Name of month name of plant	Japanese expression pronunciation	Alternate expression	Origins
January	1 ichi-gatsu	shoh-gatsu mu-tsuki	is a chinese letter for "moon" which represent the shape of crescent. There are two alternate expressions. The first one means "right month". I do not know why it is "right", probably the right beginning of a year. The second one means "month of enjoying". In new year days members of family come together and enjoy.
February ume plum	2 ni-gatsu	kisaragi	There are three alternate expressions. Pronunciations are all same. I do not know the meaning of the first alternate but most used. Directly translating it means "like as moon". The second one means "wear dresses over and over". In this cold season, this meaning is easy to understand but it is incorrect origin. In luna calendar, 2 correspond to March (nearly) and it is getting warm. The third one is the right one. It means "plants grows again". The bird is "uguisu" a kind of nightingale who sing "ho hokekyoh"
March sakura cherry	3 san-gatsu	yayoi	The second alternate is another expression using phonogram called "hiragana" (see the page of Japanese Letters.) and favored because of its soft appearance. The meaning is "grow more and more" corresponding to the grow of plants in spring. The letters in alternative expression are in the style of brush pen writing.
April utsugi deutzia	4 shi-gatsu	u-zuki	By luna calendar used in older days, 4 was early summer and the blossoms of deutzia called "u" was thought as the symbol of April. "gatsu" and "zuki" are pronunciations for . There are two more pronunciations , "getsu" and "tsuki".
May ayame iris	5 go-gatsu	sa-tsuki	is the chinese letter for "five". The pronunciation should be "go-gatsu" but "satsuki" was borrowed from other alternatives. Ordinary japanese can not write down the letter . The meaning is something like vivid. Japanese recall refreshy weather with clear sky and cool breeze from the sound of "satsuki". The last one is probably a simplified shape of second one. The direct translation is "fast month".
June ajisai hortensia	6 roku-gatsu	mina-zuki	Direct translation is "no water month". June is the most rainy season in the year. In my boyhood, I was taught as follows. Now that water is this much on earth, there would be no water in the heaven. It is the origin of the name and I believed it until today. But it seems incorrect consulting with some materials. By luna calendar, rainy season is over in 6 and water is scarce when rice plants need water.
July himawari sunflower	7 shichi-gatsu	fu-zuki or fumi-zuki	Direct translation is "literature month" or "letter" month. There are two explanations for it. One is that on seventh of this month Star Festival is held and people write letters of wish to the god, therefore this month is "letter month". Another one: In this month by luna calendar, night is getting long after mid-summer and there is a lot of time to read literatures, so this month is "literature month".
August kikyoh morning glory	8 hachi-gatsu	ha-zuki	The meaning is "leaves month". There are two explanations. One is: By luna calendar, this is the month whe leaves of trees begin coloring and falling. Another is: it means the leaves of katsura which grows on the moon in this month of Moon Viewing. August is the hottest season and whole of this month is school vacation. Most of companies have summer vacation of more than one week in this month.
September kiku chrysanthemum	9 ku-gatsu	naga-tsuki	The direct translation is "long moon" In September by luna calendar, the length of night time is felt long and moon is seen long time. Chrysanthemum is one of the most favored flower in Japan and used for the crest of the Imperial Family.
October higan-bana amalyllis	10 juh-gatsu	kanna-zuki	Direct translation is "no god month". In October, all japanese gods (see Japanese Christmas) gather at izumo area to have big conference. Therefore no god is in other areas in this month.
November momiji maple	11 jyu-ichi-gatsu	shimo-tsuki	Direct translation is "frost month". In November, it is getting cold and frost begin to cover land in the morning.
December	12 jyu-ni-gatsu	shiwasu	Direct translation is "teacher run". In order to understand it, you must know that in older days, people bought everything on credit and must pay it at the end of year and schools were operated individual teacher and he had to collect the tuition fee by himself for his payment. Teachers were very busy in this month. Of course, ordinary people were also busy. But teachers are usually enjoy rather noble life and his busy appearance was funny.