Welcome to 72 Seasons Los Angeles

This website was inspired by the app 72 Seasons which divides the year into 72 micro-seasons, based on the ancient Japanese calendar. Each micro-season features a title and description for the season, information on seasonal foods, flowers, and activities, and a seasonal haiku.

I discovered this app in the autumn of 2020, and I started keeping my own journal of 72 Seasons: Los Angeles, partly as a mindfulness exercise, and partly out of curiosity to see how the seasons in Los Angeles compared to Japan. This website expands upon my notes, with photographs, links to local events, and seasonally inspired poems or other art by local creators.

Los Angeles has a reputation for not having seasons, yet after a year of observing and chronicling 72 micro-seasons, I would argue that Los Angeles has many seasons, with subtle changes taking place throughout the year. I encourage you to go download the 72 Seasons app and find out how the original 72 seasons of Japan compare with your geographic location. I would especially love to see an inverse of the 72 seasons for locations in the Southern Hemisphere!

Featured Seasonal Video: Season 54 The Walnut Trees Turn Yellow

Join me for an Autumn walk in Los Angeles

0:08 Hi! Welcome to 72 Seasons Los Angeles. So, in Japan, this season is called “The Maple and The Ivy Turn Yellow”. So, let’s see if that’s true for Los Angeles as well.
1:39 So, a lot of the trees here are walnut trees, so it’s not maple or ivy turning yellow, it’s walnut trees.

I love that even in the midst of Los Angeles there are still wild places like this canyon to explore.

a circle above a triangle with a blue and green gradient
a circle above a triangle with a yellow and orange gradient
a circle above a triangle with a purple and orange gradient
a circle above a triangle with a blue and cyan gradient