The Festival of Seven Herbs or ''Nanakusa no sekku'' ( ja, ) is the long-standing

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese custom of eating seven-herb rice porridge (七草粥, ''nanakusa-gayu'', lit. "7 Herbs Rice-Congee") on January 7 ('' Jinjitsu''); one of the ''

Gosekku The ''Gosekku'' (五節句), also known as ''sekku'' (節句), are the five annual ceremonies that were traditionally held at the Japanese imperial court. The origins were Japanese practices merged with Chinese practices and celebrated in Japan ...

''.

History

The seventh of the first month has been an important Japanese festival since ancient times.

Jingchu Suishiji The ''Jingchu Suishiji'', also known by various English translations, is a description of holidays in central China during the 6th and 7th centuries. It was compiled by Du Gongzhan in the Sui or early Tang (early 7th century) as a revised, ann ...

, written in the Six Dynasties China, recorded the Southern Chinese custom of eating a hot soup that contains seven vegetables to bring longevity and health and ward off evil on the 7th day of the first month of the Chinese calendar. Since there is little green at that time of the year, the young green herbs bring color to the table and eating them suits the spirit of the New Year. The custom was present in Taiwan until the mid- Qing Dynasty, and is still present in parts of rural

Guangdong province Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

Seven spring flowers

The ''nanakusa'' (), or more specifically, ''haru no nanakusa'' (), spring's seven flowers (or herbs), are seven edible wild

herbs In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

of spring. Traditionally, they are: There is considerable variation in the precise ingredients, with common local herbs often being substituted. On the morning of January 7, or the night before, people place the ''nanakusa'', rice scoop, and/or wooden pestle on the cutting board and, facing the good-luck direction, chant "Before the birds of the continent (China) fly to Japan, let's get nanakusa" while cutting the herbs into pieces. The chant may vary from place to place.

Musical accompaniment

Seven autumn flowers

The spring-time ''nanakusa'' are mirrored by ''aki no nanakusa'' (), meaning autumn's seven flowers. They are listed below: The seven flowers of autumn are

bush clover ''Lespedeza'' is a genus of some 40 species (including nothospecies) of flowering plants in the pea family (Fabaceae), commonly known as bush clovers or (particularly East Asian species) Japanese clovers (''hagi''). The genus is native to warm ...

(''hagi''), miscanthus (''obana'', '' Miscanthus sinensis''),

kudzu Kudzu (; also called Japanese arrowroot or Chinese arrowroot) is a group of climbing, coiling, and trailing deciduous perennial vines native to much of East Asia, Southeast Asia, and some Pacific islands, but invasive species, invasive in many ...

, large pink (''nadeshiko'', '' Dianthus superbus''), yellow-flowered valerian (''ominaeshi'', ''

Patrinia scabiosifolia ''Patrinia scabiosifolia'', the eastern valerian or golden lace, is a species of flowering plant in the family Caprifoliaceae. It is native to southeastern Siberia, Mongolia, the Russian Far East, most of China, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, and the Ryu ...

''),

boneset Boneset may refer to: Plants *Various species of ''Ageratina'' *Various species of ''Eupatorium'' **Particularly ''Eupatorium perfoliatum'' *''Symphytum officinale'', a garden herb also called comfrey Album *''Boneset'', an album by Diane Cluck ...

(''fujibakama'', ''

Eupatorium fortunei ''Eupatorium fortunei'' is a plant species in the family Asteraceae native from Asia where it is rare in the wild but commonly cultivated. The white to reddish colored flowers and herbage smell like lavender when crushed. In China the plants are ...

''), and Chinese bellflower (''kikyō'', ''Platycodon gradiflorus''). These seven autumn flowers provide visual enjoyment. Their simplicity was very much admired: they are small and dainty yet beautifully colored. They are named as typical autumn flowers in a verse from the

Man'yōshū The is the oldest extant collection of Japanese (poetry in Classical Japanese), compiled sometime after AD 759 during the Nara period. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's poetic compilations. The compiler, or the last in ...

anthology. Unlike their spring counterparts, there is no particular event to do anything about the seven flowers of autumn. The autumn flowers are not intended for picking or eating, but for appreciation, despite each one is believed to have medical efficacy in traditional Chinese medicine. Tanka and haiku theming ''hanano'' (, lit. flower field), meaning fields where the autumn wildflowers are in full bloom, have a centuries-old history.

Cautionary note

The Japanese parsley ('' Oenanthe javanica'') species of the '' Oenanthe'' (water dropworts) genus is closely related to and easily confused with toxic

water hemlock ''Cicuta'', commonly known as water hemlock, is a genus of four species of highly poisonous plants in the family Apiaceae. They are perennial herbaceous plants which grow up to tall, having distinctive small green or white flowers arranged in ...

. Although accidental poisoning is rare, caution should be exercised when dealing with oenanthe species. As ''Oenanthe javanica'' is not found outside of Asia unless specifically cultivated, wild-growing varieties of water dropworts should be considered lethal, even in small amounts.

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20110206045009/http://f3.aaa.livedoor.jp/~taamchai/japan/jp-flower1-2.htm *http://www.transparent.com/japanese/jinjitsu-%E4%BA%BA%E6%97%A5/ *https://web.archive.org/web/20110722115508/http://sokettokun.blog.so-net.ne.jp/2009-01-07 {{Authority control New Year in Japan