Saijiki for March

These are some poetic words to use for gomei for the month of March:

• Joushi (上巳): March 3rd of the lunar calendar (one of the five annual festivals); dolls festival; peach festival (mainly for girls)
• Keichitsu (啓蟄): “awakening of insects” solar term (around March 6th, the day on which hibernating insects are said to come out of the ground)
• Shunbun (春分): the spring or vernal equinox, around March 21st
• Shanichi or Shajitsu (社日): “tsuchinoe” (fifth sign of the Chinese calendar) day that falls closest to the vernal or autumnal equinox (a day of religious significance for harvests)
• Shunsha (春社): spring “tsuchinoe” day that falls closest to the vernal equinox (a day of religious significance for harvests)
• Shungyou (春暁): dawn on a spring day
• Harunokure (春の暮): dusk on a spring day
• Oboroyo (朧夜): misty, moonlit night
• Shungetsu (春月): full moon on a spring night
• Shunpuu (春風): a spring breeze
• Shunshou (春宵): a spring evening
• Kagerou (陽炎): the shimmer of the air when the heat rises from a field on a beautiful spring day
• Haruichiban (春一番): the first storm of spring (or a strong south wind blowing for the first time since the beginning of spring)
• Haruarashi (春嵐): a spring gale blowing in February or March that makes us momentarily forget that it is spring
• Harunoyuki (春の雪): spring snow (usually of large snowflakes)
• Awayuki (淡雪): light snowfall; large flakes of snow that disappear quickly
• Yukinohate (雪の果): the last of the snow to melt in spring; the remnants of snow
• Yukima (雪間): a patch of ground not covered in snow, indicating that spring is coming, because the snow is starting to disappear
• Yukishiro (雪代): the water that flows to the sea from melting snow
• Yukinigori (雪濁り): water from melting snow that gets muddy flowing through rivers to the sea
• Natanetsuyu (菜種梅雨): a long period of rain in early spring that makes the flowers bloom
• Higan’nishi (彼岸西風): westerly wind blowing around the time of the spring equinox
• Higan (彼岸): the week of the vernal equinox, including the three days before and after the equinox iteself
• Uraraka (麗らか): the sky is clear, and the scenery is bright and calm
• Hinaga (日永): a long day in spring; the days are getting longer, with more sun
• Chijitsu (遅日): a long day in spring; the sunset is late at night, so the dusk is longer
• Wakamidori (若緑): the color of the young buds on pine trees
• Saohime (佐保姫): the goddess of spring
• Hikitsuru (引鶴): the time when the cranes return north, indicating the coming of spring
• Kigan (帰雁): the time when the geese return north, indicating the coming of spring
• Harunogan (春の雁): a goose that does not return north in the spring; the geese that are left behind
• Torigumo (鳥雲): when a bird returning north enters a cloud and becomes invisible
• Nioidori (匂い鳥): the nightingale (or sound of the nightingale)
• Shiokumi (汐干): low tide in early spring