First pentad / 獺祭魚 : ‘otters make offerings of fish’. As fish begin to swim upstream, they are hunted by otters, which are believed to offer the fish to heaven.

Second pentad / 鴻雁來 : ‘the wild geese arrive’. Wild geese begin to make their northward migration, following the onset of spring.

Third pentad / 草木萌動 : ‘trees and grass put forth shoots’.