Japanese Seasonal Letter Greetings by Month

A month-by-month list of "jikō no aisatsu" — the formal seasonal greeting phrases used to open Japanese letters and business emails, from January's "genkan no kō" to December's "shotō no kō".

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January

Genkan-no-kō (厳寒の候) — used during the coldest stretch of the year.
Shinshun-no-kō (新春の候) — a celebratory phrase marking the start of the new year.

February

Risshun-no-kō (立春の候) — used at the calendar's start of spring.
Yokan-no-kō (余寒の候) — for lingering cold even after the start of spring.

March

Sōshun-no-kō (早春の候) — used as the first hints of spring appear.
Keichitsu-no-kō (啓蟄の候) — literally "when hibernating insects emerge."

April

Yōshun-no-kō (陽春の候) — used for full spring with warm sunshine.
Ōka-no-kō (桜花の候) — a flowery phrase for cherry blossoms in full bloom.

May

Shinryoku-no-kō (新緑の候) — used for fresh green leaves in early summer.
Kunpū-no-kō (薫風の候) — describes a breeze carrying the scent of fresh greenery.

June

Tsuyu-no-kō (梅雨の候) — used during the rainy season.
Kōsho-no-kō (向暑の候) — meaning "heading toward the summer heat."

July

Seika-no-kō (盛夏の候) — used at the peak heat of full summer.
Mōsho-no-kō (猛暑の候) — for a stretch of especially fierce heat.

August

Zansho-no-kō (残暑の候) — for lingering heat even after the start of autumn on the calendar.
Banka-no-kō (晩夏の候) — evokes the closing days of summer.

September

Shoshū-no-kō (初秋の候) — used as the first hints of autumn appear.
Shūryō-no-kō (秋涼の候) — describes the growing coolness of autumn.

October

Shūrei-no-kō (秋冷の候) — used when autumn deepens and the air turns chilly.
Kōyō-no-kō (紅葉の候) — a vivid phrase for autumn leaves changing color.

November

Banshū-no-kō (晩秋の候) — evokes the closing days of autumn.
Kōkan-no-kō (向寒の候) — meaning "heading toward the winter cold."

December

Shiwasu-no-kō (師走の候) — used for the busy, hurried end of the year.
Shotō-no-kō (初冬の候) — evokes the very start of winter.

Tips for using seasonal greetings

A seasonal greeting normally follows the opening salutation (like "Haikei") and leads into a line wishing the recipient prosperity, such as "...and I hope your company continues to thrive."
The word "kō" (候) means roughly "the season of," and appears at the end of virtually every seasonal greeting. Swapping it for "...no ori" or "...no migiri" produces an equally polite variant.
In everyday business email, seasonal greetings are often simplified into a season-neutral stock phrase such as "I hope this finds you well" rather than a month-specific expression.
For personal letters, choosing a phrase that matches the actual weather (e.g. "amid this lingering summer heat") rather than the strict calendar date tends to feel warmer and more sincere.

Frequently asked questions

Seasonal greetings are formal expressions reserved for official letters — invitations, letters of apology, ceremonial documents. In everyday business email, they're usually simplified into a plain opener like "Thank you for your continued support," without a season-specific phrase.

Weather can shift noticeably within a single month, so a different phrase is chosen for the first half versus the latter half. February, for example, uses "risshun-no-kō" near the start of the month and "yokan-no-kō" toward the end, matching how the actual weather is changing.

It's typically followed by a line wishing the recipient continued health or prosperity — for a company, something like "I hope your company continues to thrive"; for an individual, a wish for the wellbeing of "you and your family."

If you open with "Haikei," follow it with the seasonal greeting, then the body text, and close with "Keigu." If you open with the more casual "Zenryaku," the seasonal greeting is skipped entirely and the body text begins right away — that's the correct pairing.

Side Note — the uniquely Japanese custom of seasonal greetings

Seasonal greetings are a custom unique to Japanese letter-writing culture, expressing the changing seasons at the very start of a letter as a gesture of consideration for the reader. The practice is thought to trace back to Chinese classical letter-writing etiquette, and seasonal phrasing already appears in the correspondence of Heian-period court nobles. It spread among ordinary people during the Edo period through "ōraimono" (textbooks that taught letter-writing), and continued to be taught as a foundation of formal epistolary Japanese well into the modern school era.

Seasonal greetings are deeply intertwined with the "24 solar terms" (nijūshi sekki), a calendar system of Chinese origin that divides the year into 24 segments. Terms like "keichitsu" (the awakening of hibernating insects) and "risshū" (the start of autumn) are lifted directly from this system into greeting phrases — so learning to read seasonal greetings is also a way of learning Japan's traditional sense of the seasons.

While the spread of email and chat has reduced everyday use of letter-specific seasonal greetings, they still play an important role in formal documents — invitations, letters of apology, and correspondence with someone of higher status. Choosing the right seasonal phrase is still considered a marker of refined Japanese writing skill and cultural literacy.

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