Location:      Japan, worldwide

Season:        Late autumn, October 8

Category:      Heavens

Explanation:

Kanro, 寒露 is the name of the 8th day of October, usually the first really cold days start and on a cold morning, the first cold dew can be seen.

Here is more about the autumn DEW in haiku.

Dew, tsuyu 露

Here is a great link about pictures taken on the day of kanro, 8^th of October in 2004.

http://chitabas.hp.infoseek.co.jp/24sekki/kanro/kanro.shtml

http://www10.ocn.ne.jp/~yamaya-1/img/img_photo/suiteki_kumo.jpg

More photos here:

http://www10.ocn.ne.jp/~yamaya-1/photo.html

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Worldwide use:

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Things found on the way:

24 Seasons nijuu sekki 二十節季

NIJU-SHI SEKKI [the old lunar calendar of 24 seasons that the Japanese took from the Chinese] may differ by half a month to a month from the one we use today.  In the listing of holidays and observances below I use the modern, or solar, calendar as the framework, but I’ve also tried to track traditional events by the old lunar calendar. 

              This is essentially what Japanese do today, for although the Gregorian calendar is the legal one, the traditional lunar calendar remains important.  To add to the confusion, a traditional event may now be held on different days, even in different months, depending upon locations.

              The 24 fortnightly periods are still used today.  The 72 Chinese seasonal units, however, were not ever widely used in Japan, although some of the images can be found in Japanese poetry. 

[Liza Dalby, http://www.taleofmurasaki.com/ for this, and much more, on traditional Japanese culture.]  I’ve included them because emphasize the rhythms of the lunar calendar.

Read a lot more about Japanese events going on in Maine every month.

http://www.maine-japan.org/calword.htm

Okinawa

Almost all the festivals in Okinawa fall on dates of the lunar calendar. Festivals will have somewhat different names, gods’ appellation, duration and content depending on the different locales in which they are held.

The festivals include those that have come down through oral tradition, festivals originating in Japan and China praying for good fish catches and bountiful harvests, festivals related to the religion of Nirai Kanai (a paradise beyond the sea), festivals worshipping ancestors and festivals of exorcism.

http://www.ocvb.or.jp/Multi_Search_List/Multi_Contents_Detail/esel/en/0000211167/contents.html

A great link about Feng Shui, the wind and water lore of ancient China, has some aspects about 24.

Feng Shui practitioners regard 24 as complete number for heaven and earth.

Ring 5: The Ring of the Earth. 24 seasons of the agriculture calendar. The seasons were divided up into two stages 12x2=24 characters or every 1/2 month is a seasonal division.

http://www.fengshuinew.com/lo-pan.htm

More about the Luopan, just for those who got interested in the Rings.

The instrument used by fengshui practitioners is the luopan or reticulated plate, commonly known as a fengshui compass.

Other divisions of the luopan gave the 24 seasons, which matched the solar dates, and the 24 divisions of the compass.

http://www.derekwalters.de/text2.htm

Haiku:

cold dew
I put on my jacket
to fetch the morning paper
     Etsuko Yanagibori

cold dew –

first sunrays hit

the silver lining

     Gabi Greve

Related words:

２０日　秋土用 20 october:  aki doyoo  > doyoo, the Dog Days.

２３日　霜降 23 october :  dew falling

http://www.mysai.net/koyomi.html