Shōsetsu (小雪): Minor Snow
The first snow begins to fall on the mountains.
| Year | Date and time (Japan Standard Time) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Nov 22, 2025 (Sat) 10:35 |
| 2026 | Nov 22, 2026 (Sun) 16:23 |
| 2027 | Nov 22, 2027 (Mon) 22:16 |
Times are found from the sun's apparent longitude (Japan Standard Time).
What Shōsetsu means
Shōsetsu is a chūki (中気, “middle”) term and falls in the middle of the Pig month. In the old lunisolar calendar, the month containing Shōsetsu was the 10th month.
Customs and seasonal food around Shōsetsu
Niiname-sai, the harvest thanksgiving (now Labor Thanksgiving Day). In season: mandarin oranges and yellowtail.
The 72 kō of Shōsetsu
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 | 虹蔵不見 | Rainbows hide |
| 2nd | 朔風払葉 | North wind blows the leaves away |
| 3rd | 橘始黄 | Tachibana oranges turn yellow |
1st kō: Rainbows hide (虹蔵不見)
Rainbows are no longer seen, a name shared with the Senmyō calendar, as weaker sunlight and dry air make them rare. It pairs with “first rainbows appear” in Seimei. Labor Thanksgiving Day on 23 November was once Niiname-sai, the harvest thanksgiving.
2nd kō: North wind blows the leaves away (朔風払葉)
Cold north winds strip the leaves from the trees, a kō found only in Japan. The landscape turns wintry, and first snow is reported in the north and the mountains.
3rd kō: Tachibana oranges turn yellow (橘始黄)
The fruit of the tachibana, a wild Japanese citrus, begins to turn yellow. A kō found only in Japan. Its evergreen leaves symbolize eternity, and a tachibana tree stands before the Shishinden hall of the Kyoto Imperial Palace. Mandarins are in season.