Wadokei

See the day the old Japanese way: twelve hours that stretch with the sun, and the 72 microseasons of the year. Learn the kanji behind each one as you go.

Wadokei is a clock for the old Japanese way of keeping time, brought to life on your iPhone and Apple Watch.

Before mechanical clocks, Japan divided daylight and darkness into six hours each, so an hour stretched long in summer and shrank in winter. This wadokei draws that dial for your exact place and date: the six day toki run from sunrise to sunset, the six night toki from sunset to sunrise, each marked with its zodiac sign and temple-bell count. A single needle shows the hour of now.

Around the clock turns the year. The traditional calendar splits the year into 24 sekki (solar terms) and 72 kō (microseasons), tiny five-day chapters like "the east wind melts the ice" or "bush warblers begin to sing". The app tells you today's kō and how far through it you are.

Made for curious minds, not only readers of Japanese. Every term shows the kanji, the romaji reading and a plain English meaning, so you can enjoy it at a glance and learn a little each day.

FREE

• The living toki clock for your location
• Today's toki, kō and sekki, with romaji and English
• Home and lock-screen widgets
• Apple Watch app and complications

FULL ALMANAC (one-time unlock)

• All 72 kō, each with a kanji-by-kanji breakdown
• The characters of the sekki and toki explained
• Chinese origins, interpretations and notes
• Search and explore the whole year

Everything is computed on your device from the sun's position, with no account and no network needed. Your location is used only to work out sunrise and sunset, and never leaves your device.

A quiet companion for the turning of the year.