Hangesho — the plant begins to flower
A cool-looking plant that grows in clusters by the water, with a beautiful white mottling, has begun to flower. It is called Hangesho, after the seasonal day of the same name — about the eleventh day after Geshi (the summer solstice), one of the twenty-four solar terms. That is when the plant flowers.
And Hangesho the day… It is one of the zassetsu, the seasonal markers besides the twenty-four. The date shifts by year. In 2026 it falls on 2 July.
An old saying for farm work is that rice planting should finish after Geshi and before Hangesho. This is also called Hange Hansaku: after Hangesho, the autumn harvest was said to fall.
People of old lived with the twenty-four solar terms in mind. Later in the summer comes Taisho — Greater Heat.