Saijiki

A saijiki (歳時記, lit. "year-time chronicle") is a list of Japanese kigo (seasonal terms) used in haiku and related forms of poetry. An entry in a saijiki usually includes a description of the kigo itself, as well as a list of similar or related words, and some examples of haiku that include that kigo.^[1] A kiyose (季寄せ) is similar, but does not contain sample poems. Modern saijiki and kiyose are divided into the four seasons and New Year, with some containing a further section for seasonless (無季, muki) topics. Each seasonal section is further divided into a standard set of categories, each containing a list of relevant kigo. The most common categories are the season, the heavens, the earth, humanity, observances, animals and plants.

Japanese seasons

In the Japanese calendar, seasons traditionally followed the lunisolar calendar with the solstices and equinoxes at the middle of a season. The traditional Japanese seasons are:

Spring: 4 February–5 May
Summer: 6 May–7 August
Autumn: 8 August–6 November
Winter: 7 November–3 February

In categorising kigo, a saijiki or kiyose divides each season into early, middle, and late periods, as follows:^[2]

Early spring: 4 February–5 March
Mid-spring: 6 March–4 April
Late spring: 5 April–5 May
Early summer: 6 May–5 June
Mid-summer: 6 June–6 July
Late summer: 7 July–7 August
Early autumn: 8 August–7 September
Mid-autumn: 8 September–7 October
Late autumn: 8 October–6 November
Early winter: 7 November–6 December
Mid-winter: 7 December–4 January
Late winter: 5 January–3 February

Bibliography

English

The Five Hundred Essential Japanese Season Words, selected by Kenkichi Yamamoto, on Renku Home
William J. Higginson, ed. Haiku world: an international poetry almanac. Kodansha, 1996. ISBN 978-4-7700-2090-1
The Japanese Haiku Topical Dictionary at the University of Virginia Japanese Text Initiative
World Kigo Database, worldwide saijiki

French

LE SAIJIKI: Ephéméride poétique à l'usage des poètes composant des haïku en langue française (in French) - Le Saijiki, the French version of the Saijiki by Seegan Mabesoone, has been available since 1998.

Japanese

Masaoka Shiki, ed. Kiyose. 1930 (Japanese: 正岡子規編『季寄せ』（三省堂、1930）)
Kyoshi Takahama, ed. A New Saijiki, 1934 (Japanese: 高浜虚子編『新歳時記』（三省堂、1934）)
Teiko Inahata, ed. The New Hototogisu Saijiki, 1996 (Japanese: 稲畑汀子編『ホトトギス新歳時記』（三省堂、1996）＆ CD版（1998）)

References

^ Gill, Robin D. The Fifth Season—Poems to Re-Create the World: In Praise of Olde Haiku: New Year Ku; Books 1 & 2, Paraverse Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-9742618-9-8, p.18
^ Higginson, William J. Kiyose (Seasonword Guide), From Here Press, 2005, p.24

External links

A Dictionary of Haiku, Classified by Season Words with Traditional and Modern Methods, by Jane Reichhold (AHA Books)