Winter Kigo — 150 Words from Rittō to Ōmisoka

The Range and Hon’i of Winter

The seasonal range of winter (fuyu) is the three months from Rittō (around November 8) to Risshun (around February 4). In the modern solar-calendar sense, winter is December-February, but in haiku, winter begins already in early November.

The hon’i of winter is “stillness” and “inwardness”:

• The season when everything freezes and sound falls away
• Contrasts of “cold” and “warm” (kotatsu, hot pot, charcoal fire) form the core of its seasonal feel
• “Frozen,” “white,” “silence” — winter is the season of the aesthetic of subtraction

Winter kigo carry, even more than other seasons, the sense of “the inwardness of life.” The season concentrates the masterpieces of Issa and Bashō.

1. Jikō — Words of the Time of Winter

Early Winter (November - early December)

• Rittō — around November 8, the start of winter
• Shotō — early winter
• Fuyu chikashi — paired with the autumn kigo, winter near
• Fuyumeku — becoming winter-like
• Koharu — a warm day around Rittō
• Koharu-biyori — Indian-summer day

Mid Winter (mid December - early January)

• Shiwasu — the old 12th month
• Tōji — around December 22, the shortest day
• Tanjitsu — the short day around the solstice
• Kazoebi — counting the remaining days of the year
• Toshi no kure — year’s end
• Toshi no se — the year’s eve

Late Winter (mid January - early February)

• Shōkan — around January 5
• Daikan — around January 20, the coldest time of year
• Kan — the 30 days from Shōkan to Risshun
• Kan no iri — entry into kan
• Kan no uchi — within kan
• Kan-ake — Risshun
• Bantō — late winter
• Haru chikashi — near Risshun

Whole Winter

• Samushi — cold
• Tsumetashi — chilly
• Kōru — to freeze

Representative Verses

• Bashō: “Tabi ni yande / yume wa kareno wo / kakemeguru” — Bashō’s death-verse, winter Osaka (late 10th month old = late November modern)
• Bashō: “Fuyu no hi ya / bajō ni kōru / kagebōshi” — the winter sun, travel
• Issa: “Kore ga maa / tsui no sumika ka / yuki go-shaku” — winter life

2. Tenmon — The Sky and Weather of Winter

Sky and Clouds

• Fuyu no tsuki — the cold winter moon
• Fuyu no sora — the clear winter sky
• Fuyu no hoshi — the clear winter stars
• Orion — a leading winter constellation (modern)
• Sayu — chilled and clarified
• Sayuru tsuki — the clarified moon

Snow and Frost

• Yuki — snow, the leading winter kigo
• Hatsuyuki — the first snow
• Konayuki — powder snow
• Botan-yuki — large snowflakes
• Yuki-akari — the reflected light of snow
• Yukimi — snow viewing
• Yukikaki — snow-shoveling
• Yukidaruma — snowman (modern life)
• Kōri — ice
• Tsurara — icicle
• Usurai — thin winter ice (different from the early-spring thin ice)
• Kōru — to freeze
• Shimo — winter frost
• Shimobashira — frost columns
• Shimoyo — frosty night
• Shimotsuki — the old 11th month

Rain and Wind

• Shigure — light passing rain of early winter
• Fuyu no ame — winter rain
• Hisame — cold winter rain
• Kogarashi — the strong north wind of winter
• Kanpū — cold wind
• Kitakaze — north wind
• Karakaze — dry winter wind
• Yamaoroshi — winter wind blowing down from mountains

Representative Verses

• Bashō: “Kareeda ni / karasu no tomari-keri / aki no kure” — an autumn dusk / winter piece
• Issa: “Utsukushi ya / shōji no ana no / Ama no gawa” — a winter variant with the winter moon and shōji
• Kyoshi: “Itechō no / onoga tama ou / gotoku nari” — the frozen butterfly

3. Chiri — The Landscape of Winter

• Kareno — the withered winter field
• Fuyuno — winter field
• Fuyu no kawa — winter river
• Fuyu no umi — the wild winter sea
• Fuyu no mizu — the clear winter water
• Yama nemuru — the mountain sleeping in winter
• Fuyu no yama — winter mountain
• Yukiyama — snow mountain
• Setsugen — snowfield
• Tōdo — frozen ground
• Hyōko — a frozen lake
• Fuyuta — the winter paddy after harvest

Representative Verses

• Bashō: “Tabi ni yande / yume wa kareno wo / kakemeguru” — signature verse of kareno
• Kyoshi: “Tōyama ni / hi no ataritaru / kareno kana” — a famous verse of kareno
• Buson: “Kogarashi ya / nani ni yowataru / ie go-ken” — cold wind and five houses

4. Seikatsu — Life in Winter

Heating and the Cold

• Kotatsu — the leading winter heater
• Hibachi — brazier
• Sumi — charcoal
• Sumibi — charcoal fire
• Ro — hearth
• Irori — sunken hearth
• Danbō — heating
• Sutōbu — stove
• Sētā — sweater (modern)
• Mafurā — muffler
• Tebukuro — gloves
• Kairo — hand warmer
• Wataire — padded kimono
• Futon — quilt
• Yutanpo — hot-water bottle

Food

• Nabe — hot pot, winter food
• Zōsui — rice porridge
• Ankō-nabe — anglerfish pot
• Buri — yellowtail
• Kaki — oyster
• Mochi — rice cake
• Mochi-tsuki — pounding rice cake, year’s end
• Zōni — New Year’s soup (borderline with New Year kigo)
• Buri-daikon — yellowtail-and-daikon
• Negi — winter leek
• Daikon — winter radish
• Kabu — turnip
• Hakusai — Chinese cabbage
• Soba — winter buckwheat, especially toshikoshi soba

Bath and Water

• Yu — winter hot spring
• Onsen — hot spring
• Yuzu-yu — the yuzu bath on the winter solstice

Winter Labor

• Tōkō — winter tilling
• Sumiyaki — charcoal burning
• Yukikaki — snow-shoveling

Representative Verses

• Bashō: “Hatsuyuki ya / saiwai an ni / makari aru” — life in the hut with first snow
• Issa: “Kore ga maa / tsui no sumika ka / yuki go-shaku” — life amid the snow
• Buson: “Kotatsu yoshi / yo wo wasururu mo / yo ni oru mo” — kotatsu

5. Gyōji — Festivals of Winter

November - December

• Shichi-Go-San (November 15) — (actually autumn kigo, but felt near winter today)
• Kinrō Kansha no Hi — Labor Thanksgiving (November 23, modern)
• O-seibo — year-end gifting
• Nenga-jō kaki — writing New Year cards
• Susuharai — the year-end big cleaning
• Susudake — soot-cleaning bamboo
• Toshigi — laying in firewood at year end
• Mochi-tsuki — pounding rice cake
• Shime-kazari — making year-end decorations
• Tōji no yuzu-yu / kabocha — yuzu bath and pumpkin on the solstice
• Kurisumasu — Christmas (modern)
• Toshi no ichi — the year-end market

End December - Early January (New Year boundary)

• Ōmisoka — December 31
• Joya — the night of December 31
• Joya no kane — the temple bell of joya
• Toshikoshi soba — year-crossing soba

January - February

• Kanchū-mimai — mid-winter greetings
• Setsubun — February 3, the day before Risshun
• Mamemaki — bean-throwing
• Oniyarai — driving out ogres
• Ehōmaki — modern
• Yuki matsuri — snow festival (modern)

Representative Verses

• Bashō: “Mochi wo yume ni / ori-musubi keri / matsu-kazura” — the dream of rice cake
• Kyoshi: “Itechō no / onoga tama ou / gotoku nari” — the frozen butterfly (a winter creature)

6. Dōbutsu — Living Creatures of Winter

Birds

• Tsuru — the crane, the leading winter bird, migrating from the north
• Kamo — duck, winter waterfowl
• Oshidori — mandarin duck
• Hakuchō — swan
• Taka — hawk, winter hunt
• Washi — eagle
• Kari — geese (arriving in autumn, but seen in winter too)
• Chidori — plover
• Shigi — snipe (also in winter)
• Karasu — crow, prominent in winter
• Suzume — sparrow — fukura-suzume (puffed-up)
• Fukurō — owl of the winter night
• Kankin — general term for winter birds

Fish

• Ankō — anglerfish, winter fish, ankō-nabe
• Buri — yellowtail
• Tara — cod
• Nishin — herring
• Kaki — oyster, a winter shellfish
• Buri-okoshi — the winter thunder (of Hokuriku)

Insects

• Itechō — frozen butterfly, unmoving in winter
• Watamushi — the white winter insect, snow insect
• Yukimushi — snow insect
• Fuyu no hae — a winter fly

Mammals

• Tanuki — raccoon dog, winter
• Kitsune — fox, winter
• Usagi — hare, winter
• Itachi — weasel
• Kuma — bear, entering hibernation
• Jūgari — the winter hunt

Representative Verses

• Bashō: “Umi kurete / kamo no koe / honokani shiroshi” — winter sea and ducks
• Kyoshi: “Hakuchō wa / kanashi kara zu ya / sora no ao / umi no ao ni mo / somazu tada yō” — (a tanka by Wakayama Bokusui, but the swan is winter)
• Kyoshi: “Itechō no / onoga tama ou / gotoku nari”

7. Shokubutsu — Flowers and Trees of Winter

Winter Flowers

• Sazanka — sasanqua, the flower of November-December
• Kantsubaki — winter camellia
• Cha no hana — tea flower, late autumn to early winter
• Suisen — narcissus, winter to early spring
• Rōbai — wintersweet, December-January
• Ume — (actually a spring kigo, but early bloomers are winter)
• Habotan — flowering kale, a winter ornamental

Winter Buds and Trees

• Fuyume — winter dormant buds
• Fuyu-kodachi — winter thicket of trees
• Raboku / Fuyu-ki — leafless tree / winter tree
• Kareki — withered tree
• Rakuyō — winter fallen leaves
• Kareha — dry leaves
• Kareeda — dry branch
• Kareshiba — withered grass
• Kare-obana — withered pampas grass
• Kare-ashi — withered reed
• Kare-susuki — withered pampas

Evergreens

• Matsu — the pine, evergreen, prominent in winter
• Sugi — cedar
• Hinoki — Japanese cypress
• Hīragi — holly, winter charm, at Setsubun
• Senryō — the winter fruit (New Year decoration)
• Manryō — coralberry
• Nanten — nandina, red winter fruit

Fruits and Edibles

• Mikan — mandarin, the leading winter fruit
• Yuzu — winter yuzu bath
• Ringo — apple (autumn into winter)
• Daikon — winter vegetable
• Kabu — turnip
• Hakusai — Chinese cabbage
• Negi — leek
• Gobō — burdock
• Ninjin — carrot

Representative Verses

• Kyoshi: “Daikan no / hokori no gotoku / hito shinu ya” — Daikan
• Bashō: “Fuyu-botan / chidori yo yuki no / hototogisu” — winter peony (composed as a winter flower)
• Buson: “Kangetsu ya / matsu no ma yori / tōku no umi” — the cold moon and pines

Shifting Seasonal Feel in Winter

November 8 (Rittō) in the modern calendar still feels like late autumn. Many places still have peak foliage, and one cannot easily call it “winter.” February 4 (Risshun) still feels like midwinter. It does not suddenly warm at Risshun.

Modern winter haiku:

• Early-mid November: compose as “early winter” (shotō), “Rittō,” “koharu”
• December - mid January: “midwinter,” “kan,” “deep winter”
• Late January - early February: “Daikan,” “kan-ake,” “haru chikashi”

Winter’s seasonal feel has been most affected by urbanization. In old Tokyo and Osaka snow used to pile up; today it is rare. The seasonal feel of “winter” has drifted, under warming and urbanization, considerably from the scenes assumed by the classic masterpieces.

Toward the Next Article

At the end of winter’s three months (early January - early February), New Year — January 1 to early January — is placed as an independent season. Set apart from the four seasons, it is the “season of celebration.” The next (and final) article in this series enters the world of New Year kigo — Hatsuhi, Kadomatsu, Ozōni, Kakizome, Nanakusa, Kagami-biraki. Winter and yet not winter, the turning point of the Japanese year.