Sowing Ghosts: Calendar and Clock

The Japanese calendar and clock were based on the Chinese model as it existed at the time of the Tang Dynasty. What follows is a very brief description, providing only enough information to make the dates and hours used here comprehensible.

YEARS

The Japanese calendar used era names, which were assigned by the imperial household and follow no particular pattern. Era names were changed when the timing was considered auspicious, but also when events were unlucky and a change in luck was desired. The era in which this book is set, Daiei, began in mid-1521 CE; the era name was changed because of a series of inauspicious events (both military and environmental) persuaded the authorities the Eishō era should be ended. The Daiei era itself lasted only seven years (Eishō had lasted some seventeen) before it, too, was brought to an end by various calamities.

MONTHS

The calendar was lunisolar, with months beginning on the day of the new moon; the full moon happened at mid-month. Months contained either 29 or 30 days, and the year ended with a series of days outside the calendar that brought the lunar and solar portions back into sync. The new year (and, officially, spring) began on the second or third new moon after the winter solstice. Though the months had traditional names, they were usually referred to only by number. So First Month began (for the most part) around the beginning of February.

Each month was divided into three weeks; the first two weeks were of ten days and the third was either ten or nine days long, depending on the length of the month.

The calendar had complex astrological calculations beneath the simple system described above. I promise to never go into this.

HOURS

Traditionally the day began at midnight. There were six hours of daylight and six of night, so the nighttime hours were divided between days. Each hour was roughly 120 minutes long (in other words, equivalent to two hours on the Western clock). The actual length of hours varied, because the daylight hours were divided equally amongst the actual amount of daylight. So summer daytime hours were longer than their winter equivalents; the same also applied to nighttime hours, with the winter versions being longer.

Starting at dawn, the six daytime hours were:

Rabbit (sunrise)

Dragon (morning)

Snake (mid-morning)

Horse (noon)

Goat (afternoon)

Monkey (late afternoon)

The nighttime hours were:

Rooster (sunset)

Dog (evening)

Pig (late evening)

Rat (midnight)

Ox (before dawn)

Tiger (dawn)

Because Japanese hours were longer than their Western equivalents I have adopted the conceit of referring to Greater and Lesser hours, to correspond with the first and second halves of each hour and so make the passage of time a bit more comprehensible to western readers. (The hours were numbered, but the numbering system was peculiar (hours were numbered 6-5-4-9-8-7 for both day and night) and I have used only the names in this book.)