Risshū (立秋): Start of Autumn
The day autumn begins in the traditional calendar. From now on, people send late-summer greetings instead of midsummer ones.
| Year | Date and time (Japan Standard Time) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Aug 7, 2025 (Thu) 14:52 |
| 2026 | Aug 7, 2026 (Fri) 20:43 |
| 2027 | Aug 8, 2027 (Sun) 2:27 |
Times are found from the sun's apparent longitude (Japan Standard Time).
What Risshū means
Risshū is a setsu (節, “joint”) term: in the eto calendar the Monkey month begins on this day. In Four Pillars and Nine Star Ki, the month's eto and star change at Risshū.
Customs and seasonal food around Risshū
Greeting cards switch to zansho mimai, “lingering heat”. In season: corn and eggplant.
The 72 kō of Risshū
Each solar term is divided again into three periods of about five days, the 72 kō (七十二候, “microseasons”). The names here follow the 1874 Ryakuhon-reki almanac. The first person to adapt the Chinese names to Japan's own climate was the astronomer Shibukawa Harumi, in the Jōkyō calendar of 1685.
| Kō | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 涼風至 | Cool winds blow |
| 2nd | 寒蝉鳴 | Evening cicadas sing |
| 3rd | 蒙霧升降 | Thick fog descends |
1st kō: Cool winds blow (涼風至)
Cool breezes begin to blow, a name shared with the Senmyō calendar. Autumn has begun on paper but the late-summer heat is fierce, and greeting cards switch to “lingering heat”. Many areas celebrate Obon in August.
2nd kō: Evening cicadas sing (寒蝉鳴)
Higurashi cicadas begin to sing. Kansen appears in the Senmyō calendar as an autumn cicada, and Japan reads it as higurashi (some say tsukutsuku-bōshi). Their “kana-kana” call at dusk signals the end of summer. It is Obon, when welcoming and send-off fires are lit for the ancestors.
3rd kō: Thick fog descends (蒙霧升降)
Thick fog settles, a kō found only in Japan. Bigger temperature swings between day and night bring fog to valleys and waterside. Spring haze is kasumi; this autumn fog is kiri. The days are still hot, but the season is turning.