72 Seasons

The elk is a variety of large deer. In Japanese it is called "herajika" or "oojika". One characteristic of the male elk is its gigantic branched antlers. The antlers begin to sprout in spring, and are shed at this time in winter. These animals are not naturally found in Japan, but many of the seasons in the Koyomi originate in China, so perhaps the Japanese people of the Edo period enjoyed imagining this scene as the embodiment of the midwinter cold of a faraway land.

©Utsukushii Kurashikata Institute