7

I often hear 春風【はるかぜ】(or, much less often, 春風【しゅんぷう】) used to describe the characteristically windy weather of early Spring.

I was also certain I had heard it used on occasions as a figurative expression, to mean something akin to "Spring cleaning" or "Spring renewal".

However, when I look in both bilingual or Japanese dictionaries, I cannot find any such additional definition.

EDICT gives:

春風 [はるかぜ] (n) spring breeze

春風 [しゅんぷう] (n) spring breeze

And Wikipedia:

春風（はるかぜ）は、春に吹く風のこと。

Did I dream this figurative meaning? Is it merely understood and self-explanatory, but not widely accepted as part of the definition? Has anybody ran into a non-meteorological use of the expression?

Improve this question
6
  • Where did you hear it? Do you mean the discounts at shops that you frequently see in spring?
    – user458
    Apr 4, 2012 at 1:13
  • @sawa: not really sure where and how. Which is why I was trying to track down a reference. I guess discount signs might be one possibility...
    – Dave
    Apr 4, 2012 at 1:17
  • For consideration: In Chinese there is one poem and there is one part: 野火烧不尽，春风吹又生. Which roughly translates to "is unable to be completely destroyed by fire; it grows again as the spring breeze comes." This matches your understanding of "spring renewal".
    – Flaw ♦
    Apr 4, 2012 at 2:58
  • 2
    I am not familiar with the English expressions you mentioned. Does “spring cleaning” refer to “the practice of thoroughly cleaning a house in the springtime” as stated in the Wikipedia article? If so, I do not think that the Japanese word 春風 has that meaning. In Japan, thorough cleaning of a house (大掃除) is usually associated to the end of year, not springtime.
    – Tsuyoshi Ito
    Apr 4, 2012 at 11:46
  • 1
    From just searching around online... it does look like 春風 can be used in combination with something like 新しい＋名詞 to convey the sense of "a new beginning." If I can find a more formal example of this... I'll try writing an answer later.
    – summea
    Apr 4, 2012 at 20:25

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

It might not quite be the same figurative use... but according to goo辞書, 春風 (at least when paired with 駘蕩{たいとう} [peaceful or calm],) can also imply a sort of refreshing calm, peaceful state:

２ 物事に動じないで余裕のあるさま。ゆったりとのんびりしているさま。1

1 goo dictionary source

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .