Seimei (清明): Clear and Bright
Short for “pure, clean, bright and clear”: everything is fresh and full of life.
| Year | Date and time (Japan Standard Time) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Apr 4, 2025 (Fri) 21:48 |
| 2026 | Apr 5, 2026 (Sun) 3:40 |
| 2027 | Apr 5, 2027 (Mon) 9:17 |
Times are found from the sun's apparent longitude (Japan Standard Time).
What Seimei means
Seimei is a setsu (節, “joint”) term: in the eto calendar the Dragon month begins on this day. In Four Pillars and Nine Star Ki, the month's eto and star change at Seimei.
Customs and seasonal food around Seimei
In Okinawa, families hold Shīmī, a picnic at the family tomb. In season: wakame seaweed and sakura shrimp.
The 72 kō of Seimei
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 | 玄鳥至 | Swallows return |
| 2nd | 鴻雁北 | Wild geese fly north |
| 3rd | 虹始見 | First rainbows appear |
1st kō: Swallows return (玄鳥至)
Swallows arrive from the south. In the Senmyō calendar this was a kō of the equinox; in Japan it belongs to Seimei. A house where swallows nest is considered lucky. Many places are at the height of cherry-blossom season.
2nd kō: Wild geese fly north (鴻雁北)
Wild geese that wintered in Japan head back north. The Senmyō calendar had a similar kō around Shōkan, but Japan placed it in spring. Geese arriving in autumn and leaving in spring are both classic seasonal words in haiku. Bamboo shoots and fresh wakame are in season.
3rd kō: First rainbows appear (虹始見)
After spring rain, rainbows begin to appear, a name shared with the Senmyō calendar. Moister air and stronger sunlight make rainbows more likely, though spring rainbows are pale and fade quickly. It pairs with “rainbows hide” in Shōsetsu.