Rittō (立冬): Start of Winter
The day winter begins in the traditional calendar.
| Year | Date and time (Japan Standard Time) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Nov 7, 2025 (Fri) 13:04 |
| 2026 | Nov 7, 2026 (Sat) 18:52 |
| 2027 | Nov 8, 2027 (Mon) 0:38 |
Times are found from the sun's apparent longitude (Japan Standard Time).
What Rittō means
Rittō is a setsu (節, “joint”) term: in the eto calendar the Pig month begins on this day. In Four Pillars and Nine Star Ki, the month's eto and star change at Rittō.
Customs and seasonal food around Rittō
Around Shichi-go-san and the Tori-no-ichi fairs. In season: apples and Chinese cabbage.
The 72 kō of Rittō
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 | 山茶始開 | Camellias start to bloom |
| 2nd | 地始凍 | The ground starts to freeze |
| 3rd | 金盞香 | Daffodils give off their scent |
1st kō: Camellias start to bloom (山茶始開)
Sasanqua camellias begin to bloom. The characters 山茶 originally mean camellia (tsubaki), but the flower blooming now is the sasanqua. A kō found only in Japan. Winter begins on paper, the first cold winds blow, and people prepare for winter.
2nd kō: The ground starts to freeze (地始凍)
The earth begins to freeze, a name shared with the Senmyō calendar. Frost columns appear in the north. Shichi-go-san on 15 November celebrates children's growth with a shrine visit. Families traditionally chose a day to bring out the kotatsu.
3rd kō: Daffodils give off their scent (金盞香)
Narcissus flowers bloom and scent the air. Kinsen, “golden cup”, likens the yellow center of the narcissus to a gold goblet; it is not the calendula that shares the name. A kō found only in Japan.