Let's enjoy learning winter seasonal words! A collection of easy-to-use word ideas for elementary school students
Have you ever been told in a haiku or poetry class to “try using a winter season word,” and then felt unsure what to write? From familiar everyday things to natural phenomena, winter season words are full of expressions hidden in daily life.
In this article, we’ll introduce winter season words in a way that’s easy for elementary school students to understand.
We also explain their meanings and images, so it will surely help with homework or independent research.
Find your favorite season word and try creating your very own haiku!
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Let’s enjoy learning winter seasonal words! A collection of easy-to-use word ideas for elementary school students (11–20)
early winterNEW!
It’s a seasonal word that marks the beginning of winter, while traces of autumn’s air still remain.
It generally refers to the period from around November to early December.
Including this word, winter can be divided into three parts: early winter, midwinter, and late winter.
Since early winter comes first, you can tell it’s a time when the cold isn’t too severe yet.
It’s one of winter’s seasonal words that can be used in many ways—feeling the turn of the seasons, depicting scenes of changing wardrobes, or thinking of a hometown where the cold will soon grow harsher.
What kind of season is early winter to you?
It’s cold.NEW!
Kanashi is a kigo that signifies the cold of winter.
Winter is a season of low temperatures when snow may fall, and most people feel the cold on their skin.
Including this kigo conveys the season of winter directly.
It is used not only to state the low temperature succinctly, but also to express the chill felt by the body and a sense of loneliness in the heart.
It also evokes a certain taut, tense atmosphere that stands in stark contrast to the gentleness of spring.
Because it can depict winter from various angles and resonates with experiences familiar to everyone, it is one of the more accessible kigo to use.
KoharuNEW!
Although the kigo koharu contains the character for “spring,” it is nonetheless a bona fide winter season word.
We call those springlike warm days that arrive in autumn or winter koharu-biyori, don’t we? The kigo koharu used in haiku carries the same meaning.
Try expressing with this season word the gentle warmth of sunlight streaming in on a winter’s day, the warmth felt amid the cold, and the soothing sense of peace that brings relief.
Precisely because it is used within the season of winter, it conveys a special feeling, like finding a treasure, and invites an awareness touched by brightness.
short dayNEW!
Tanjitsu, a seasonal word that refers to the short daylight hours of winter.
It’s used to express the early arrival of dusk, the felt brevity of the day, and the emotions tied to that brief span of time.
They say winter’s daylight is several hours shorter than in summer.
Since people generally are active during the light hours, even though every day is 24 hours, winter days may feel more hectic.
Haiku that incorporate tanjitsu as a seasonal word can simply depict winter scenes, or use it as a contrast to a person’s character—there’s a variety, and it’s quite fascinating.
Frosty NightNEW!
They say frost is most likely on days when the temperature is low and the sky is clear.
Likewise, the seasonal word “shimoyo” (frost night) refers to a cold, clear winter night.
It evokes the quiet of winter, the magical scene of everything turning pure white, and the crisp air in which stars shine sharply.
There are many haiku that use shimoyo as a seasonal word to portray a winter night’s vignette, the loneliness of sleeping alone, or breathtakingly beautiful landscapes.
By sharing the common imagery suggested by the word shimoyo, readers may find it easier to relate to the content of the haiku.