Japan’s 72 Microseasons (2015)
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Japan’s 72 Microseasons (2015)
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Re: Japan’s 72 Microseasons (2015)
#2This 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.
Re: Japan’s 72 Microseasons (2015)
#3There’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.
[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...
Re: Japan’s 72 Microseasons (2015)
#4This 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.
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.
Re: Japan’s 72 Microseasons (2015)
#5I 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.
Re: Japan’s 72 Microseasons (2015)
#6I 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.
[0] https://ytliu0.github.io/ChineseCalendar/solarTerms.html
Re: Japan’s 72 Microseasons (2015)
#7I 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…
That was beautiful. Thank you for posting it.
Re: Japan’s 72 Microseasons (2015)
#8I 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
Re: Japan’s 72 Microseasons (2015)
#9I 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…
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Re: Japan’s 72 Microseasons (2015)
#10There’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 micro…
At least for me, the Android app is completely free - all seasons have the pricetag "FREE". Is the need for in-app purchases geofenced or something?
I'm not complaining, it's just a bit strange. :D