Like many countries, Japan has 4 seasons.
It also has 72 micro-seasons!
Traditionally the Japanese year was divided into 72 seasons of roughly 5 days each. Each of these micro-seasons was named after the changes in the natural world that could be observed at the time, or the current agricultural activities.
Next week (from May 26 – 30) is 紅花栄 (Benibana sakau) “Safflowers bloom”.
Safflowers are pretty yellow and red flowers that bloom around this time.
The bright red pigment made from them was historically worth more than its weight in gold. It used to be used as a clothing dye, and also for the red lipstick worn by geisha.
While doing some research I realised that these are the flowers which feature heavily in the Ghibli movie Only Yesterday. In the movie, the protagonist Taeko takes a vacation to the countryside to visit her childhood home. Her family run a safflower farm which still produces red safflower dye in the traditional way.
Calligraphy by Vicky 