Foreword
Most of the people that know some Japanese, learnt that February is called "Ni Gatstu" 二月. But months in Japan have also romantic names that come from the Heian era (794-1185), a time when poetry was overflowing within the courts. So the name given to February was Kisaragi.
According to the ancient calendar, Kisaragi is divided in four sections - you can have a panorama of them here. These four sections fit more or less February, and I say more or less because remember: it is not the solar calendar we are looking at but a mix. In February -around the 4th or 5th, starts spring. The Japanese call this start "Risshun"-The First Spring-. And, like in our calendar, Japanese have several "intensities" of spring, each entitled to a different name. By now you understand how prone they are to naming everything. Indeed you could say, that every millimetre of existence gets nominated. Here is the proof.
We shall be working with two sets of calendars; the ancient calendar and the "occidental" one, such as February or Kisaragi.
In the ancient one, as I mentioned before, spring goes on from February 4th or 5th until May 4th or 5th, passing through many moods like "First Spring", "Rainwater", "Insects awakening", the "Spring Equinox", "Pure and Clear" and "Grain Rains". Then on the 5th of March starts summer. You will be surprised, but within these divisions there are further divisions, that actually makes a total of 72 micro-seasons.
The discovery of the 72 micro-seasons was quite a revelation for me. I will try to guide you without too much trouble and hope to succeed!
February or Kisagari, it is a quite an eventful month for the Tea people. At Risshun, as we saw before -around the 4th or 5th-. It is still cold, in fact, the coldest! But the Yang cycle -a Chinese concept- starts. From here onwards days will slowly become longer.The photograph above that illustrates this time of the year was taken in Japan, exactly at this time of year in the countryside.
The spirit of wabi, of humbleness, of simplicity, is really important at this time of year as it is important in October, specifically. The cherry blossoms are not yet, even though some species like kan sakura can be seen. But basically you have to bring to your imagination that spring it is only insinuated, and this is illustrated in a poem that reads:
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"To those who lust after only cherry blossom I want to point out the mountain helmet spring grasses breaking though the snow"
This is the spirit of wabi sabi.
As February continues to grow, there will be mist, and songs of warblers called "uguisu", who live in the mountains and come down to step on the branches of the plum trees.
This is the perfect time for 暁の茶事 "Akatsuki no Chaji", the tea ceremony that is held at dawn - from the time the roosters crow till the sun comes out- . Tea is enjoyed surrounded by the candlelight.
A wide mouth kettle is used, because it allows the steam to raise against this background, while a subtle winter sun slowly begins to illuminate from the tiny windows of the tea hut: wabi sabi, at its most.
The flowers associated with February are, amongst others, plum blossom "ume bai". To me these are just perfect: a symbol of winter and a harbinger of spring. But there is also a mystical side of them, like everything in the traditional Japanese culture: ume (plum) functions as a protective charm against evil, so the tree is traditionally planted in the northeast of the garden, the direction from which evil is believed to come.
The Tea Ceremony is broken into different stances, from darkness to light, from the roosters crowing to the sun coming up. It seems quite apparent, though not spoken, that what we are participating in is a recreation of that moment that goes from Yin to Yang, from contraction and darkness to expansion, warmth and light: spring, indeed. And all the elements reinforce this idea. Nothing should distract from it. That is why, even if Akatsuki no Chaji is held during all winter season, in my eyes, there is one specific time to perform this: February. And most specific, when the passing into spring itself. The crowing of roosters is so symbolic in Japan for it refers to Amaterasu -the sun goddess-. More information >here!
When serving a meal Oribe ceramic with a lid or Raku are ideal.
The sweets associated with February, like most traditional Japanese sweets, are really a kind of representation of a hiku. So it is really up to the imagination to bring a sweet that would inspire us to think of snow, ice and plum blossom, because this is what is happening in nature right now. One of my favourites that I produce a lot at home is "uguisu"mochi, warbler rice cake. It looks like this. Here is the real uguisu.
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