August (hachigatsu)

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August (hachigatsu 八月)

***** Location:　Japan. Worldwide
***** Season: Early Autumn
***** Category: Season

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Explanation


Haiku hachigatsu in the Edo period relates to the climate of present-day September,
but some festivals are dated in our present-day August.

. . Names of Japanese months and their meanings . .

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August, eighth month, hachigatsu 八月 (はちがつ)

other names for this month (the 7th month in the Asian lunar calendar)

fumizuki 文月 (ふみづき) , fuzuki 文月（ふづき）
"month of the Tanabata Festival", tanabata zuki
七夕月（たなばたづき）
fumihiroge zuki 文披月（ふみひろげづき）
ominaeshizuki 女郎花月（おみなえしづき）

"first month of autumn" aki hazuki 秋初月（あきはづき）
"cool month" ryoogetsu 涼月（りょうげつ）
new month, shingetsu 親月（しんげつ）
sengetsu 餞月（せんげつ）, rangetsu 蘭月（らんげつ）,
soogetsu 相月（そうげつ）
nanayo zuki 七夜月（ななよづき）
medeaizuki めであい月（めであいづき）

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leaf month, hazuki 葉月 (はづき)
kigo for mid-autumn

other names for this month (the 8th month in the Asian lunar calendar, now September)

related kigo to this month

month for moon viewing, tsukimi zuki 月見月（つきみづき)
month with autumn wind, akikaze zuki 秋風月（あきかぜづき）
kusatsu zuki 草津月（くさつづき）
"trees start to color" kosome zuki 木染月（こそめづき）
nozome zuki 濃染月（こぞめづき）
red colored month, benizome zuki 紅染月（べにぞめづき）

month with bushclover, hagizuki 萩月（はぎづき)
month when swallows leave, tsubame sari zuki
燕去月（つばめさりづき）、

month when geese come, kari kuzuki 雁来月（かりくづき)

soogetsu 荘月（そうげつ）, keigetsu桂月（けいげつ）
chuuritsu 中律（ちゅうりつ）, nangetsu 難月（なんげつ）
chuushoo 中商（ちゅうしょう）

. September (kugatsu 九月) .

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August---Looking up at the Night Sky
Inahata Teiko

　It is autumn on the calendar, after passing the risshu (the first day of autumn, about 8 August). Even though the hot days still continue, we feel a little relieved when these days are called zansho (lingering heat). Autumn is surely stealing up to us from nowhere, although we don't realize it. And it is these days that we are conscious of coolness of autumn in the morning and in the evening. We can find the keen sense of the season of autumn in a waka poem, composed by Fujiwara-no Toshiyuki, which is in the collection of the "Kokinwakashu ":

aki kinu to ... Autumn has come
me ni wa sayaka ni ... Without realizing clearly
miene domo ... With eyes, however,
kaze no oto nizo ... The sound of wind
odorokarenuru. .... Surprises us.


In haiku, the same sense can be recognized in the seasonal word shinryo (new coolness). It is not too much to say that the delicate sensibility toward the turning of seasons stems from the high spiritual culture which the Japanese have gained from living in harmony with nature.
It is important that we should pass down the seasonal words which our ancestors chose and formed .

As the heat, as well as the temperature, decreases in severity, the air gets clearer and the sky gets more beautiful. So you have more chances to look up at the night sky, don't you?

　In August there are many seasonal words related to the night sky like hoshizukiyo (starlit night=stars like the moon night), hoshimatsuri (Star Festival), tanabata (the Festival of the Weaver), ryusei (a shooting star).

　But recently the town is too bright to see the stars in the night sky. It is a pity that we might lose the beautiful starry sky as a result of our pursuit of a comfortable life in the city.

　In August there are also many seasonal words regarding the Bon Festival, welcoming the ancestral spirits. The way of life and the spirit of the Japanese, as an agricultural people, are reflected on these words. And also August 15th is the day commemorating our defeat in the World War II. Never forget the day. We should reflect on our past conduct, deeply think our history and offer prayers to the deceased. We don't think that the day of August 15 accidentally falls on the O-Bon.

©　Inahata Teiko, NATURE AND OUR LIFE


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Worldwide use

Southern Hemisphere, Tropics ...
Adjustments for each region must be made.

Calendar reference kigo

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Things found on the way


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HAIKU



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Related words


***** August 1 (hassaku)
August second :nochi no futsuka kyuu　後の二日灸



***** Bon Festival (o-bon) Japan.



***** Calendar reference kigo


. WKD : August - KIGO CALENDAR .


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