was in beautiful condition, meticulously cleaned. Each cage was home to a bush warbler. the air was filled with their songs, transporting me miles away from the city, to misty mountains and serene valleys.
Oshiro explained the Japanese microseasons to me, and told me about a centuries-old family tradition that centered one in particular. every year, around the onset of february, when the microseason announced the singing of bush warblers, he would embark on a pilgrimage into the mountains. there, he would sit for hours, sometimes days, listening, absorbing, and sometimes even conversing with these birds through his bamboo flute. It was a ritual passed down through generations in his family.
I spent that afternoon with Oshiro, sipping on aged sake, as he told me about his strange (to me) ritual. He played his flute a bit, its notes intertwining with the bird songs, creating a symphony that felt as old as the mountains themselves. Each chirp, each note, was a story, a memory of ages gone by.
as the sun set, casting a golden hue on the room, i realized i hadn’t just discovered a bird enthusiast. in Oshiro, i had met a guardian of time, a man who, year after year, preserved a slice of japan's essence, ensuring that even in the heart of its busiest city, the song of the bush warbler would never fade away.
It is pretty beautiful how such small, centuries-old traditions seem to abound in Japan, where the condition of the west seems to be a state of persistent impermanence.
ajuc|2 years ago
You own traditions often seem trivial and normal compared to foreign ones. Especially so anglosaxon ones because of all the popculture and merchandise. But they are just as bizzare and ingrained in culture when you look at them from a different POV.
I'm from a western Slavic country - not that much different from western Europe. Yet Haloween, "telling the bees" or even baby gender reveal parties seem completely alien to me.
On the other hand we have a barely christianized fertility ritual during which boys sprinkle girls with water :)
gottorf|2 years ago
Japan is a monoethnic nation. Much of the West isn't anymore for various reasons, to the degree where people engaging in "centuries-old traditions" are seen as weird or even racist.
And in a different tack, there is the fascinating concept of "change merchants"[0] that may help better understand why everything seems to be swirling around so quickly.
[0]: https://www.city-journal.org/article/change-merchants
jdgc|2 years ago
andyjohnson0|2 years ago
muggermuch|2 years ago
There was a lump in my throat as I read your comment out loud to my wife. Thank you for sharing this beautiful vignette!
pezezin|2 years ago
Orientalism at its finest...
First of all, "the west" is not a single monolithic block, but dozens of countries, each one with its own peculiarities.
Second, Western countries also have plenty of traditions, in the case of Europe going back centuries or even millennia. The thing is that the environment you grew up in doesn't seem fancy to you, it is just normal life.
Third, some Japanese people care about traditions, some do not, same as Western people. Heck, to me it seems like Japan lives in a state of permanent consumerism, always catching the latest popular anime or idol group.
mplewis|2 years ago
Klonoar|2 years ago
[deleted]
jhedwards|2 years ago
The Yue Ling is a beautiful text, and it speaks to an aspect of Confucianism which I find fascinating, which is the idea that the ideal scholar-official should have a deep understanding of both climate and ecology. It's also fascinating how Japan imported and creatively re-interpreted this text, but it's originally of Chinese creation.
yamazakiwi|2 years ago
The names were also originally taken from China, but they did not always match up well with the local climate. In Japan, they were eventually rewritten in 1685 by the court astronomer Shibukawa Shunkai. In their present form, they offer a poetic journey through the Japanese year in which the land awakens and blooms with life and activity before returning to slumber
nonethewiser|2 years ago
Isnt that what the article is about? Or do we have to find the first person to talk about seasons?
laserbeam|2 years ago
hojinkoh|2 years ago
> Originally taken from Chinese sources, these are still well-known around East Asia.
> The names were also originally taken from China, but they did not always match up well with the local climate. In Japan, they were eventually rewritten in 1685 by the court astronomer Shibukawa Shunkai.
Japan did import A LOT of cultural things from the ancient Huaxia civilization (which makes sense, as they were pretty close geographically), and they're usually pretty clear about that.
I do think it would be hard to trace back to the first person who discovered "seasons" though...
jshprentz|2 years ago
Autumn: Vendémiaire (vintage), Brumaire (winter cold), and Frimaire (frost)
Winter: Nivôse (snowy), Pluviôse (rainy), and Ventôse (windy)
Spring: Germinal (germination), Floréal (flower), and Prairial (meadow)
Summer: Messidor (harvest), Thermidor (summer heat), and Fructidor (fruit)
In Britain, a contemporary wit mocked the Republican Calendar by calling the months: Wheezy, Sneezy, and Freezy; Slippy, Drippy, and Nippy; Showery, Flowery, and Bowery; Hoppy, Croppy, and Poppy.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Republican_calendar
dwcnnnghm|2 years ago
[0]https://apps.apple.com/lv/app/72-seasons/id1059622777
[1]https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.co.heibonsh...
[2]https://www.kurashikata.com/72seasons/
[3]https://apps.apple.com/id/app/72-seasons-nara/id1163139998
[4]https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.co.heibonsh...
schroeding|2 years ago
I'm not complaining, it's just a bit strange. :D
stryan|2 years ago
[0] https://ytliu0.github.io/ChineseCalendar/solarTerms.html
athenot|2 years ago
I wonder how much drift there is on the dates given, or if local climate yields highly predicatable weather patterns.
For example here in the South-East US, the "last frost" date can vary from mid February to late April but our weather patterns are higly variable.
giraffe_lady|2 years ago
But at this level of granularity moving a couple hundred miles north/south or a thousand feet in elevation is enough to shift a lot of it around, both in timing and in most notable plant and animal life at the transitions.
It's really more of a years-long exercise in observation, record keeping, poetry, and sense of place. I doubt there's a pre-made one that works as is for anyone.
resolutebat|2 years ago
August 8–12 涼風至 Suzukaze itaru Cool winds blow
When early August anywhere in mainland Japan more closely resembles Satan's armpit, with extreme heat and humidity and a distinct lack of cool breezes.
kstrauser|2 years ago
I give that as much credence as, say, “only Missouri has grass”.
pezezin|2 years ago
- Them: oh, your country also have four seasons?
- Me: Of course, Spain and Japan are on the same latitude, why wouldn't we have seasons?
- Them: eeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!
Seriously, the average Japanese person lives in a bubble, they have very limited knowledge of what goes on outside their islands.
wzsddtc|2 years ago
Though I would not be surprised as it has been very interesting to see Japan and Korea preserving many of the traditional east Asian cultures a lot better than China itself.
highwind|2 years ago
sixstringtheory|2 years ago
I googled the term in the center of that diagram, Nakshatra, and it's a term from Indian astronomy for the same concept: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nakshatras
I wonder if these were independently derived, or if there was some cultural cross-pollination between China and India? Seems plausible since they're right next to each other.
lukas099|2 years ago
unknown|2 years ago
[deleted]
palidanx|2 years ago
https://www.amazon.com/Japan-Vegetarian-Nancy-Singleton-Hach...
Oddly enough the more I think about it, Vancouver, Canada has seem parallels to Japan in terms of some of the produce (matsutake mushrooms and burdock root).
JoeDaDude|2 years ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHPy7r2RDVE
at_a_remove|2 years ago
zokier|2 years ago
a_bonobo|2 years ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_Australian_seasons
xwdv|2 years ago
stronglikedan|2 years ago
ChatGTP|2 years ago
itsthecourier|2 years ago
mempko|2 years ago