Botan, known as the “King of a Hundred Flowers,” unfurls its voluminous petals. The flowering of the peony has long been recognized as a turning point in the traditional microseasonal calendar. With a bloom period of roughly ten days, the peony appears just as Spring prepares to give way to Summer. Its presence is not merely decorative, but an unmistakable sign of change.

Weather warms and frost surrenders, mark​ing the preparation of seedbeds, or nawashiro. ​The sound of water ​being drawn into the paddies​ can be heard all across the countryside, and the earth is carefully leveled. This attention to detail in ​preparing the land ​h​as a direct correlation to the health of the rice ​a​s it grows. An masterful skill to ensure that ​harvest can sustain ​a​n entire community ​over a full year. ​​

Slender shoots of reeds, including ashi or yoshi, emerge in wetlands and riverbanks, signaling the arrival of Spring’s full embrace. Reeds, with their tall, graceful forms, are a quintessential feature of the Japanese landscape. These perennial plants are known for their remarkable versatility. Their hollow, sturdy stalks have served us for centuries, particularly in the creation of sudaré, the traditional bamboo screen.

Rainbows, unseen through the dry clarity of Winter, return as Spring air is nourished with water. Known in Japanese as hatsu-niji, the first rainbow is visual seasonal marker. Though rainbows are typically considered Summer vocabulary in Japanese poetry, hatsu-niji belongs to late Spring, offering a glimpse of transition to come. Always positioned opposite the sun, morning rainbows appear in the west, and evening rainbows in the east.

As spring unfolds, the natural world orchestrates a series of migratory transitions. In synchrony with the arrival of swallows, geese commence their northward journey to regions such as Siberia and North America. There, they will nest and rear their young, returning to Japan with the onset of Autumn. The cyclical nature of their migration has long been emblematic of seasonal rhythms and has inspired numerous artistic and literary works throughout Japanese history.​

When cherry blossoms fall, willow trees sway in the wind, and Spring rains begin, swallows ride the warm southern breeze back to Japan. After spending Winter in southern islands, swallows travel thousands of kilometers. Gliding effortlessly over rice paddies, their arrival marks the true start of farming season.