Micro-Season: “The Rainbow First Appears” (2023)

We have entered the micro-season of “The First Rainbow Appears.” This is the third micro-season of the mini-season of Clear and Bright. All the micro-seasons within Clear and Bright are:

• The Swallows Arrive (Apr 04 – Apr 08)
• Geese Fly North (Apr 09 – Apr 13)
• The First Rainbow Appears (Apr 14 – Apr 19)

The micro-seasons were established in 1685 by Japanese astronomer Shibukawa Shunkai. While they are specific to Japan, they can be useful to people all over the world. No matter where you live, you can use these seasons as a starting point for your own exploration of the natural world.

To celebrate this season, we will learn a little about rainbows and then read seasonal haiku by Reichhold, Basho, Issa, and Buson.

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In this season we are noticing a shift in atmospheric conditions that are more preferable for the creation of rainbows.  This season has an opposite micro-season titled “The Rainbow Hides Unseen” (Nov 23 – Nov 27). 

What Makes A Rainbow?

 In order to see a rainbow, a light source needs to be behind the observer and that light needs to strike water droplets at a 42-degree angle.⁽¹⁾ When the sunlight hits a water droplet, some of the light is refracted, or bent, as it enters the droplet. The light is then reflected off the back of the droplet and refracted again as it exits the droplet. The angle of refraction and reflection depends on the wavelength of the light. This refraction and reflection is what creates the different colors we see in a rainbow. The colors in a rainbow are always seen in the same order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.^(1,2,3)

Springtime And Rainbows

The way the sun’s light strikes different locations on Earth is affected by the planet’s annual rotation around the sun. During the winter season, the Earth is tilted away from the sun, resulting in a lower angle of the sun in the sky. This, in turn, leads to shorter days and colder temperatures. However, during spring, the Earth begins to tilt towards the sun. As a result, the Sun takes a higher path through the sky, leading to longer days and warmer temperatures.

With the shift in the sun’s position in the sky during spring, the temperature increases, causing an increase in evaporation and atmospheric moisture. As the temperature and atmospheric moisture rise, more clouds and rain occur. This increases the opportunities for the air to contain small water droplets that can reflect and refract sunlight, leading to more rainbows.

Fun Facts About Rainbows

The following fun facts about rainbows were retrieved from Treehugger.com and InterestingFacts.com.

1. “Rainbow” comes from the Latin arcus pluvius, meaning “rainy arch.” ⁽⁴⁾
2. In Greek and Roman times, it was believed that rainbows were a path created by the goddess of the rainbow, Iris, linking us to the immortals.⁽⁴⁾
3. Isaac Newton was the first person to describe the formation of the rainbow.⁽⁵⁾
4. Each and every raindrop can create a rainbow, but for the human eye to see it thousands of raindrops need to combine their rainbows and create a big one for us to see it.⁽⁵⁾
5. Hawaii in the United States has more rainbows than anywhere else on Earth.⁽⁵⁾
6. A rainbow is an optical phenomenon. No two people will see the same rainbow.⁽⁴⁾
7. Double rainbows occur when light bounces inside the water droplet more than once before escaping, the spectrum of the second arch will be reversed.^(3,4)
8. Rainbows can form in the rain, mist, fog, sea spray, and waterfalls.⁽⁴⁾
9. The world’s longest-observed rainbow was seen over Sheffield, England on March 14, 1994.  it lasted from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm.^(4,5)

Seasonal Haiku

According to the World Kigo Database, Rainbow or niji is a summer kigo. To place a rainbow in spring you would need to write “sping rainbow” or “first rainbow”. 

When looking at  The Five Hundred Essential Japanese Season Words as selected by Kenkichi Yamamoto, we find that “spring rain” and “spring thunder” are spring kigo that are related to rainbows.  If we look at Jane Reichhold’s  A Dictionary of Haiku, we find that “rain”, “raindrops”, “rainbows, and “showers” are also similar spring kigo. 

With this in mind, let’s read some haiku that are related to rainbows or spring weather.

Jane Reichhold

clouds
drifting into sea foam
rainbows

segments
morning rainbows
in a wet net

Basho

misty rain,
a day with Mt. Fuji unseen: 
so enchanting. 
(translated by David Landis Barnhill)

Unloading its freight, 
the camellia blossom bends, 
spilling rainwater
 (translated by Sam Hamill) 

Issa

irises--
where that rainbow
starts from
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

green moss--
all the way to my lap
spring's rainbow
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

Buson

As vital as a rainbow, 
On the cusp of opening 
Are the peonies
(translated by Thomas McAuley)

A Haiku Invitation

This week’s haiku invitation will be a little different.  This week we are going to experiment with the technique of “Unfolding” in haiku as described in The Way of Haiku.  I believe Mark Blasini is the author of this website and he explains:

“The Unfolding Technique is one in which the action or event of the poem is gradually revealed throughout the poem.  For example, consider this poem by Buson:

on a temple bell,
sleeping –
a butterfly!

Though the image is simple (a butterfly sleeping on a bell), the gradual way the poem reveals the scene presents an air of mystery and delight.  The key to this method is to use vague details to describe the scene, details that point to something that is still to be seen.  Then, on the last line, you provide the missing piece of information.” (The Way of Haiku)

I find this technique very appropriate for our conversation about rainbows.  Give it a try and see what you can create! 

Share your haiku in the comments below, or post on your own page and link back to this post. I can’t wait to read what you write!  

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Resources:

1. “Rainbow”: Wikipedia
2. “Rainbow”: National Geographic Society Encyclopedia 
3. “What Causes a Rainbow?”; SciJinks.gov
4. Breyer, Mellisa. “17 Wonderfully Curious Facts About Rainbows.” TreeHugger.com
5. O’Brien, Amanda. “29 Facts About Rainbows You Probably Don’t Know”. InterestingFacts.com
6. “Rainbow (niji)”; World Kigo Database
7. Yamamoto, Kenkichi. “The Five Hundred Essential Japanese Season Words”. Translated by Kris Young Kondo and William J. Higginson. Haiku Foundation

Jane Reichhold’s Haiku retrieved from A Dictionary of Haiku. Basho’s haiku was retrieved from Matsuo Bashō’s haiku poems in romanized Japanese with English translations. Buson’s haiku was retrieved from “Haiku of Yosa Buson Organized by Rōmaji, in alphabetical order; translated into English, French, Spanish” Terebess Asia Online (TAO). Issa’s haiku was retrieved from David G. Lanoue’s HaikuGuy.com.  Jane Reichhold’s Haiku retrieved from A Dictionary of Haiku