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Mishima-Calendar Museum (1)Let’s get to know Mishima Calendars
The Origin of Mishima Calendars
The beginnings of the building
During the Nara Period, the Kawai family moved to the area from Kyoto, setting up shop on the east side of Mishima Grand Shrine. This family acted as national festival directors and had set up an astronomical observatory. It is known that they produced and sold the well-known Mishima Calendars in one of the rooms.
The current building was built after the main building was destroyed in an earthquake in 1854. It was built on the property of Egawa Tarozaemon, a government representative in the Kannami area. The new building included a formal Japanese style room constructed to formal standards.
The use of the building
Mishima City was entrusted with this historical building by the Kawai family as a unique opportunity. A plan was enacted to use the building to allow the public to know the history and bulture of Mishima Calendars.
Mishima Calendar Association (with 20 volunteers) provides guide service.
The following exhibits are planned.
Mishima Calendars, Mishima Calendar’s Wood Blocks, Mishima Calendar’s Materials
Mishima Tea Bowls
Sanshiro Dolls, etc.
(Sanshiro Dolls are named after their creator, Noguchi Sanshiro.)
What are Taiin Taiyou (moon/sun) Calendars?
Mishima Calendars are a style of calendar known as “Taiin Taiyou.”(moon/sun)
The style of calendar we use today is based on the sun’s orbit. This calendar consists of 365 days which make up one year and follow the changing of the seasons.
The original calendars were based upon the movement of the moon. This calendar followed the waxing and waning of the moon and this meant that one month equalled 29.5 days. To deal with thehalf day, months were divided into two types, one with 29 days and one with 30 days.
This meant that in one year, there were only 354 days. As the seasons travelled a path of 365 days, the moon based calendar was off from their procession by 11 days. Over a three year period, this added up to one whole month. The calendar was developed over a 1000 years ago in the Yellow River region of China for the purpose of agriculture. However its use meant that it was difficult to exactly determine the precise day for farming. Thus every three years, a single year consisted of 13 months to align with the seasons. However, this still did not stricly bring the calendar into line with the seasons so the system of 24 seasons was developed. (Please see the following chart.)
The name Taiin Taiyou calendar reflects the fact that the calendar is based on the lunar calendar but also incorporates the system based on the sun. This means that the seasons are accurately reflected in the calendar.
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