Summer Kigo — 150 Words from Rikka to Yūyake

The Range and Hon’i of Summer

The seasonal range of summer (natsu) is the three months from Rikka (around May 5) to Risshū (around August 8). In the modern solar-calendar sense, “high summer” is July-August; but in haiku, summer begins already in May.

The hon’i of summer is “vigor” and “openness”:

• The season when everything grows lush and heat and light abound
• Contrasts of “cool,” “hot,” “stillness,” and “sound” form the core of its seasonal feel
• Cicada voices, thunder, evening showers, yukata, Bon dance — summer is the season of sound, light, and body

Below, the leading 150 kigo of summer are arranged in the order of the seven saijiki categories.

1. Jikō — Words of the Time of Summer

Early Summer (May - early June)

• Rikka — around May 5, the start of summer
• Hakusho — the mild heat of early summer
• Shoka — early summer
• Mugi no aki — the ripening of wheat in early summer (literally “the autumn of wheat”)

Mid Summer (mid June - early July)

• Tsuyu — the long rains of June-July
• Geshi — around June 21, the longest day
• Mijikayo — the short night around the solstice
• Satsuki-bare — a fair spell during the rainy season
• Chūka — mid summer

Late Summer (mid July - early August)

• Taisho — around July 23
• Ensho — flame-like heat
• Doyō — the 18 days before Risshū, the last of summer
• Doyō-nami — waves of the sea in doyō
• Banka — late summer
• Aki chikashi — the end of summer, autumn near

Whole Summer

• Suzushi — cool
• Atsushi — hot
• Ase — sweat

Representative Verses

• Bashō: “Natsukusa ya / tsuwamono-domo ga / yume no ato” — summer at Hiraizumi
• Bashō: “Shizukesa ya / iwa ni shimi-iru / semi no koe” — summer at Risshaku-ji
• Buson: “Samidare ya / taiga wo mae ni / ie ni-ken” — signature verse of samidare

2. Tenmon — The Sky and Weather of Summer

Sky and Clouds

• Natsu no tsuki — the moon of the short summer night
• Natsu no sora — the high blue summer sky
• Natsu no kumo — cumulonimbus of summer
• Kumo no mine — the summit of thunderheads
• Nyūdōgumo — cumulonimbus
• Asayake — morning glow
• Yūyake — intense summer evening glow

Rain and Thunder

• Samidare — the long rains of the old fifth month (equivalent to the modern rainy season)
• Tsuyu — (modern term)
• Tsuyu-ake — end of the rainy season
• Yūdachi — sudden afternoon downpour of summer
• Kaminari — thunder of summer
• Raiu — thunderstorm
• Inabikari — lightning
• Niji — rainbow
• Satsuki-bare — clear spells within tsuyu

Wind

• Kaze kaoru — wind carrying the scent of young leaves
• Aoarashi — the wind of early summer
• Kunpū — fragrant wind
• Minami-kaze / Hae — the south wind of summer

Representative Verses

• Bashō: “Samidare wo / atsumete hayashi / Mogamigawa” — signature verse of samidare
• Buson: “Yūdachi ya / kusaba wo tsukamu / muraSuzume” — an evening shower
• Issa: “Kumo no mine / ikutsu kuzurete / tsuki no yama” — (actually by another poet) cumulonimbus

3. Chiri — The Landscape of Summer

• Natsu no umi — the calm summer sea
• Natsu no kawa — the summer river
• Aota — the paddy with young green rice
• Tamizu waku — the water of the summer paddy
• Himuro — an icehouse
• Taki — the summer waterfall
• Taki no oto — the sound of the waterfall
• Shimizu — clear spring water of summer
• Izumi — a spring
• Suichūka — artificial flowers in water
• Uchimizu — sprinkling water on the ground

Representative Verses

• Bashō: “Suzushisa ya / hono mikazuki no / Haguro-yama” — summer at Mount Haguro
• Buson: “Suzushisa ya / kane wo hanaruru / kane no koe” — coolness

4. Seikatsu — Life in Summer

Farm Work

• Taue — rice-planting around June
• Sanae — the seedlings for taue
• Tamizu haru — filling the paddy with water
• Mugikari — wheat harvest
• Ayukumi — catching ayu

Seeking the Cool

• Suzumi — taking coolness
• Nōryō — going outdoors for coolness
• Uchimizu — sprinkling water
• Uchiwa — round fan
• Ōgi — folding fan
• Kaya — mosquito net, summer bedding
• Sudare — bamboo blinds
• Fūrin — wind bell

Food

• Hiyayakko — chilled tofu
• Hiyamugi — chilled wheat noodles
• Sōmen — thin wheat noodles
• Unagi — eel, on Doyō no Ushi
• Kakigōri — shaved ice
• Kōri — ice
• Tokoroten — agar noodles
• Bīru — beer
• Umeshu — plum liquor

Clothing

• Yukata — summer kimono
• Hitoe — unlined kimono
• Sangurasu — sunglasses (modern kigo)
• Mugiwara-bōshi — straw hat of summer

Others

• Natsuyasumi — summer vacation (modern)
• Pūru — swimming pool (modern kigo)
• Kaisui-yoku — sea bathing
• Kyanpu — camping

Representative Verses

• Bashō: “Omoshirō te / yagate kanashiki / ubune kana” — cormorant fishing (summer)
• Issa: “Suzushisa ya / tenshu no shita no / waga ie” — coolness in daily life
• Kyoshi: “Kawa wo miru / banana no kawa wa / te yori otsu” — banana (summer)

5. Gyōji — The Festivals of Summer

• Tango — May 5, the boys’ festival
• Koinobori — carp streamers
• Shōbu-yu — the iris bath on Tango
• Kashiwa-mochi — sweet on Tango
• Chimaki — steamed rice dumpling
• Haha no Hi — Mother’s Day, second Sunday of May
• Aoi Matsuri — Kyoto’s May festival
• Hotaru-gari — firefly viewing, around June
• Gion Matsuri — Kyoto’s July festival
• Tenjin Matsuri — Osaka’s July festival
• Tanabata — July 7 (modern); in the old calendar, early autumn
• Obon (Urabon) — mid August
• Bon Odori — Bon dance
• Shōryō-nagashi — floating spirit lanterns
• Doyō no Ushi — the ox day of Doyō
• Chichi no Hi — Father’s Day, third Sunday of June (modern)

Representative Verse

• Bashō: “Samidare no / furi-nokoshite ya / Hikari-dō” — the Golden Hall of Hiraizumi (samidare and event)

6. Dōbutsu — The Living Creatures of Summer

Insects

• Semi — the summer cicada
• Aburazemi — greater brown cicada
• Minmin-zemi — a species of cicada
• Hōshi-zemi — the tsukutsuku-bōshi cicada
• Higurashi — the evening cicada
• Ka — mosquito
• Kabashira — a swarm of mosquitoes
• Kayari — smoke to drive away mosquitoes
• Hotaru — firefly, around June
• Kumo — spider
• Ari — ant
• Tombo — dragonfly (the young ones of early summer; full form in autumn)
• Katatsumuri — snail, around the rainy season

Fish

• Ayu — summer fish
• Unagi — eel
• Kingyo — goldfish
• Funa — crucian carp
• Ankō — anglerfish (sometimes winter)

Birds

• Hototogisu — cuckoo, the bird of summer whose call is treated as special
• Kakkō — cuckoo (another kind)
• Tsuyudori — another name for hototogisu

Mammals

• Kōmori — bat, at summer dusk

Representative Verses

• Bashō: “Omoshirō te / yagate kanashiki / ubune kana” — cormorants (summer)
• Bashō: “Shizukesa ya / iwa ni shimi-iru / semi no koe” — signature verse of the cicada
• Buson: “Natsukawa wo / kosu ureshisa yo / te ni zōri” — summer river
• Kyoshi: “Kingyodama / ame mo fuchin su” — goldfish
• Kusatao: “Banryoku no / naka ya ako no ha / hae somuru” — summer

7. Shokubutsu — Flowers and Grasses of Summer

Flowering Trees

• Botan — peony, early summer (debated at the spring/summer boundary)
• Shakuyaku — Chinese peony, early summer
• Shakunage — rhododendron, May
• Ajisai — hydrangea, June, the flower of the rainy season
• Zakuro — pomegranate, flower and fruit
• Nemu — silk tree, around July
• Sarusuberi — crape myrtle, July-August
• Hasu — lotus, July-August
• Suiren — water lily

Grasses and Wildflowers

• Yuri — lily, July
• Aoi — hollyhock, June
• Bara — rose, May-June
• Himawari — sunflower, July-August, representative of summer
• Asagao — morning glory (actually an autumn kigo, but felt as summer today)
• Yūgao — moonflower, July
• Asatsuyu — morning dew of summer
• Hasu no hana — lotus flower

Vegetables and Edibles

• Kyūri — cucumber
• Nasu — eggplant
• Suika — watermelon
• Tōmorokoshi — corn
• Edamame — green soybeans
• Aoyu — unripe yuzu

Trees and Leaves

• Aoba — young summer leaves
• Banryoku — all-green, established by Kusatao
• Aota-kaze — wind across the green paddy
• Wakaba — young leaves
• Shigeri — dense growth of trees
• Yanagi no wata — willow down

Representative Verses

• Kusatao: “Banryoku no / naka ya ako no ha / hae somuru” — signature verse of banryoku
• Kyoshi: “Botan hyaku ni-hyaku san-byaku mon hitotsu” — peony
• Kyoshi: “Shizukanaru / chikara michi-ite / matsu no shin” — the pine shoot (early summer)

Shifting Seasonal Feel in Summer

May 5 (Rikka) in the modern calendar still feels like a continuation of spring. Sakura is falling; azalea and wisteria are blooming; the temperature is comfortable. We feel “summer” only from mid-June on.

August 8 (Risshū) in the modern calendar feels in the midst of high summer. Fierce heat, heatstroke, Bon vacation — one cannot call this “autumn.”

To reconcile this gap, modern poets:

• Compose Rikka through the end of May as “early summer” (shoka)
• Compose June-July as “rainy season” (tsuyu) or “high summer”
• Compose August as “late summer” (past Risshū if still hot) or as “residual heat” (zansho, an autumn kigo)

The gap between saijiki categories and modern feel is one of the important issues in modern haiku.

Toward the Next Article

From the heat and vigor of summer to the clear air and pensiveness of autumn. The next article steps into the world of autumn kigo — moon, autumn leaves, saury, cosmos, scarecrow, rice harvest. Autumn is the season with haikai’s most introspective feeling, and its masterpieces rival those of spring.