January
2026/01/05-01/09 SERI (Japanese parsley) flourishes
January 5th-9th, 2026 is Winter-SHOKAN (Lesser cold)-67th KOU “SERI flourishes”
The first day of the 67th KOU is KAN-NO-IRI (the beginning of winter). From here comes SHOKAN (Lesser cold) and DAIKAN (Greater cold), the coldest times of the year.
At this time of year, when almost all fresh vegetables are gone, it is an old custom to search for some vegetables/herbs that are still growing in the fields and eat them while thinking about spring, one of which is SERI (Japanese parsley).
I finally found wild parsley!
I’d actually been looking for it for ages. According to websites, it grows wild all over the country, from suburban areas and farmland to mountainous regions, but for some reason I’d never seen it around here.
January 7th is the day to take NANAKUSA (seven vegetables/herbs)-GAYU (rice porridge).
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2025/01/10-01/14 Springs thaw
January 10th, 2025 – January 14th, 2025 is Winter – SHOKAN (Lesser cold)-68th KOU “Springs thaw.”
This morning’s minimum temperature was -6.8°C. It was the coldest day of the winter. I went out wearing an extra layer of long sleeves.
As I walked, the frost pillars on the ground crunched. The sunlight on my back began to make me break out in a slight sweat.
On days like this when radiation cooling is strong, the temperature can rise during the day. The forecast says it will reach 13°C…
Water is flowing around the ice. Do you think the water is warm as the 68th KOU says? Umm… actually, it was cold.
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2026/01/15-01/19 Pheasants start to call
January 15th-19th, 2024 is Winter-Shokan (lesser cold)-69th KOU “Pheasants start to call.”
When searching for the meaning of this phrase, many explanations say that pheasants enter breeding season and begin courtship behavior. Many also say that the breeding season begins around April.
??? ???
The author must have been conveying a longing for spring in the midst of this coldest season through the pheasant’s first call.
Along the Sai River, you can hear them calling all year round. This season, I heard their calls often, especially from November to December, and I have also seen them more often than usual.
However, they seem to sense my presence from quite a distance, and will suddenly jump up and fly away or run away (apparently at speeds of over 30km/h).
Because they are so sudden, I’ve never been able to get a good photo of them until now. This is the first time I’ve managed to capture them flying✌️
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2026/01/20-01/24 Butterburs bud
January 20th-24th, 2026 is Winter-Daikan (Greater cold)-70th KOU “Butterburs bud.”
When I woke up this morning, I didn’t feel warm in the room. The fan heater should turn on automatically 10 minutes before 6 a.m…. Yes, it’s working well.
I see! we’ve entered the coldest period of the year, the Greater Cold.
The temperature outside at 6 a.m. this morning was -4°C. There’s also a light snowfall. It’s light and fine snow, the kind that falls when it’s quite cold.
These past few days, the maximum temperature has been 11°C or 14°C on some days, but also 2°C or 4°C on others, and the minimum temperature has been -5.5°C or -6.4°C on some days. There has been a lot of fluctuation.
FUKI-NO-TOU (butterburs bud) have started to appear, the temperature fluctuated greatly, and today it even snowed, though. They show up at the same place and at the same time of year as always❤️
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