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).
For example, November is 霜月.
霜 = frost
月 = month
So literally: “The frosty month”.
But isn’t November a little early for frost?
Well yes, it usually is. Especially so in most of Japan, where the temperatures are only just starting to get chilly in November.
The reason November is labelled as the “frosty month” is because the 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 forwards a little. Presumably this meant that sometimes there *was* frost in November!
Calligraphy by Vicky 