Japan's 72 Microseasons - #37
Japan's 72 Microseasons - #37
"Refreshing Breezes Blow"
August 8 - 12
涼風至
すずかぜ いたる
Suzkaze itaru
”Refreshing breezes blow”
Like all change, the changing of the seasons happens in steps. Gradually, day by day, things change until one day upon waking you find that the Then has ended and the Now has started. There’s a time during each season when you can feel the coming of the next. Sometimes, you can feel it on the breeze.
In what I’m sure is a very welcome bit of weather—as much now as it was 1,000 years ago—this is the kō when people in Japan can expect (or at least hope) to feel that first bit of autumn in the air. When the wind that stirs in the streets carries a bit of refreshing coolness that promises an eventual end to muggy summer temperatures. Even if you’re outside Japan, I think we can all appreciate that first sign of relief to an uncomfortably hot (or cold) season.
The name of this kō, like the two before it, is very straightforward. The word suzukaze (涼風), also pronounced ryōfū, is made of the characters for “cooling, refreshing” and “wind.” The two aren’t often combined in this way, but the first character can be seen most commonly as the adjective suzushii (涼しい), how you might describe a cool drink on a hot day, or a bit of relief in an air conditioned room. Itaru (至る) we have covered in previous entries, and it’s just a slightly fancier way to say “arrives, comes.”
This much-welcomed arrival signals the start of a new major sekki: Risshū (立秋)1. On the Koyomi’s calendar, this was the first official day of autumn. The last time we saw the 立 character was in Rikka (立夏) back in May at the start of summer. Different to the peak of season that the equinox represents (which isn’t until September 23rd), these first-day sekki mark a turning point where one season fades and another rises.
One thing that shifts culturally with the coming of Risshū and autumn’s Official Start is the custom of kisetsu no aisatsu (季節のあいさつ), seasonal greetings. Historically, these appeared in messages written on cards sent to friends and family, but their modern day successor is the email greeting.
Japanese emailing, particularly in a professional business setting, has a large number of set rules and mannerisms to memorize. How actually important these are vary from business to business of course, but if you’d like to be particularly impressive in your digital correspondence then incorporating timely seasonal phrases is the best way to score points. These mainly change at each of the 24 sekki, give or take (the 72 kō would be a lot to keep up with!), and here at Risshū we change from shochū-mimai (暑中見舞い, midsummer greetings) to zansho-mimai (残暑見舞い, late-summer greetings). Here’s an example of each:2
まだまだ暑い日が続きますが、くれぐれもお身体にお気をつけてください。
”The hot days are still continuing, so my sincerest wishes that you will look after your health.”
残暑厳しき折から、くれぐれもご自愛のほどお願い申し上げます。
”The late summer heat is still harsh at the moment, so please make sure to look after yourself.”
A good bit of Japanese vocabulary to takeaway here is “o-mimai,” which is handy in lots of different contexts. Probably best translated as “checking in,” you use it to describe visiting someone in the hospital, dropping by on a friend who’s going through a hard time, or expressing sympathies to someone who’s suffered a loss.
And so as you feel a nice breeze breaking some of the heavy heat, take it as a reminder to send an o-mimai to a loved one, just to see how they’re doing. Maybe the both of you can take in one of this kō’s seasonal items and appreciate a nice piece of Japanese culture together:
● Seasonal flower
tsuyukusa, つゆくさ, dayflower● Seasonal seafood
shijimi, しじみ, freshwater clams● Seasonal fruit
momo, もも, peach
Sometimes, it can feel like a certain season—or time in life—might drag on forever, but a small sign can be all we need to push through and hold on. So if it’s feeling like there’s too much heat on you at the moment, just wait for the breeze.
See you next kō~
[Images & info by kurashikata.com, kurashi-no-hotorisya.jp, 543life.com, and Wikipedia except where otherwise noted]
Out of the 24 sekki, the 8 that are still majorly observed are the 2 solstices, 2 equinoxes, and the 4 first days of each season
There’s lots and lots of different ways to express these and mix and match parts to suit who you’re sending it to—otherwise a simple ___お見舞い申し上げます (“my best wishes for your wellbeing during ___), where the first part is shochū, zasho, or any other season-marking word