Seven Herbs (Nanakusa)
There are the Seven Herbs of Spring and the Seven Herbs of Autumn, each group consisting of seven herbs of the season
The seven herbs of spring are seri (Japanese parsley), nazuna (shepherd’s purse), gogyo (cottonweed), hakobe (chickweed), hotokenoza (Lamium amplexicaule), suzuna (turnip), and suzushiro (daikon). It is said that eating seven-herb rice porridge cooked with these herbs on January 7th (traditionally on the 7th of the lunar First Month) will prevent all sorts of diseases.
In ancient China, it was customary to eat thick soups with seven kinds of herbs to rid oneself of noxious humors on the 7th of the lunar First Month, Jinjitsu (the Day of Humans). In Japan, in early spring it had long been customary to go out to the field in early spring and pick young herbs. By the early Heian period, these unrelated customs were synchronized, and the palace regularly held an event on the 7th of the lunar First Month of eating thick soup with young herbs to rid people of the palace of noxious humors. The thick soup changed to rice porridge in the Muromachi period (1336-1573), it is said.
In the Edo period (1603-1867), the Shogunate made Jinjitsu an official event as one of the five season festivals, and eating seven-herb rice porridge became widely established among commoners. There is a little ritual involved called Nanakusa tataki (Cutting Up the Seven Herbs). On the night of the 6th or the morning of the 7th, one turns to the direction of Toshitokujin (the god of the new year), puts the seven spring herbs on the cutting board, and uses seven instruments such as a kitchen knife and pestle to process the herbs while chanting nanakusa chant.
The seven herbs of autumn are hagi (bush clover), obana (Japanese pampas grass), kuzu (vine), nadeshiko (any of several pink flowers in the genus Dianthus), patrinia (Patrinia scabiosifolia), bleeding heart (Lamprocapnos spectabilis), and bellflower (Platycodon grandiflorus). While the seven spring herbs are ingredients for seven-herb rice porridge, the seven autumn herbs are for appreciation. These seven autumn herbs were selected because they appear in Yamanoue no Okura's poems included in the Man'yoshu (Collection of Myriad Leaves, after 759). In his poems, however, the morning glory is included instead of the bellflower, but there is uncertainty as to what "morning glory" (asagao) actually refers to.
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Drawings of the Seven Herbs of Spring in paintings
Plants chosen as the Seven Herbs of Spring
Drawings of the Seven Herbs of Autumn in paintings
Plants chosen as the Seven Herbs of Autumn
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12月下旬~1月初めに、春の七草を籠に仕立てた「七草籠」を展示。秋には、秋の七草の植栽と全長30メートルの萩のトンネルが楽しめる。
野草コース内に、「秋の七草園」があり、6~11月にかけて秋の七草を観賞できる。
毎年1月7日に祭典を行い、境内で七草粥をふるまわれる。
毎年1月7日に白馬奏覧神事が行われる。宮中の儀式「白馬節会」を神事化したもので、神前に七草粥を供え、神馬を神覧に供する。上賀茂神社敬神婦人会によって、七草粥がふるまわれる。(有料)
毎年2月11日に、春の七草が神前に供えられ、七草粥がふるまわれる。(有料)
1月7日に七草を神前に供える七草神事を行う。境内で七草粥がふるまわれる。(有料)
有職故実研究家・八條忠基氏が秋の七草の歴史や装束との関係について、文献資料に基づいて解説。
国立科学博物館附属自然教育園内に生息している生物の種名や写真を調べることができる。
春の七草、秋の七草をそれぞれ詳細に解説している。広島大学総合博物館を中心に運営されているサイト。
東邦大学薬用植物園内の秋の七草を写真入りで解説。
「栄養と料理」(女子栄養大学出版部)をデジタル化し公開。七草に関する記事・レシピが検索できる。
References
- 京都府京都文化博物館学芸第一課 編,京都文化博物館
- 福田アジオ, 菊池健策, 山崎祐子, 常光徹, 福原敏男 著,吉川弘文館
- 日立デジタル平凡社,平凡社