What IS 24 Sekki?

 

A year is divided into four seasons But here in Japan, there is also a calendar to divide a year into 24 sections.

It is called “24 Sekki (24節気).

 

In days long gone, people needed to know when to sew fields, when to harvest and other things related to living with nature and the changing seasons.

 

24 Sekki (the twenty-four divisions of a year) is originally from China.

In old China, people also had troubles with the gap between their calendars and the actual seasons.

People needed to accurately know the seasons’ transitions,

and that’s why the 24 sekki was invented.

 

It came to Japan in the 6th century.

However, some of the Chinese seasons don’t match Japanese seasons,

so zassetsu (雑節 / specific days for seasons other than the twenty-four divisions of a year) was added on Japanese calendars.

Back to Top

The Dates for 2023 /
The Meanings of 24 Sekki And The Zassetsu

24 SEKKI, 2023  

 

Season	Months based on 24 SEKKI	No.	SEKKI	Meaning	Date
Spring	January	1	RISSHUN (立春)	The start of spring	Feb.4th
		2	USUI (雨水)	The season the snow changes into rain and ice changes into water”	Feb.19th
	February	3	KEICHITSU (啓蟄)	The season when wintering insects come out of hibernation	Mar.6th
		4	SHUNBUN (春分)	The vernal spring equinox	Mar.21st
	March	5	SEIMEI 清明	Clear and bright season	Apr.5th
		6	KOKUU 穀雨	Grain rain season	Apr.20th
Summer	April	7	RIKKA 立夏	The beginning of Summer	May 6th
		8	SHŌMAN 小満	The season when the weather becomes fine and everything starts to go well.	May 21st
	May	9	BŌSHU 芒種	Time of planting grains	Jun.6th
		10	GESHI 夏至	The summer solstice	Jun.21st
	June	11	SHŌSHO 小暑	The beginning of midsummer	Jul.7th
		12	TAISHO 大暑	Midsummer (lit. big heat, blistering heat)	Jul.23rd
Autumn	July	13	RISSHŪ 立秋	The beginning of autumn	Aug.8th
		14	SHOSHO 処暑	The season in which heat stops	Aug.23rd
	August	15	HAKURO 白露	The season of Glistening dew	Sep.8th
		16	SHŪBUN 秋分	The autumnal equinox	Sep.23rd
	September	17	KANRO 寒露	The season of cold drops of dew	Oct.8th
		18	SŌKŌ 霜降	The season with the first frost of the autumn	Oct.24th
Winter	October	19	RITTŌ 立冬	The beginning of Winter	Nov.8th
		20	SHŌSETSU 小雪	The season the snow starts falling a little	Nov.22nd
	November	21	TAISETSU 大雪	The season in which it snows not only in the mountains but on the plains, too	Dec.7th
		22	TŌJI 冬至	The winter solstice	Dec.22nd
	December	23	SHŌKAN 小寒	The beginning of midwinter and the season of cold wind the snow	Jan.6th
		24	DAIKAN 大寒	The coldest season of the year (lit. big coldness)	Jan.20th

Back to Top

 

Category : 24 Divisions of The Solar Year , Japanese Culture , text @en

Tag : 24 divisions of the solar year , 24sekki , corona virus , COVID-19 , COVID19 , Emergency , Japanese culture , season , tanabata , The coronavirus , 日本の文化