Saijiki
A  is a list of Japanese kigo (seasonal terms) used in haiku and related forms of poetry. An entry in a saijiki usually includes a description of the kigo itself, as well as a list of similar or related words, and some examples of haiku that include that kigo. A  is similar, but does not contain sample poems. Modern saijiki and kiyose are divided into the four seasons and New Year, with some containing a further section for  topics. Each seasonal section is further divided into a standard set of categories, each containing a list of relevant kigo. The most common categories are the season, the heavens, the earth, humanity, observances, animals and plants.

Japanese seasons
In the Japanese calendar, seasons traditionally followed the lunisolar calendar with the solstices and equinoxes at the middle of a season. The traditional Japanese seasons are:
 Spring: 4 February–5 May
 Summer: 6 May–7 August
 Autumn: 8 August–6 November
 Winter: 7 November–3 February

In categorising kigo, a saijiki or kiyose divides each season into early, middle, and late periods, as follows:

 Early spring: 4 February–5 March
 Mid-spring: 6 March–4 April
 Late spring: 5 April–5 May
 Early summer: 6 May–5 June
 Mid-summer: 6 June–6 July
 Late summer: 7 July–7 August
 Early autumn: 8 August–7 September
 Mid-autumn: 8 September–7 October
 Late autumn: 8 October–6 November
 Early winter: 7 November–6 December
 Mid-winter: 7 December–4 January
 Late winter: 5 January–3 February

Bibliography

English
 The Five Hundred Essential Japanese Season Words, selected by Kenkichi Yamamoto, on Renku Home
 William J. Higginson, ed. Haiku world: an international poetry almanac. Kodansha, 1996. 
 The Japanese Haiku Topical Dictionary at the University of Virginia Japanese Text Initiative
 World Kigo Database, worldwide saijiki

French
 LE SAIJIKI: Ephéméride poétique à l'usage des poètes composant des haïku en langue française   - Le Saijiki, the French version of the Saijiki by Seegan Mabesoone, has been available since 1998.

Japanese
 Masaoka Shiki, ed. Kiyose. 1930 ()
 Kyoshi Takahama, ed. A New Saijiki, 1934 ()
 Teiko Inahata, ed. The New Hototogisu Saijiki, 1996 ()

References

External links
A Dictionary of Haiku, Classified by Season Words with Traditional and Modern Methods, by Jane Reichhold (AHA Books)

See also
 Haiku in English
 List of kigo
 Renga, an older form of poetry employing kigo
 Renku, the poetic form from which haiku derived, also using kigo

Japanese poetry
Haikai forms
Japanese literary terminology
Kigo