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Japan’s 72 Microseasons (2015)

nippon.com

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Re: Japan’s 72 Microseasons (2015)

#31

Post by resolutebat »

athenot wrote: post #2

This is a very perceptive way to watch time pass when watching nature—and definitely useful when life revolved around things growing in the groud. 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.

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.

Re: Japan’s 72 Microseasons (2015)

#32

Post by yamazakiwi »

jhedwards wrote: post #24

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…

From the article:

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

Re: Japan’s 72 Microseasons (2015)

#33

Post by sixstringtheory »

highwind wrote: post #17

Wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_term

Very cool, thanks for the link. I have a project idea to build a sundial of sorts that can incorporate this type of info for our location.

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.

Re: Japan’s 72 Microseasons (2015)

#35

Post by dfxm12 »

ajuc wrote: post #14
canvascritic wrote: post #5

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, sadl…

> 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.…

Across cultures, I don't think we value celebration enough. I wish we didn't have to rely on traditions, new and old to have structured parties. But if it takes a gender reveal or a fertility ritual to get people to come together and have fun, great. You don't even have to explain to me why.

Re: Japan’s 72 Microseasons (2015)

#36

Post by [deleted] »

jdgc wrote: post #8
canvascritic wrote: post #5

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, sadl…

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

[deleted]

Re: Japan’s 72 Microseasons (2015)

#38

Post by yamazakiwi »

jdgc wrote: post #8
canvascritic wrote: post #5

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, sadl…

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 one of your previous comments you wrote: I've lived in Japan for many years and its essentially a western nation with a stronger social conformity / shame culture.

I have also lived in Japan and I don't know how you could believe that is true. Westerners usually experience culture shock when visiting Japan.

Japan is 98% Japanese by population.

Re: Japan’s 72 Microseasons (2015)

#39

Post by civilitty »

jerf wrote: post #26
laserbeam wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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".

It may not have exactly this, but it probably has more than you realize. The rush of the 20th and 21st century has crowded out a lot of stuff. The western world has a rich poetry and literature tradition. Given how severed we are from all of it nowadays you may well find you still get that foreign culture frisson from digging into it.

The Japanese version looks quite a bit more grounded in naturalism than the Chinese version, or at least TFA's translation does (i.e. August 28–September 1 天地始粛 vs 天地始肅 [1]). "Heat starts to die down" is not exactly precise but better than "Heaven and Earth begin to Withdraw" and "Cotton flowers bloom" is definitely a lot better than "Eagles worship the Birds".

I'm not the GP but I definitely want a calendar made up of details like this, regardless of it's literary quality.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chushu

Re: Japan’s 72 Microseasons (2015)

#40

Post by pezezin »

kstrauser wrote: post #20

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”.

I have also heard it, and it is quite weird.

- 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.

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