Clothing, sweets and celebrations follow different seasonal conventions.
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In modern kimono, hitoe describes an unlined construction. It can be made in different fabrics and patterns. The term tells you about the lining, rather than automatically determining formality or identifying every sheer summer garment.
Awase describes a lined kimono. It identifies a method of construction, whereas the garment’s type, pattern and occasion determine its place within dress conventions.
Before adopting the Gregorian calendar in 1873, Japan used successive lunisolar systems. Lunar phases set the months, while intercalation coordinated them with the solar year. Kyūreki now commonly means the final Tenpō system and calculations based on it.
Japan’s seasons unfold across a long island chain. Northern cold, southern subtropical conditions and the mountain divide produce different weather within the same month.
Each of the twenty-four solar terms is divided into three kō, making seventy-two short seasonal periods. Their names evoke birds, plants, weather and other seasonal changes. Japanese calendars adapted a system that originated in China.
Chrysanthemums in Japanese horticulture are cultivated flowers shaped by generations of breeding and care. Petals can spread, curl or hang in long strands, while one plant can be trained into striking display forms. Courtly viewing, Edo gardening and modern flower production belong to this continuing history.
Japan Meteorological Agency flowering dates record a defined stage on a designated sample tree. They help compare seasonal progress and climate, and appear in the news. A city’s opening announcement does not mean every cherry tree there has flowered.
Autumn foliage is the changing colour of leaves before they fall. Japanese kōyō can refer broadly to this seasonal display, including the foliage of maples and other plants. Yellowing and reddening involve different pigment processes.
