1.
red dragonfly
Any of several small dragonflies whose bodies turn red in autumn, above all the autumn darter (アキアカネ). A classic image of the Japanese autumn.
The red dragonflies come down from the mountains to the rice fields in early autumn, and they are one of the season's standard images in haiku and song. Usually written 赤とんぼ; the full kanji 蜻蛉 is hard to read.
Cultural note
赤とんぼ is also the title of a children's song (lyrics by 三木露風, 1921; music by 山田耕筰, 1927) that almost every Japanese person knows, beginning 夕焼け小焼けの赤とんぼ.
Related words
- とんぼ: dragonfly
- 季語: seasonal word in haiku (赤とんぼ marks autumn)