小満

小満 — *lesser fullness*, around the twenty-first of May. The name refers to the crops: they have grown enough that you can be reasonably confident. Not harvested, not certain. Just far enough along to stop worrying.

It is a quiet, slightly anxious sort of name, and there is nothing else quite like it in the calendar.

こkoろroもmoがgaえe衣替えthe changing of clothes

On the first of June, schools and many companies change uniform — winter out, summer in — on the date, regardless of the weather. It goes back the other way on the first of October.

衣替え also means the domestic version: the weekend you swap what's in the wardrobe, wash and put away the heavy things, and bring out what you haven't seen since September. In a country with real seasons and small flats, this is a genuine chore with a name.

There is something very consistent about this. A calendar that names twenty-four seasons is also going to have an official date for putting your coat away.

How it fits together

は · が · を

Three particles doing three jobs, and you've met all of them individually. Here they are together.

**は** marks the topic — what the sentence is *about*. **が** marks the subject — what actually does the thing. **を** marks the object — what gets done to.

は and が is the hardest distinction in beginner Japanese and nobody gets it from a rule. A usable first approximation: は sets the scene and often implies contrast, が points at something specific, often new information. わたしはがくせいです — as for me, student. だれがきましたか — *who* came?

You will get this wrong for a long time and be understood anyway.

に · で

Both can translate as *at* or *in*, which is why they get confused.

**に** is a destination or a point — where something goes, or when it happens. がっこうにいきます, go *to* school.

**で** is where an action takes place, or what you do it with. がっこうでべんきょうします, study *at* school. The difference is arriving against doing.

Words

へheやya部屋room
まmaどdo窓window
つtsuくkuえe机desk
いiすsuchair
ドdoアadoor
katakana, because it's borrowed. Japanese has 戸 for a traditional door, but a hinged Western one is a ドア.

Things you can say today

へheやyaにniいiまmaすsuI'm in my room
まmaどdoをoあaけkeてteくkuだdaさsaいiplease open the windowを marking what gets opened, ください asking for it
がgaっこkkoうuでdeべbeんnきょkyoうuしshiまmaすsuI study at schoolで, because studying is the action — にいきます would be going there

Nothing to review right now.

This chapter teaches no new characters — you have them all. Anything still fading will come back round here after a day or two away.