The beginning of winter

Today is "ritto", (立冬), which marks the beginning of winter, in nature, in Japan. The 'ri' “立” represents the beginning of the season and “冬” means winter. Ritto is one of the 24 solar terms, which more specifically split up the seasons into what some people call 'micro-seasons'. They are a surprisingly reliable indicator of changes in season, although with global warming, maybe not as much as they were centuries ago.

As it is just the beginning of winter, Autumn is at its peak. In many areas, there are still signs of autumn and it is the time to see the autumn leaves.  But from the start of the "ritto" solar term  the signs of winter begin to appear. For example, the sun's rays become weaker, and the number of days when it gets cold in the morning and evening increases. The period of "ritto" lasts until the "light (/lesser) snow" period, which starts around November 22nd.

The date of Ritto changes annually, but in recent years it is most often on around November 7th or 8th. In 2025 it is on Friday November 7th. Next year, 2026, it will also be on November 7th. Dried persimmons, which have been passed down as a preserved food for winter in Japan since ancient times, began to be prepared around this time. Dried persimmons are made by drying them in the sun on sunny days. Hence, I have chosen a photo of persimmons in the sun for the feature photo for this post.