No fancy name. No Latin god of war. Japanese months are just numbers: 1月, 2月, 3月. Brutally practical. But the character that makes it work, 月 (gatsu), is anything but simple. 月 is a pictogram of the crescent moon. The Shuowen Jiezi calls it "the essence of the great yin": the celestial body that fills and empties, appears and disappears. Twelve lunar cycles make a year, so 月 means both "moon" and "month. " Every time you say sangatsu (3月), you're counting moons.

月 also hides inside every body part: arm (腕), leg (腿), face (顔). Not because bodies are lunar: 月 and 肉 (flesh) became identical in handwriting centuries ago. 1943年3月、第8軍への攻撃が失敗に終わった後、ロンメルはヨーロッパに帰って行った。 Sen kyūhyaku yonjūsan-nen san-gatsu, dai-hachi-gun he no kōgeki ga shippai ni owatta ato, Ronmeru wa Yooroppa ni kaette itta. "In March 1943, after a failed attack on the Eighth Army, Rommel returned to Europe. " Japan once had poetic month names. March was 弥生 (yayoi), "new life growing. "