Wow, who knew? There is a book, 'Eigo saijiki' (Seasonal Topics in English)/ An
English & American Literary Calendar, edited by Narita Shigetoshi; published by
Kenkyuusha, 1968, "which examined our [English & American] literature through
the lense of the Japanese season word system." (The quote is taken from a
biographical entry for Prof. Kenkichi Yamamoto, who served as a supervising
editor on the project.)

Well, Gabi knows about this, since she mentions it in her WKD entry on "Seasons
and Categories."

If this saijiki has been translated into English, it would be very interesting
to read, or at least to browse through! It's in six volumes, and must have been
a massive undertaking to put together!

I came across a reference to it in Prof. Kooji Kawamoto's book, "The Poetics of
Japanese Verse," in the first chapter, "Autumn Dusk."

Prof. Kawamoto quotes the 'Eigo saijiki', regarding the meaning of "autumn
evening" in English-language poetry:

"In Japan, 'autumn evening' elicits a sense of sorrow. However, in England and
America this does not seem to be the case in every instance. There is no
firmly-established association between the two."

Prof. Kawamoto goes on to say:

This statement is followed by a variety of examples including both ones which
can be recognized as containing a sorrowful sentiment and ones which do not.
Regardless of whether or not a sense of forlornness is conveyed in a given poem
treating autumn dusk, the phrase in and of itself does not inevitably convey a
sense of forlornness in English.

[end of excerpt]

I'm curious if the Japanese compilers of this saijiki found any English-language
poetic 'set-phrase' that does, as far as they are concerned, serve the same
function in English-langauge poetry as a 'kigo' phrase does in Japanese poetry.

Larry