Japan’s 72 Micro-Seasons of Impermanence

There are many ways to think about the year, from the four seasons to the solstices, to holidays and yearly school traditions, to our everyday appointments and deadlines. In Japan, there are 72 micro-seasons that each connect around five days to happenings in the natural world…

Mist starts to linger; Grass sprouts, trees bud; Hibernating insects surface; First peach blossoms; Caterpillars become butterflies…

The 72 milestones are smaller steps of change that reflect the rhythms of Japan’s ecosystems, but they also embrace the impermanence and constant change that can be applied to any ecosystem.

In this video, the team at Headspace examines this approach to looking at how time and nature intertwine, and how our appreciation for each micro-season can help “brings us closer to viewing every moment as unique, which is the essence of mindfulness.”

What micro-seasons do you notice where you live? What milestones in nature would you choose to mark time passing? This exercise would make for an excellent group project in class or at home.

Headspace is a meditation and mindfulness app founded by former Buddhist monk Andy Puddicombe and entrepreneur Rich Pierson. They’ve previously partnered with New York, California, and Sesame Street on promotional videos to connect communities with meditation and other tools for maintaining mental health.

Explore more ways of looking at time through these videos:
• Al Jarnow’s Cosmic Clock (1979)
• Painting and erasing a clock in real-time
• Carl Sagan’s Cosmic Calendar
• Reasons for the Seasons
• A time lapse portrait of Lotte, 0 to 18 years in under 6 minutes
• A Briefer History of Time: How tech changes us in unexpected ways