Moments in Bloom: Japanese Seasonal Living for a Mindful Life

Open your eyes to a hidden garden of seasonal messages and aesthetic niches based on the classical Japanese calendar.

Do you relish the chatter of songbirds declaring the arrival of spring and the contrast of the fall's dazzling sun to its crisp, cool breezes? In Moments in Bloom, you will find yourself living more fully in each season, romanticizing the aesthetics we take for granted, and finding hope in times of uncertainty.

In this thoughtful and accessible guide, each small season becomes a guidepost to embrace and flourish in. Based on the Japanese seasonal almanacs, called saijiki, this inspiring book teaches us to stop and smell the flowers and use nature as a healing property.

Each chapter artfully captures the small changes in each season, transforming a natural cycle into a guide for healing and providing metaphors for how to conduct our own lives. For example, as the lingering cold freezes our fingertips in January, we can also welcome bush warblers and plum blossoms, emphasizing the commencement of a new year and a new season. This beautifully illustrated book is a deep dive into the connection between nature and the human spirit, featuring:

• Seasonal observations found in nature
• Seasonal words and quotes that evoke specific feelings
• Observations of natural phenomena
• And more!

Whether you're a gardener, nature enthusiast, lover of Japanese culture, or looking to build a personal relationship with nature, Moments in Bloom will leave you connected to the Earth and searching for more. Use this guide to recognize small seasons of your own and commit to appreciating the beautifully natural changes in our planet.

Author: Alexis Agliano Sanborn,Kit Lanthier
Publisher: Rock Point
Published: 10/06/2026
Pages: 224
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 7.80h x 5.90w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9781577158257

About the Author
Alexis Agliano Sanborn is a humanities specialist in Japanese studies. Her work has been published in Gastronimica, Kyoto Journal, Global Asia, and a forthcoming MIT Press book chapter. She directed the award-winning documentary short Nourishing Japan (2020), which explores the impact of food education and the school lunch system on Japanese communities. Sanborn has pursued her interest in seasons and seasonality through her artwork, teaching herself how to forage, and researching the history of time reckoning and seasonal motifs in Japanese culture and artwork. Together with Kit Lanthier, Sanborn launched the podcast Season by Season: An Audio Odyssey through Nature, which explores the 24 seasons of the Japanese lunar calendar through prose, poetry, history, and sound. In 2025, she is leading a 24 Seasons Art Cohort to help people discover a closer relationship to the natural world through nature journaling.

Kit Lanthier is a voracious reader who loves to get lost in the written word. After graduating from Mills College with a major in International Relations, Lanthier spent three years living and working in Japan. While in Japan, she pursued another of her passions--tea--and became a student of the Omotesenke School of Tea, the study of which she continues even after moving back home to California. Calming moments in the tea room, along with her lifelong love of literature, have inspired her study and practice of haiku, which she composes regularly. Together with Alexis Agliano Sanborn, Lanthier launched the podcast Season by Season: An Audio Odyssey through Nature, which explores the 24 seasons of the Japanese lunar calendar through prose, poetry, history, and sound. Lanthier lives with her husband and cats in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she spends her weekends learning how to garden, motivated by memories of her grandmothers.