Winter - Fuyu (English spelling)

Japanese: 冬 - ふゆ（英語表記）winter

The fourth season when the year is divided into four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. It is between autumn and spring, but its duration can be measured in the following ways.

(1) Astronomically, it lasts from the winter solstice, when the solar longitude is 270 degrees, to the day before the vernal equinox, when this is 0 degrees.

(2) In meteorology, winter is defined as December to February in the Northern Hemisphere and June to August in the Southern Hemisphere.

(3) Winter, as used as a seasonal word in haiku, refers to the period from the beginning of winter (around November 8th) to the day before the beginning of spring (around February 4th). It is sometimes divided into three winters (all of winter): early winter (from the beginning of winter to the day before heavy snow, around December 7th), midwinter (from heavy snow to the day before little cold, around January 5th), and late winter (from little cold to the day before the beginning of spring, around February 3rd).

Etymologically, it is believed that the word winter is derived from "hiyu" (cold), which has been corrupted to "fuyu."

[Junkichi Nemoto and Takashi Aoki]

weather

It is the coldest season of the year, with temperatures at their lowest from the end of January to the beginning of February. In terms of the 24 solar terms, this corresponds to the period from Daikan (around January 20th) to around the beginning of spring. In addition to low temperatures, the following seasonal characteristics characterize winter in Japan:

(1) Sunrise is late, sunset is early, and daylight hours are short.

(2) The sun is lowest in the sky at noon, and the shadow is the longest.

(3) The weather is dominated by polar air masses over the continent, with northwesterly monsoons prevailing.

(4) Due to this seasonal wind, the Sea of Japan side will experience gloomy weather with lots of snow and rain, while the Pacific side will experience dry, sunny weather.

(5) Snow is heavier on the Japan Sea side in January and February, and heavier on the Pacific side in February and March. The latter occurs when the winter pressure pattern weakens and a low pressure system moves eastward along the southern coast of Japan.

(6) In cities, many people use heating and other sources to emit heat, so winter temperatures tend to be artificially raised, and it is not uncommon for there to be a temperature difference of several degrees Celsius between the suburbs and the city center.

[Junkichi Nemoto and Takashi Aoki]

literature

Compared to spring and autumn, summer and winter have a somewhat weaker presence, but due to the characteristics of the Japanese climate, where the four seasons are clearly divided, winter also plays a part as one of the four seasons and is included in the imperial anthology. Awareness of the four seasons can be seen as early as the Manyoshu, where volumes 8 and 10 are classified as "Winter Miscellaneous Poems" and "Winter Love Stories." As for scenery, there are a few descriptions of hail, frost, and storms, but snow makes up the majority of the poems, and it is noteworthy that there are many poems about plum blossoms. The "Winter" section of the Kokin Wakashu is also centered on snow, with a few descriptions of drizzle, winter mountain villages, and ice, but it is also characterized by the addition of material that is calendar-conscious, such as year-end gifts. After "Gosenshu", the scenery became more diverse, and waterfowl were written about along with drizzle, sleet, frost, ice, and storms, and the feeling of it being all about snow disappeared. In the winter section of "Saiji" in "Kokin Rokujo", the topics listed are early winter, Kannazuki, Shimotsuki, Kagura, Shiwasu, Butsumyo, leap month, and the end of the year. In addition to these, "Horikawa Hyakushu" includes wickerwork, falconry, charcoal hearth, buried fire, New Year's Eve, etc., while "Eikyu Hyakushu" includes sleet, first snow, imperial journey, fallen leaves, five seasons of the year, Japanese bush, firewood, futon, mandarin ducks, tribute, Buddhist names, and the beginning of spring in the old year, almost exhausting the winter themes. In "Otome" in "The Tale of Genji," the winter town of Rokujo-in is depicted with a combination of snow and pine fences, frost and chrysanthemum fences, and furthermore, oak fields and deep mountain trees add color. Snow, a central subject of winter poetry, is written about in poems such as "In the winter mountain village, so lonely that people pick brushwood, refusing to even stop the smoke," in the "Goshuishū" (Winter, Izumi Shikibu) as creating a desolate and isolated landscape, and "In the winter mountain village, so lonely that people pick brushwood, refusing to even stop the smoke," in the "Kokinshū" (Winter, Ki no Tsurayuki) as a winter flower or to confuse it with plum blossoms, as in "When the snow falls, the grass and trees that have been hibernating in winter bloom with flowers unknown to spring." The winter moon has been seen as a subject for poetry since the "Man'yoshu," and the seasonal feeling that winter, especially the December moon, is "terrible," as well as reactions to this, can be seen in such works as "The Tales of Takamura," "Kurabiraki Part 2" in "The Tales of Utsubo," "Morning Glories" and "Agemaki" in "The Tale of Genji," volume 2 of "The Tales of Sagoromo," and "The Sarashina Diary," forming a unique aesthetic sense in court literature.

The seasonal theme is winter. Many seasonal words rich in shadows have been created, such as snow flowers, snow flakes, peony snow, fine snow, snow light, and snowy moonlit night.

[Teruhiko Komachiya]

"The Hot Earth - Concerns about abnormal weather caused by global warming" by Nemoto Junkichi (1989, Nesco, Bungeishunju)" ▽ "Agricultural Weather Station of the Four Seasons" by Uchijima Zenbei (1990, Agriculture and Forestry Statistics Association)" ▽ "Weather at the End of the Century" by Nemoto Junkichi (1992, Chikuma Shobo)" ▽ "The Four Seasons and Life in Japan" by Ichikawa Takeo (1993, Kokin Shoin)" ▽ "New Edition: Fun Weather - Winter Weather" by Nemoto Junkichi (1996, Komine Shoten)" ▽ "The Lives of the People of the Japanese Archipelago - Our Land" by Yamashita Shuji, supervised by Ichikawa Takeo (1997, Komine Shoten)" ▽ "Issa Seasonal Almanac" by Kiwami Zuika (1999, Kobundo Publishing)" ▽ "The Weather Almanac, by Hiranuma Yoji (1999, Kagyusha)" ▽ "The Four Seasons of Clouds, photographed by Yamada Keiichi (1999, Hakusuisha)" ▽ "Modern and Contemporary History of Meteorological Disasters in Japan, by Miyazawa Seiji (1999, Icarus Publishing)" ▽ "The Four Seasons of Literature, by Aiba Takao (1999, Shinchosha)" ▽ "Sanseido's Dictionary of Annual Events, by Tanaka Nobukazu (1999, Sanseido)" ▽ "Exploring the Relationship between the Calendar and Weather, edited by the Japan Weather Association (2001, Poplar Publishing)" ▽ " Annual Editions of the Meteorological Yearbook, supervised by the Japan Meteorological Agency (Meteorological Operations Support Center)" ▽ "Murasaki Shikibu, Weather Forecaster of the Heian Period -- The Science of Weather Hidden in the Tale of Genji," by Ishii Kazuko (Kodansha Plus Alpha Shinsho)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

1年を春夏秋冬の四季に分けたときの第四の季節。秋と春の間にあるが、期間は次のようなとり方がある。

(1)天文学的には太陽黄経が270度の冬至(とうじ)から、これが0度となる春分の前日まで。

(2)気象学上は、北半球では現行暦の12～2月を、また、南半球では6～8月を冬という。

(3)俳句の季語などに使われる冬は立冬（11月8日ごろ）から立春（2月4日ごろ）の前日までをいい、初冬（立冬から大雪(たいせつ)の前日、12月7日ごろまで）、仲冬（大雪から小寒の前日、1月5日ごろまで）、晩冬（小寒から立春の前日、2月3日ごろまで）の三冬（冬全体）に分けていわれることもある。

　冬は、語源的に「冷(ひ)ゆ」が転訛(てんか)して「ふゆ」になったとされている。

［根本順吉・青木　孝］

気象

一年中でもっとも寒い季節で、もっとも気温が下がるのは1月末から2月の初めにかけてである。二十四節気でいうと、それは大寒（1月20日ごろ）から立春のころまでに相当する。低温であることのほか、日本の冬を特徴づける季節的特徴は次のとおり。

(1)日の出の時間が遅く、日の入りの時間は早く、昼の時間が短い。

(2)南中時の太陽高度が低く、日影がもっとも長くなる。

(3)天候は大陸上の寒帯気団に支配され、北西の季節風が卓越する。

(4)この季節風によって、日本海側は雪や雨の日が多く陰湿な天気が続くが、太平洋側では乾燥した晴天が続く。

(5)日本海側の雪は1～2月に多く、太平洋側の雪は2～3月に多い。後者は冬型の気圧配置が弱まり、日本南岸を低気圧が東進するような場合に降る。

(6)都市では多くの人が暖房などの熱を放出するので、冬季の気温は人為的に上昇する傾向があり、郊外と都心とでは数℃の気温差が現れるのも珍しくはない。

［根本順吉・青木　孝］

文学

春・秋に対して夏・冬の存在感はやや希薄だが、四季の季節的な区分が明確な日本の風土の特性から、冬も四季の一つとしてその一角を担い、勅撰(ちょくせん)集の部立(ぶだて)にも入っている。早く『万葉集(まんようしゅう)』から四季の意識はみられ、巻8や巻10に「冬雑歌(ぞうか)」や「冬相聞(そうもん)」に部類されており、景物としては、霰(あられ)、霜、嵐(あらし)などもわずかにあるが、雪が大部分を占め、また梅が数多く詠まれているのが注目される。『古今和歌集(こきんわかしゅう)』「冬」も、雪が中心で、時雨(しぐれ)、冬の山里、氷などがわずかにみられるが、さらに歳暮(せいぼ／さいぼ)という暦意識をもった歌材が加わっているところに特色がある。『後撰(ごせん)集』以後は景物も多様化し、時雨、霰、霜、氷、嵐などとともに水鳥が詠まれるようになり、雪ばかりといった感はなくなる。『古今六帖(ろくじょう)』「歳時(さいじ)」の冬の項目には、初冬、神無月(かんなづき)、霜月(しもつき)、神楽(かぐら)、師走(しわす)、仏名(ぶつみょう)、閏月(うるうづき)、歳(とし)の暮などの題が掲げられている。『堀河(ほりかわ)百首』にはこのほか、網代(あじろ)、鷹狩(たかがり)、炭竈(すみがま)、埋火(うずみび)、除夜など、また、『永久(えいきゅう)百首』には、霙(みぞれ)、初雪、野行幸(ののみゆき)、落葉(おちば)、五節(ごせち)、椎柴(しいしば)、薪(たきぎ)、衾(ふすま)、鴛鴦(おし)、貢調(みつぎもの)、仏名、旧年立春があげられ、冬の歌題はこれらにほぼ尽くされている。『源氏物語』「少女(おとめ)」の六条院の冬の町では、雪と松の垣、霜と菊の籬(まがき)との配合が考えられ、さらに柞原(ははそはら)や深山木(みやまぎ)が彩りを添えている。冬の中心的な歌材である雪は、荒涼として孤絶した風景を形づくるものとして、『後拾遺(ごしゅうい)集』（冬・和泉式部(いずみしきぶ)）「さびしさに煙をだにも断たじとて柴折りくべる冬の山里」のように詠まれ、また、冬の花として、あるいは梅の花との紛れとして、『古今集』（冬・紀貫之(きのつらゆき)）「雪降れば冬ごもりせる草も木も春に知られぬ花ぞ咲きける」などと詠まれる。冬の月は『万葉集』から詠物(えいぶつ)題としてみられるが、冬、とくに師走の月を「すさまじきもの」とする季節感、また、それに反発するものが、『篁(たかむら)物語』、『うつほ物語』「蔵開(くらびらき)　中」、『源氏物語』「朝顔」「総角(あげまき)」、『狭衣(さごろも)物語』巻2、『更級(さらしな)日記』などにみられ、王朝文学において独特な美意識を形成している。

　季題は冬。雪の花、風花(かざはな)、牡丹(ぼたん)雪、細(ささめ)雪、雪明り、雪月夜といった陰影に富んだ季語が数多く生み出されている。

［小町谷照彦］

『根本順吉著『熱くなる地球――温暖化が意味する異常気象の不安』（1989・ネスコ、文芸春秋発売）』▽『内嶋善兵衛著『四季の農業気象台』（1990・農林統計協会）』▽『根本順吉著『世紀末の気象』（1992・筑摩書房）』▽『市川健夫著『日本の四季と暮らし』（1993・古今書院）』▽『根本順吉著『新版　たのしいお天気――冬のお天気』（1996・小峰書店）』▽『市川健夫監修、山下脩二著『日本列島の人びとのくらし――わたしたちの国土』（1997・小峰書店）』▽『黄色瑞華著『一茶歳時記』（1999・高文堂出版）』▽『平沼洋司著『気象歳時記』（1999・蝸牛社）』▽『山田圭一撮影『雲の四季』（1999・白水社）』▽『宮沢清治著『近・現代　日本気象災害史』（1999・イカロス出版）』▽『饗庭孝男著『文学の四季』（1999・新潮社）』▽『田中宣一著『三省堂年中行事事典』（1999・三省堂）』▽『日本気象協会編著『暦と天気のかかわりを探る』（2001・ポプラ社）』▽『気象庁監修『気象年鑑』各年版（気象業務支援センター）』▽『石井和子著『平安の気象予報士紫式部――「源氏物語」に隠された天気の科学』（講談社プラスアルファ新書）』

[参照項目] | 秋 | 雨 | 和泉式部 | うつほ物語 | 寒帯気団 | 気圧配置 | 気温 | 季語 | 気象学 | 季節 | 季節風 | 紀貫之 | 源氏物語 | 黄道座標 | 古今和歌集 | 古今和歌六帖 | 後拾遺和歌集 | 後撰和歌集 | 暦 | 狭衣物語 | 更級日記 | 四季 | 春分 | 小寒 | 歳暮 | 雑歌 | 相聞 | 大寒 | 大雪 | 篁物語 | 勅撰和歌集 | 天候 | 冬至 | 二十四節気 | 春 | 風土 | 堀河百首 | 万葉集 | 雪 | 立春 | 立冬

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