72 Microseasons

Screenshot of  app 72 Seasons (screenshot by the Claire Voon for Hyperallergic)

 There's a new app that reminds you what microseason (ko) you are in.  According to Hyperallergic:

Many people measure their year in four seasons; others, just two. In ancient Japan, the total came to a whopping 72, with each lasting about five days, all together making up 24 larger divisions known as sekki. While this may sound confusing, these 72 microseasons are meant to express the passing of the calendar year as a soothing, poetic journey that draws your focus to the subtle shifts of the natural world. Rather than simple descriptors like “summer” or “wet,” these 72 kō instead have names that translate into mellifluous phrases such as, “Dew glistens white on grass,” “First peach blossoms,” or “Bush warblers start singing in the mountains.” These titles originally arrived from Chinese sources, but the Edo period’s first official astronomer, Shibukawa Shunkai, rewrote them in 1685 to better fit the Japanese climate.

The App, called 72 Seasons, introduces users to more than just the name of the season.

Designed with an interface that resembles a Japanese scroll, “72 Seasons” shows you one microseason at a time, updating about every five days so you really have to take the seasons as they arrive. Each comes with seasonal words, foods, activities, and illustrations often drawn from ancient Japanese texts or prints as well as explanations for their significance in Japanese culture. “The Bear Retreats to its Den,” for instance, which spans December 12 to 16, presents the Japanese artichoke as a seasonal vegetable and the sea cucumber as both seasonal fish and word. And the plump slug, as the app explains, is a favorite subject of haiku poets; one included example: The sea cucumber/speaks of its anguish/to the jellyfish.