A saijiki (歳時記, "year time chronicle") is a list of 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. A kiyose (Japanese: 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 (muki 無季) 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:
Contents
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 FebruaryIn categorising kigo, a saijiki or kiyose divides each season into early, middle, and late periods, as follows:
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