Egoyomi (Picture calendars)

Under the lunisolar calendar used in Japan until 1871 (Meiji 4), months were either "long" (30 days) or "short" (29 days), and the sequence varied from year to year. For this reason, calendars known as Daisho-reki—showing only the yearly arrangement of long and short months—were produced annually and developed in various forms. Here we introduce several examples of illustrated calendars, including Daisho-reki. For more on calendars, see the digital exhibition "The Japanese Calendar."