The Seasons and What They Mean in Japanese Culture

In “Our Town”, Wilder conveys the passage of time with change of seasons and symbolically uses each season to represent a different stage of the characters’ lives similar to Foster’s interpretations of what the different seasons represent in his chapter “...So Does Season.”

Throughout My Ántonia, by Willa Cather, the change of seasons is often mentioned and represents the hardships and beauties of the world. The summer and spring are examples of the beauties in the world since the citizens are able to work due to the long days. The spring is almost as important as the summer since it is the time of year when farmers begin to farm again after the winter. But, the winter is unforgiving. During the winter all of citizens are hiding in their nice warm houses trying to avoid the harsh cold. Due to the citizens’ perseverance and hard work their town is able to thrive.

“Doe season” is a short literary work featured in one of Kaplan's popular collections. “Doe Season” may be short in length relative to other types of literature, but exhibits a deep, underlying meaning that burrows deeper than the story itself. One of the key components to the creation of “Doe Season” is the symbolism it displays. The title itself is very symbolic, as well as the descriptive writing used in this short work. While “Doe Season” takes place in a common setting, traversing the woods while hunting, a few aspects of the story are unique in the sense that the story is told from a 9-year-old girl's perspective. While hunting has long been seen as a man's task or hobby, this story follows

For centuries, seasons have been understood to stand for the same set of meanings. Seasons are easily understood by the reader, and are easy for the writer to use; as Foster states, “Seasons can work magic on us, and writers can work magic with seasons” (Foster 192). The different seasons are a huge part of our lives; we live through each one every year, and we know how each of them impacts our lives. This closeness between people and nature allows us to be greatly impacted by the use of seasons in literature. In addition, Foster lays out the basic meanings of each season for us: autumn is harvest, decline, tiredness; winter is anger, hatred, cold, old age; summer is passion, love, happiness, beauty; and spring is childhood and youth. On the

We obtain the feeling of spring when King describes the weather in this section: “The air soft and beautiful, the sky was darkening by slow degrees from blue to the calm and lovely violet of dusk” . The spring symbolises hope and joy and make the atmosphere calm contrary to the dark streets in the night that obtain a more scary atmosphere when there suddenly are less people than on the big avenues.

In chapter 20 of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster describes the significance of seasons in literature. Seasons can mean many different things besides the obvious change in weather. Shakespeare uses seasons as literary devices to make comparisons. Seasons often act as metaphors for age in his work. Fall, for example, can also be seen as middle age; the turning point between old and young, summer and winter. Seasons were also used by Shakespeare to convey moods and emotions. Winter is often associated with bitterness, dissatisfaction, or anger. This works because elements of winter include harsh winds and freezing temperatures that make people uncomfortable. Furthermore, authors connect season with the human experience. Each season

In chapter 20, … So Does Seasons, Foster talks about seasons and what they symbolize. To summarize, spring represents new life. Spring symbolizes youth and childhood. Summer represents adulthood, romance, fulfillment, etc… Autumn represents decline, middle age, and tiredness. Winter represent old age, death, and resentment. “Beauty and The Beast” shows what

In face of the season of death and preparing for an end, “Eriko died late in the Autumn.” (44) Much grief and despair fell upon Mikage and Yuichi as the dark Autumn imagery clearly reflects these negative emotions. There was a discrete transition from Autumn to Winter as death and preparing for an end goes hand in hand with voidness and despair. The four seasons of the year which range in different exposures to lightness are perfectly used by Yoshimoto to express the continuity of the cycle of grief and joy as time advances.

Duong’s decision to describe the snowflakes as “strange flowers” exposes Hang’s attachment to the landscape of her own home, and also the strangeness of this new landscape for her. The word choice of flowers and their connotation of spring provide contrast to the harsh winter. Hang’s simile comparing the snowflakes to a “luminous” childhood dream juxtaposes the description of them as “blinding shards” and “frail”, thus revealing Hang’s opinion of dreams as something rarely obtained. Surely as a child she imagined the best that might have happened, and had such optimistic hopes of what might have been. They are thus associated with sorrow by the simile, reflective of the cruel reality she faced when her dreams were suffocated as a child. The snowy landscape also triggers a more consuming flashback to a time in Hang’s childhood. Duong provides vivid imagery of the beautiful landscape of the bay - “Clouds floated like puff jade along the horizon, a line broken jagged by solitary rocks.. This endless jade-colored necklace fallen to the earth.” (Duong ) The metaphor comparing the clouds to a jade-colored necklace further emphasizes the landscape’s beauty and richness. The idea of a jade necklace, a material wealthy good, introduces the idea that the natural landscape is a gift, accessible by all. Duong emphasizes this with the subsequent sentiment that “beauty knows no frontiers, seduces without discrimination” (Duong 83). Hang

The seasons play a major role in the development of the plot, allowing action to skip several months at a time by simply mentioning the turning of the leaves. The thematic imagery

People no longer use the term “Japanese American” in today's society. Instead, they are no longer thought as a separate group and are incorrectly categorized as “Asian American”, along with Vietnamese American, Chinese American, etc. Japanese Americans have an extremely unique background in terms of their origins, history, and struggle with racialization. Like many ethnic groups, Japanese Americans have been subjected to many different portrayals throughout American history. Even though cultural separation and suspicion are deemed as immoral, such practices toward them were thought to be necessary by the American Government. For a good amount of time, they suffered from racial hostility and violence. Now, in an age where cultural diversity

In the essentially dual religious system in Japan, ideologies and traditions play a heavy role in the everyday life of the Japanese people. Shintoism and Buddhism intertwine and complement themselves in Japanese culture, despite Buddhism coming in from mainland Asia. A particularly powerful idea from Buddhism is mono no aware, the realization and acknowledgment of the impermanence and its place in the world. This idea that nothing stays the same forever manifests itself heavily in Japanese literature, whether in personal writings or fictional works. Despite spanning hundreds of years, each work was shaped by and include manifestations of mono no aware. I intend to underline and pinpoint instances that mono no aware is influencing these works, and discuss similarities and differences between them. In this paper, I have three works that I will explore, each one corresponding to a different time period before the pre-industrial revolution; The Diary of Lady Murasaki comes from the classical period, Essays in Idleness from the medieval, and the immensely popular play Chushingura from the pre-modern era.

The Man'yoshu is one of the oldest as well as the most influential collections of poetry in Japan’s literature. Furthermore, the Man'yoshu has more than 4,500 poems, in which the poems consists feelings of love, separation, and mourning (1082). For example, Princess Nukata, who is a highly educated woman wrote a poem about two seasons, in which is autumn and spring rivalling each other in beauty (1085). In my opinion I believe that the poem is about life and death. Although the trees in autumn are beautiful ,since they turn into many different colors, the leaves are in fact dying. Perhaps  this represents old traditions are dyeing out and a new era of Japan is going to grow and  blossom into something more

Matsukaze is one of the most popular Noh plays of the third category, originally written by Kan’ami and revised by Zeami Mototkiyo. Matsukaze tells the story of two lingering sister spirits, Matsukaze, which means Pine Wind, and Murasame, which means Autumn Rain. The play begins with a traveling priest asking about the memorial for the girls and we soon learn all about their life story. As with other Ancient Japanese Noh theatre, this play shows us one prevailing emotion throughout the text. The most noticeable emotion found in the text of Matsukaze is the overwhelming sense of melancholy. Through text and Japanese Noh conventions, I can convey the emotion of melancholy in Matsukaze.

With every end, there is a beginning. When the cold winter ends, there is a new beginning in nature where the trees and flowers start fresh as they grow once again. The poem “Spring”, takes us, readers, to a setting where the place shows complete nature. We are to imagine aesthetic scenery where spring has arrived and everything that happens during this season is happening right in front of us.