Here at Commune, we're ecstatic that our owner Aki is expecting a baby girl next month in March!
As her maternity leave begins next Sunday, we have been very busy accommodating her clients' appointments before she goes on her break. Her weekend schedule is often fully booked a week before with a number of requests to be on the waiting list. Despite the frenzy, we are looking forward to her due date and counting down the days.
Did you know during the Edo period in Japan, people referred to image based calendars to understand what month it was? These rather creative calendars were called Egoyomi ("picture-calendar") and designed for those who were illiterate with "hidden" element. During this period, each month was either 29 or 30 days and distinguished as "small months" (Sho no tsuki) or "large months" (Dai no tsuki). Every 2 or 3 years, a thirteenth month called Uru-zuki was included to incorporate leap year.
Can you believe that this late Edo Ee ja nai ka parade theme picture is actually a calendar? The "large months" are represented as men and "small months" as women with a child as the leap year month. The clothes also distinguished its respective month. Can you guess which one is January?
How about this one Momotaro-themed one? The character pertains to the Year of the Dog and again has the hidden element to represent the months. Can you identify where?
Tada! Here the large months (大 - dai) are concealed on his shoulder. Very clever.
Not all calendars however were so tricky. Take this one from 1840, the Year of the Rat. This one lays out each month with two rat characters as a story narrative for the year.
We can only imagine how real people used these calendars long ago in Japan, it would certainly be difficult to schedule appointments this way! Although these are absolutely fascinating, we prefer sticking to the good 'ol numerical calendars. See more of these Egoyomi calendars here!
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