Imperial Calendar
Years
Sakura Village has recently adopted the same calendar system as the
Celestial Empire. Eras begin and end with the birth and death of each incarnation of the
Celestial Tenchō Empress at which point a new era name is chosen. The current era is "Saisei" (meaning rebirth) in recognition of the exceptional circumstances around the reincarnation of the current
Empress.
In parallel to the era based numbering of years, each year also has a "Sensei" (from sen ‘previous’ + sei ‘birth’) number which began with the creation of the Celestial Empire and the first Empress. It is currently
Sensei 51782 or
Saisei 9.
Generally the "Saisei" year is used for most day to day things, and "Sensei" is used for referring to things long in the past. Previous eras also had their own names and dates may also be given in them for example the previous Empress died in Meireiki 174 (or Sensei 51773).
Months
The year is divided into 12 months. Months use both the traditional and modern Japanese names with the exception of the first month which is generally referred to by it's traditional name to avoid confusion with the
Lord Protector Ichigatsu as he was named after the month.
| Modern Name |
Traditional Name |
Meaning |
| Ichigatsu |
Mutsuki |
"Month of Love," alternatively "Month of Affection" |
| Nigatsu |
Kisaragi |
"Changing Clothes" |
| Sangatsu |
Yayoi |
"New Life" |
| Shigatsu |
Uzuki |
"U-no-hana month". The u-no-hana is a flower |
| Gogatsu |
Satsuki |
"Early-rice-planting Month" |
| Rokugatsu |
Minazuki |
"Month of Water" in reference to the flooding of the rice fields |
| Shichigatsu |
Fumizuki |
"Month of Erudition" |
| Hachigatsu |
Hazuki or Haochizuki |
"Month of Leaves" or "Month of Falling Leaves" |
| Kugatsu |
Nagatsuki |
"The Long Month" |
| Jūgatsu |
Kannazuki or Kaminazuki |
"Month of the Gods" or "Month without Gods" (presumably because they all gather and are therefore absent from the world) |
| Jūichigatsu |
Shimotsuki |
"Month of Frost" |
| Jūnigatsu |
Shiwasu |
"Priests Running" in reference to priests being busy with the year end festivities |
Note: The modern names for months literally translate to "first month", "second month" etc. They are formed by taking the number ("ichi", ni", "san" etc) and combining it with the suffix "gatsu" (meaning month).
Subdivision of the month
Months are divided into 4 weeks of 7 days. The days are given names in the same style as the months by taking the number ("ichi", ni", "san" etc) and combining it with the suffix "yobi" (meaning day of the week). The days are also often associated with particular elements:
| Day |
Name |
Japanese Name |
Western Name |
Element |
| 1 |
ichiyōbi |
nichiyōbi |
Sunday |
Kaze (Wind) |
| 2 |
niyōbi |
getsuyōbi |
Monday |
Kawa (River) |
| 3 |
sanyōbi |
kayōbi |
Tuesday |
Kaisai (Fire) |
| 4 |
shiyōbi |
suiyōbi |
Wednesday |
Umi (Ocean) |
| 5 |
goyōbi |
mokuyōbi |
Thursday |
Mori (Forest) |
| 6 |
rokuyōbi |
kin'yōbi |
Friday |
Yama (Mountain) |
| 7 |
shichiyōbi |
doyōbi |
Saturday |
Chikyu (Earth) |
Note: The real world Japanese names have actual elements they reference. We use our own system in addition to simplifying the names to number + the suffix "yobi".
Holidays
Festivals and holidays are generally set around the beginning of the year, the beginning of the rice planting season, the final day of harvest, and the end of the year.
Comments