March’s gomei rejoice in full awakening—peach, willow, and vernal equinox days when earth and sky come into balance.
March’s gomei rejoice in full awakening—peach, willow, and vernal equinox days when earth and sky come into balance.
| Gomei | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ryujo | Willow fluff |
| hatsuzakura | First Cherry Blossoms of the Season |
| aburana | Rapeseed |
| sakurayu | Hot water with salted blossoms |
| kichō | Yellow butterfly |
| konome | Tree Sprouts |
| isoasobi | Beach-combing / Playing on the Shore |
| sakon no sakura | Cherry Tree on the Left |
| shundei | Spring Mud |
| yukigegawa | Snow-melt stream |
| hanakago | Flower basket |
| yamazakura | Wild mountain cherry |
| nagashibina | Dolls floated on water |
| gonin-bayashi | Five Court Musicians |
| mitsumata | Paperbush bloom |
| kanō | Viewing cherry blossoms |
| taokoshi | Plowing the Paddy |
| hatsuchō | First Butterfly of the Season |
| hinamatsuri | Hina Doll Festival |
| yukiyanagi | Thunberg's Meadowsweet |
| yamawarau | “Hills laugh” with fresh green |
| wakareyuki | Parting snow |
| shunsui | Springtime water |
| shunshō | Spring evening |
| shunran | Cymbidium goeringii |
| haru no mizu | Spring Water |
| hanagoromo | Blossom-patterned robe |
| yume | Dream |
| nabana | Edible flower shoots |
| hatsuchō | Season’s first butterfly |
| kai-awase | Shell-Matching Game |
| momo | Peach |
| sotsugyō | Graduation |
| benitsubaki | Red Camellia |
| sotsugyō | Graduation |
| shunie | Tōdai-ji repentance rite |
| mebuki | Sprouting / Budding |
| nagashi-bina | Floating Hina Dolls |
| hanagasumi | Blossom haze |
| momono-sekku | Peach Blossom Festival |
| sakurashibe-furu | Stamens falling like rain |
| kinome | Tree buds |
| suzume no ko | Sparrow Chick |
| hanaikada_gomei | Flower Raft |
| momo no sekku | Peach Festival |
| keichitsu | Insects Awaken |
| shiohigari | Shell Gathering |
| hanazuō | Eastern redbud blossom |
| tsubaki | Camellia |
| keichitsu | Insects awaken solar term |
| haruhikage | Spring sunlight |
| hanagumori | Blossom haze |
| nehan-e | Buddha’s Nirvana service (15 Feb lunar) |
| kagotaimatsu | Giant basket torches |
| botamochi | Spring rice-cake with azuki |
| hanashigure | Petal shower |
| hanamibune | Blossom-viewing boat |
| wasuregai | Forgotten Shell |
| kyokusui | Winding Stream |
| oboro | Hazy / Dim |
| tōdaiji | Tōdai-ji Temple |
| yayoi | Traditional name of the third lunar month |
| noyaki | Field Burning |
| natane-zuyu | Canola-rain drizzle |
| rika | Pear blossom |
| hatsuzakura | First cherry seen in the year |
| dōmyōji | Dōmyō-ji style sakuramochi |
| shirauo | Icefish |
| shuntō | Spring lamp |
| hanaakari | Petal glow at dusk |
| hanafubuki | Blossom blizzard |
| sahohime | Goddess of Spring |
| hana-no-en | Florid banquet under blossoms |
| yayoi | Yayoi (Poetic month name) |
| suzume-hajimete-suku | “Sparrows start nesting” micro-season |
| higanzakura | Equinox-blooming cherry |
| ashibi | Andromeda shrub |
| dairibina | Imperial Couple Hina Dolls |
| shirozake | White Sake |
| tōgenkyō | Peach Blossom Spring / Paradise |
| hinadan | Multi-tier doll stand |
| sakurakage | Shadow of cherry blooms |
| sakura-hajimete-hiraku | “Cherry begins to open” micro-season |
| asagichō | Pale-yellow swallowtail |
| higan | Equinox Buddhist week |
| awayuki | Light melting snow |
| sakuragai | Pink tellin shells |
| yama warau | The Mountains Smile |
| daruma | Daruma Doll |
| sakuragari | Searching for best blossoms |
| shunpū / harukaze | Spring Breeze |
| jinchōge | Winter-daphne fragrance |
| kien | Swallows returning |
| otome-tsubaki | Otome camellia cultivar |
| kaze hikaru | The Wind Glistens |
| rikyūki | Rikyū Memorial |
| tori kaeru | Birds Return |
| wakakusa | Young Grass |
| higane | Equinox Buddhist ceremony |
| wakakusayama | Mount Wakakusa in Nara |
| tabidachi | Setting out on a journey |
| sannin-kanjo | Three Court Ladies |
| itoyanagi | Slender-stem willow |
| nanohana | Rapeseed Blossoms |
| sakuradai | Sea-bream caught in blossom season |
| sumire | Violet |
| botamochi | Botamochi Rice Ball |
| tanpopo | Dandelion |
| tōyama | Distant Mountains |
| hibari-saezuru | Skylark warbling |
| hanadoki | Blossom season |
| saigyōki | Saigyō Memorial |
| tōsei | Spring grass ramble (treading green) |
| hanadōgu | Utensils for blossom season |
| hina-arare | Hina Doll Rice Crackers |
| kaminari-sunawachi-koe-wo-hassu | “Thunder begins to sound” micro-season |
| nigatsudō | Nigatsu-dō Hall |
| hiki-shio | Ebbing Tide |
| hanabie | Chill in blossom season |
| warabi | Bracken Fern |
| nanohana | Canola blossoms |
| hinamatsuri | Girls’ Doll Festival (3 Mar) |
| shunmin | Spring Sleep |
| kasumi | Haze / Mist |
| tabidachi | Departure / Setting Off |
| asari | Short-neck clam |
| otaimatsu | Great Torch |
| shungyō | Spring Dawn |
| nagoriyuki | Lingering snow |
| hibari | Skylark |
| shunkō | Spring Light |
| tanpopo | Dandelion |
| boke | Flowering quince |
| seri | Japanese Parsley |
| sakuramochi | Cherry-leaf wrapped sweet |
| hanaarashi | Blossom storm |
| hanaikada | Blossom rafts |
| yoshinoyama | Mount Yoshino famed for blossoms |
| shijimi | Freshwater Clam |
| benitsubaki | Red camellia |
| yukigemizu | Snow-melt water |
| tsubame-kuru | Swallows arrive |
| harusame | Spring Rain |
| haru ichiban | First Gale of Spring |
| higan | Higan (Equinox Week) |
| kusawakaba | Fresh green grass leaves |
| sakuraebi | Sakura shrimp |
| ukon no tachibana | Tachibana Orange on the Right |
| hana no kumo | Clouds of Blossoms |
| uraraka | Bright and Balmy |
| shunsha | Rite for the earth-gods |
| kochō | Butterfly |
| hanami | Cherry-blossom viewing |
| hamaguri | Clam |
| sakuramasu | Cherry salmon |
| omizutori | Water-drawing rite |
| shunmin | Spring slumber |
| haruarashi | Spring gale |
| kagerō | Heat Haze |
| taitō | Mild and languid spring warmth |
| mokuren | Lily Magnolia |
| katakuri | Katakuri (Dogtooth Violet) |
| hanami | Flower Viewing |
| hana akari | Glow of Blossoms |
| hana no ame | Rain on the Blossoms |
| harusame | Soft spring rain |
| haruhayate | Sudden spring squall |
| wabisuke | Wabisuke camellia cultivar |
| wakakusa | Young grass |
| wakasi | Wakasa Well |
| namushi-chō-to-naru | “Caterpillars turn to butterflies” micro-season |
| rengyō | Forsythia |
| hanakagari | Torch-lit blossoms |
| yomogi-mochi | Mugwort Mochi |
| tsukushi | Horsetail Shoots |
| sakura | Cherry Blossom |
| hanakuzu | Petal fragments |
| ōka | Cherry flowers |
| yozakura | Nighttime cherry blossoms |
| hatsugatsuo | Season’s first bonito |
| tsubame kuru | Swallows Arrive |
| shunbun | Vernal equinox |
| hanamizake | Sake for blossom viewing |
| yoshino | Yoshino district itself |
| hishimochi | Diamond-shaped Mochi |
| hanafuki | Petal gust |
| shunbun | Vernal Equinox |
| someiyoshino | Somei-yoshino cultivar |
| shunrai | First strong spring thunder |
The Hina-matsuri girls’ festival, drifting peach petals, and soft winds (harugasumi, “spring haze”) dominate naming conventions. Utensils might be called “Momohana” (Peach Blossom) or “Shunbun” (Equinox) to mark the midpoint of spring. Willow catkins and returning swallows symbolize supple vitality, while poetry from the Manyōshū hints that life’s transience is already visible in falling petals. Tea gatherings often move from the ro to the portable brazier (furo) after the mid-month hearth-closing, physically signaling the lightening of the season.