Week 13: “First Cherry Blossoms”

March 25 to March 31 is the thirteenth week of 2024.  This week, we remain in the Solar Term of Spring Equinox (Mar 20- Apr 3) and enter the micro-seasons of “First Cherry Blossoms” (Mar 26-Mar 30).

Basho, Issa, Buson, Soin, and Reichhold wrote the poems selected for this week.  

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The 24 Solar Terms 

The 24 solar terms were created by farmers in ancient China  (206 BCE and 24 CE) to help guide their agricultural activities. Each solar term is 15 days long and is based on the climate around Xi’an, the capital of China during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE to 220 CE). ⁽¹⁾

Spring Equinox

Spring Equinox is the fourth Solar Term of the year and the fourth Solar Term of Spring. Chunfen  (春分) is the Chinese name for this season. Chunfen  (春分) means “the day time and night time are almost the same.” Chunfen  (春分) also falls between the Solar Term of Beginning of Spring and Beginning of Summer.

Flying Kites

In ancient China, people would write their personal concerns and medical issues on paper kites and fly them during Spring Equinox.  The kites would lift into the air and then the string would be cut.  The kite would then float away in the breeze taking away those concerns.  

In contemporary times, kite flying has become a traditional activity for kids and adults.  People still write blessings and prayers on the kites and fly them high in the sky for the gods to see.⁽³⁾

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The 72 Seasons

The 72-season calendar was established in 1685 by Japanese astronomer Shibukawa Shunkai.  Each season lasts for about 5 days and offers “a poetic journey through the Japanese year in which the land awakens and blooms with life and activity before returning to slumber.”⁽⁴⁾

This week we have the micro-seasons of   “First Cherry Blossoms” (Mar 26-Mar 30).

The Cherry Blossom

The cherry tree, similar to the peach tree, is a member of the Prunus genus of the Rosaceae family.  The ornamental cherry tree is the one that produces the most stunning cherry blossoms. 

Hanami or “Flower Viewing”

There is a Japanese tradition called hanami, which means “flower viewing”. Hanami originated with plum blossoms during the Nara period (710-794 AD), and was primarily undertaken by the members of the Royal Court.⁽⁶⁾ 

Now, hanami is something that everyone participates in and it revolves around the cherry blossom. To celebrate, people gather underneath the cherry trees for picnics and parties.  

To help people locate the best cherry blooms, the Japan Meteorological Corporation publishes a cherry blossom forecast map.  This map estimates the beginning and peak bloom times across Japan.   

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Astronomical Season

March 31, the last day of week thirteen, is 12 days past the spring equinox and 81 days until the summer solstice (June 20, 2024).  

March’s Full Moon

March’s full moon arrives on March 25.  This full moon is sometimes referred to as The Worm Moon.

Catherine Boeckmann at The Farmer’s Almanac says the following about the Worm Moon. 

“For many years, we thought this name referred to the earthworms that appear as the soil warms in spring. . . .However, more research revealed another explanation. In the 1760s, Captain Jonathan Carver visited the Naudowessie (Dakota) and other Native American tribes and wrote that the name Worm Moon refers to a different sort of “worm”—beetle larvae—which begin to emerge from the thawing bark of trees and other winter hideouts at this time.”

Other traditional names for March’s full moon include:

• Sugar Moon from the Ojibwe 
• Wind Strong Moon from the Pueblo
• Goose Moon from the Cree

In the Christian tradition, March’s full moon may be called the Lenten Moon or the Paschal Moon.  The name of the moon depends on its relation to the spring equinox.  This year, March’s full moon occurs after the spring equinox and is known as the Paschal Moon.  If the full moon occurred before the spring equinox it would be called the Lenten Moon. 

For more information about the Worm Moon, read Boekmann’s full article here.

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Haiku and Kigo 

The kigo, or season word, is one of the key parts of the haiku.  The Yuki Teikei Haiku Society provides us with the following explanation for why we use kigo in haiku. 

“A kigo is a poetic device used in haiku to denote a season; it’s a powerful word or phrase that can conjure up many allusions, historical references, spiritual meanings, and/or cultural traditions. Its use in haiku, a poem of few words, is especially effective because of this power to expand its meaning beyond the literal and to create a larger aura of seasonal mood, historical/ literary context, and/or cultural implications.”⁽⁹⁾

Visit The Haiku Foundation’s “New To Haiku: What is a Kigo?” for more information

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This Week’s Kigo

In The Five Hundred Essential Japanese Season Words selected by Kenkichi Yamamoto, “cherry blossoms”, and “first cherry blossoms’ are relevant kigo. 

 In Jane Reichhold’s A Dictionary of Haiku, “cherry blossoms”, “cherry budding”, and “cherry petals” are all relevant kigo. 

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Cherry blossoms are often seen as a metaphor for the impermanence of life and can be associated with the Shinto concept of mono-no-aware.  In an article titled, “Mono no Aware: The Transience of Life” from The Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs explains the connection this way.

“Mono-no-aware is a challenging perspective to put into words successfully; it can be literally translated to “the ahhness of things” or to “the bittersweet poignancy of things.” What comes most easily to mind is the beauty of the cherry blossom; the flower blooms intensely, yet only for a short period of time each year. As the flowers die and the petals fall, cherry blossoms line the streets like a layer of soft, pink snow, and are most beautiful when captured between the precipice of life and death. That is precisely the unique appeal of the cherry blossoms; their aesthetic focuses on the unavoidable transience of the material world that exists.”

The Center concludes the article by stating:

“It boils down to this: appreciate the moment, because the beauty experienced in it will never be the same. It will pass. It will end. And that is okay because as life changes, new beauty, perhaps of a different kind, will arrive. Every season the cherry blossoms die. But every year, they come back to, once again, coat the streets in their ethereal and incomparable demise.”

Here is the link to the full article if you want to read more.

 Now with all this in mind, let’s read some haiku. 

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Basho

a hangover
is nothing as long as 
there are cherry blossoms 
(tranlsated by Jane Reichhold)

The spring night
has come to an end, 
with dawn on the cherry blossoms
(translated by R.H.Blyth)

How many, many things 
They bring to mind-- 
Cherry blossoms! 
(translated by Robert Aitken)

Issa

cherry blossoms--
under every tree
a Buddha on display
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

the war lord
forced off his horse...
cherry blossoms
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

without regret
they fall and scatter...
cherry blossoms
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

Buson

The departing spring
hesitates
late cherry blossoms
(translated by Allan Persinger)

Instead of cherry blossoms
peach blossoms would fit
this little house
(translated by Allan Persinger)

Nishiyama Soin

No, no, not even the cherry blooms,
can equal the moon tonight.
(translated by Asataro Miyamori)

Reichhold

a long journey
some cherry petals
begin to fall

cherry blossoms
a truck goes by advertising
"Wonder Bread"

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Haiku invitation

This week’s haiku invitation is to write a haiku or senryu referencing cherry blossoms. 

Share your haiku in the comments below, or post on your page and link back. I can’t wait to read what you write! 

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Thank You!

About the Haiku

Basho’s haiku were retrieved from “Matsuo Bashō’s haiku poems in romanized Japanese with English translations” Editor: Gábor Terebess.  Issa’s haiku were retrieved from David G. Lanoue’s Haiku Guy. Buson’s haiku was retrieved from Foxfire: the Selected Poems of Yosa Buson, a Translation by Allan Persinger. Nishiyama Soin haiku was retrieved from The Classic Tradition of Haiku: An Anthology. By Faubion Bowers. Jane Reichhold’s haiku were retrieved from Dictionary of Haiku.

1. “The 24 Solar Terms”; China Educational Tours
2. “6 Solar Terms of Spring”; China Educational Tours
3. “24 Solar Terms: Things you may not know about the Spring Equinox”; ChinaDaily
4. 72 Seasons App
5. “Japan’s 72 Microseasons”; Nippon.com
6. “Japanese Cherry Blossom Festivals”: JRPass.com
7. Boeckmann, Catherine; “Worm Moon: Full Moon in March 2024”. Almanac.org 
8. “Mono no Aware: The Transience of Life”;  The Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs