Micro season: Withering Grass Becomes Fireflies

The second micro season of the 9th solar term, "Boshu", starts on June 11th in 2026. It is known as Withering Grass Becomes Fireflies 腐草為螢 (Kusaretaru kusa hotaru to naru). Hotaru is the Japanese for firefly. However, like with all micro seasons, there is currently no universal English for this micro season. Thus, you can also see it called different variations of this translation. Such as ""Withering Flora Birth Fireflies" or "Rotten Grass Becomes Fireflies".

The "Withering Grass Becomes Fireflies" micro-season is on for five days until June 15th. The dates can change slightly from year to year. In ancient Japan they believed that fireflies were born from decaying grass. Because this is the season when both the grass withers and the fireflies begin to rise. They emerge from riversides, streams, rice paddies and damp forest edges. At this time of year there are many firefly viewing events on around Japan.

Elsewhere in nature, you can hear the frogs call more steadily in this period. You also start to see dragonflies low over ponds. There are more and more signs of the rainy season and in many areas of Japan, if it hasn't already, there is a chance it will start during this period. The temperatures continue to fluctuate during this period too.