Hōnen Matsuri, Tea and the Quiet Fertility of Spring

Every year around the middle of March, when spring begins to awaken in Japan, a curious procession passes through the streets of the small town of Komaki in Aichi Prefecture. People carry a large wooden symbol of life, sing, drink sake and laugh. This old Shinto festival is called 豊年祭 (Hōnen Matsuri) – literally “the festival of a bountiful year.” Its meaning is simple and ancient: to celebrate the fertility of the land, the abundance of harvest and the continuation of life. In agrarian cultures, fertility was never only a matter of fields and crops. The earth gives birth to rice, trees bear fruit and a woman gives birth to a child. These three things were understood as expressions of the same force – the deep rhythm of nature that awakens again every spring. This is why the symbolism of Hōnen Matsuri is so open and joyful. It is not a provocation, but a reminder that life is a gift that continually renews itself.

Interestingly, this festival is celebrated precisely on March 15. And only one day later, on March 16, we already stand on the threshold of spring in Europe. In the Czech landscape the first buds begin to appear at this time, the soil softens and the air carries a different scent. A person born in these days enters the world at the moment when the energy of the year turns from winter stillness toward growth. In the Taoist view of the world this period marks the moment when the yang force of spring begins to rise from the earth. Winter belongs to water and the depths; spring belongs to wood and growth. Ancient Chinese texts say that at this time “the qi of the earth breathes.” Plants awaken, water flows faster and life begins to unfold upward. It is no coincidence that the first tea leaves also appear during this time. Young shoots of the tea plant are among the purest images of spring energy. In Japan the first tea is called 若茶 (wakacha) – “young tea.” People believed that whoever drinks the first tea of the season absorbs the strength of the new year.

There is an old Japanese proverb:

初物七十五日 – hatsumono nanajūgo nichi
“Whoever tastes the first fruits of the season extends their life by seventy-five days.”

Young tea leaves are therefore not just a drink. They are a symbol of the moment when nature is born again.

Japanese poetry sometimes says that the steam rising from fresh tea resembles a woman’s breath. It is a delicate and almost imperceptible image, yet it carries an ancient idea: a woman, like the earth, is a bearer of life. That is why in many cultures femininity and spring naturally belong together. If someone is born around the middle of March, they enter the world at the moment when nature opens itself again. Astrology would say that such a person arrives during the time of Pisces or Aries, on the border between water and fire – between dream and movement. Taoists would say that it is the moment when the water of winter begins to nourish the wood of spring. Such a person may carry within them a particular sensitivity. Spring is not only a season of growth but also a season of gentleness. The shoots are soft, the light is clear and everything is only at the beginning. Perhaps that is why it is sometimes said that a woman born in these days carries something of spring itself – the ability to awaken things that are still sleeping. Not loudly or dramatically, but quietly, like the first leaf opening on a branch.

Tea reminds us of this gentle philosophy of life. In a small bowl water, leaf and time meet. From a few simple elements arises a drink that can slow the rush of the day.

When these images come together, an old East Asian metaphor of life appears: the earth gives birth to shoots, the tea plant produces young leaves and the human heart opens once again to the world. The fertility festival reminds us of the power of life, the first spring tea brings the energy of the new year and the birth of a person during these days is like a quiet promise of another spring. Sometimes it is enough simply to sit for a moment with a bowl of tea in one’s hands and watch the steam slowly rise. In that gentle movement lies the ancient rhythm of the world – the same rhythm that every spring awakens the earth, the tea plant and the human heart.

The Spring Energy of Mid-March

A person born around March 16 enters the world at the moment when nature is awakening. In European astrology this is the time of Pisces, shortly before the transition into Aries. It is a special threshold – the water of winter has not yet fully gone, yet the first movement of spring has already begun.

From a Taoist perspective this is the moment when the energy of wood (spring) begins to rise from the depths of winter water. Such energy is often associated with:

  • sensitivity
  • intuition
  • the ability to perceive subtle changes
  • an inner world that often precedes action

It is the energy of germination. Not yet a tree, but the first shoot.

Energy of Early May

In contrast, May 9 lies in the middle of spring. In Western astrology it belongs to Taurus – an earth sign associated with stability, physicality, sensuality and the ability to create material reality. In Chinese symbolism one could say that the wood of spring has already strengthened and begins to transform into the energy of earth and the fullness of life. The tree is no longer a sprout; it has a firm trunk.

Such a person often brings:

  • stability
  • protection
  • the ability to build and maintain things in reality
  • a strong connection to the body, nature and the senses

From a Taoist perspective the relationship between these two energies can be very interesting. March – a gentle, intuitive water-wood energy of beginnings. May – a stable, earthy energy of fully developed spring. One energy awakens, the other anchors. Just as in nature: the first shoots need soil that can hold them. And firm earth needs a seed in order for something to grow.

Tea culture holds a similar metaphor. The first spring tea leaves are delicate, fragile and full of the energy of beginnings. Yet to become a good infusion they need water and the calm of the bowl that allows them to unfold their flavor. It is sometimes said that tea arises from three things: the leaf, the water and the space between them. And sometimes relationships between two people arise in a similar way. In an old East Asian metaphor, a woman born in mid-March may carry the breath of awakening spring, while a man born at the beginning of May may carry the strength and fullness of developed spring. One is the beginning of movement, the other its flowering.

And sometimes when these two energies meet, it resembles the moment in nature when the first young leaf rests against the strong branch of a tree.

It is only symbolic language – yet ancient cultures loved such images, because sometimes they can say more about relationships than precise rules.