Seasons & Nature
The four seasons, the 24 solar terms, the 72 micro-seasons, rainy season and autumn leaves.
79 entriesTap a title to open the full entry: three lengths of English explanation, the questions people actually ask, ready-made phrases and audio.
Essential（20）
- ArtsEssential Japanese garden日本庭園the traditional garden
- ArtsEssential bonsai盆栽trees grown in trays
- Annual EventsEssential hanabi taikai花火大会the summer fireworks festival
- Annual EventsEssential hanami花見cherry blossom viewing
- Food & DrinkEssential kome米rice as the center of the meal
- Modern JapanEssential kafunsho花粉症hay fever, mostly from cedar pollen
- Modern JapanEssential eew緊急地震速報Japan's earthquake early warning alert
- Modern JapanEssential taifu台風the typhoons that reach Japan each year
- Modern JapanEssential jishin e no sonae地震への備えhow Japan prepares for earthquakes
- Seasons & NatureEssential tsubame no suツバメの巣the swallow nests built above shop entrances every spring
- Seasons & NatureEssential kosa黄砂the yellow dust blown in from deserts on the Asian continent
- Seasons & NatureEssential volcanoes and earthquakes火山と地震living on an unstable archipelago
- Seasons & NatureEssential koyo紅葉autumn leaves, and going to look at them
- Seasons & NatureEssential shiki四季the four seasons, as Japan talks about them
- Seasons & NatureEssential tsuyu梅雨the rainy season
- Seasons & NatureEssential Mount Fuji as a sacred mountain富士山と信仰Mount Fuji and mountain worship
- Seasons & NatureEssential mosho猛暑日extreme summer heat in Japan
- PlacesEssential the deer of Nara Park奈良公園の鹿the wild deer that roam a city park in Nara
- PlacesEssential Mount Fuji富士山Japan's highest mountain, an active volcano and a World Cultural Heritage site
- PlacesEssential Arashiyama嵐山the district of western Kyoto with the bridge, the temple garden and the bamboo path
Standard（46）
- CraftsStandard nishikigoi錦鯉ornamental koi carp bred for color, once called swimming jewels
- Annual EventsStandard otsukimiお月見moon viewing in autumn
- Annual EventsStandard umi no hi海の日Marine Day, the third Monday of July
- Annual EventsStandard yama no hi山の日Mountain Day, August 11th, Japan's newest public holiday
- Annual EventsStandard winter solstice冬至the shortest day, with a yuzu bath and pumpkin
- Annual EventsStandard toji and yuzu bath冬至とゆず湯the winter solstice and citrus baths
- Annual EventsStandard nijushi sekki二十四節気the twenty-four solar terms of the traditional calendar
- FolkloreStandard crane and turtle鶴と亀symbols of long life
- Food & DrinkStandard sansai and mushrooms山菜ときのこwild vegetables and mushrooms from the mountains
- Home & LivingStandard katori senko蚊取り線香mosquito coil
- Home & LivingStandard uchimizu打ち水sprinkling water on the ground to cool the air
- Modern JapanStandard shinkansen window views新幹線の車窓the passing scenery, especially Mount Fuji, that makes the shinkansen ride itself an attraction
- Seasons & NatureStandard Okinawa and Hokkaido沖縄と北海道の気候the two ends of Japan's climate
- Seasons & NatureStandard the sea and fishing海と漁業how Japan eats from the ocean
- Seasons & NatureStandard kiku菊chrysanthemum
- Seasons & NatureStandard kyureki旧暦the old lunisolar calendar Japan used until 1872
- Seasons & NatureStandard kingyo金魚goldfish, and the summer festival game of scooping them
- Seasons & NatureStandard icho銀杏the ginkgo tree
- Seasons & NatureStandard hotaru蛍fireflies
- Seasons & NatureStandard sakura zensen桜前線the cherry blossom front
- Seasons & NatureStandard ajisai紫陽花hydrangea
- Seasons & NatureStandard akisame zensen秋雨前線the autumn rain front that brings weeks of gray, wet weather
- Seasons & NatureStandard hatsuyuki and nezuki初雪と根雪the first snow and the snow that stays all winter
- Seasons & NatureStandard shochikubai松竹梅pine, bamboo and plum
- Seasons & NatureStandard shinrin no kuni森林の国how much of Japan is forest
- Seasons & NatureStandard sugi杉the Japanese cedar
- Seasons & NatureStandard yukikaki雪かきclearing snow as daily work
- Seasons & NatureStandard yukiguni雪国Japan's heavy snow regions
- Seasons & NatureStandard cicada song蝉の声the sound of a Japanese summer
- Seasons & NatureStandard rivers and bridges川と橋Japan's short steep rivers
- Seasons & NatureStandard senjo kosuitai線状降水帯the linear rainband that causes Japan's worst flash flooding
- Seasons & NatureStandard tanada棚田terraced rice paddies cut into mountain slopes
- Seasons & NatureStandard take竹bamboo
- Seasons & NatureStandard listening to insect songs虫の声を聴くenjoying the sound of autumn insects
- Seasons & NatureStandard asagao朝顔the morning glory
- Seasons & NatureStandard the shape of Japan日本列島の地形a long mountainous chain of islands
- Seasons & NatureStandard ume梅Japanese apricot blossom
- Seasons & NatureStandard satoyama里山the managed woodland between the village and the mountain
- PlacesStandard ferries and remote islandsフェリーと離島the ferry networks that connect Japan's thousands of smaller islands to the mainland
- PlacesStandard Yakushima屋久島the southern island of ancient cedars and constant rain
- PlacesStandard Kenrokuen兼六園the Kanazawa garden named for the six qualities a perfect garden should have
- PlacesStandard sakurajima桜島the active volcano that drops ash on a city of 600,000
- PlacesStandard Nihon Sankei日本三景the three famous views of Japan, chosen in the seventeenth century
- PlacesStandard the scale of Hokkaido北海道の広さhow much bigger Hokkaido is than most visitors expect
- ShintoStandard goshinboku御神木the sacred tree in a shrine precinct
- ShintoStandard chinju no mori鎮守の森the grove that surrounds a shrine
Advanced（13）
- ConceptsAdvanced kachofugetsu花鳥風月flower, bird, wind and moon
- Annual EventsAdvanced zassetsu雑節Japan's own seasonal markers, added to the imported calendar
- Annual EventsAdvanced jusanya十三夜the second moon-viewing night, about a month after the harvest moon
- Seasons & NatureAdvanced national parks国立公園Japan's national parks, where people live and work inside
- Seasons & NatureAdvanced sangaku shinko山岳信仰worship of mountains
- Seasons & NatureAdvanced jugai獣害crop damage by deer, boar and bears
- Seasons & NatureAdvanced koke苔moss
- Seasons & NatureAdvanced shiohigari潮干狩りdigging for clams at low tide
- Seasons & NatureAdvanced nihon no mizu日本の水Japan's paradox of abundant but scarce water
- PlacesAdvanced Mount Aso阿蘇山the active volcano in Kyushu with fifty thousand people living inside its caldera
- PlacesAdvanced Shiretoko知床the northeastern peninsula where drift ice reaches its southern limit
- PlacesAdvanced Tottori Sand Dunes鳥取砂丘the large coastal dunes on the Japan Sea, often mistaken for a desert
- ShintoAdvanced kannazuki神無月the month the gods are away