Like many countries, Japan uses a 12-month calendar. The names are very simple. January is literally “Month one”, February is “Month two”, etc:
一月 = January
二月 = February
However, before the Meiji Restoration (mid-1800s) it was common to use an older 12-month system. These months’ names referenced the weather and the seasons (similar to the French Revolutionary calendar).
“霜” refers to frost, which seems a little early for November. This is because this old calendar system is based on a lunar calendar with exactly 28 days in each month. The months don’t fit into a year exactly, and so the months get earlier and earlier each year. Every so often the calendar had to be adjusted a little.
Calligraphy by Vicky 