What is the Japanese reference book that lists seasonal terms used in haiku?

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The Japanese reference book that lists seasonal terms used in haiku is the saijiki.

A saijiki is organized around kigo, or season words. An entry commonly explains a term, lists related expressions, and gives example poems showing how the word works in context. Modern editions are usually arranged by spring, summer, autumn, winter, and often New Year or seasonless topics.

The book is more than a vocabulary list: a kigo carries shared cultural associations. “Cherry blossoms,” “cicadas,” or “autumn wind” can signal not only a season but also a mood and a large body of literary tradition. A related work, the kiyose, generally lists season words without the same range of example poems.

Saijiki are also used for linked-verse traditions such as renga and renku. The term is sometimes confused with kigo: kigo is the individual seasonal word, while saijiki is the reference work that catalogs such words.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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