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Hollyhock (aoi)

The Japanese term aoi includes such diverse species as tachi-aoi (Alcea rosea), fuyu-aoi (Malva verticillata), and futaba-aoi (Asarum caulescens). The aoi is also well known as the motif of the Tokugawa family crest and as the theme of the Hollyhock Festival in Kyoto

    The Japanese name aoi (usually translated as hollyhock) refers not to a single plant species, but to a variety of plants in the mallow family Malvaceae, including tachi-aoi (common hollyhock, Alcea rosea), fuyu-aoi (Chinese mallow, Malva verticillata), tororo-aoi (Abelmoschus manihot), zeni-aoi (common mallow, Malva mauritiana), and momiji-aoi (Hibiscus coccineus). The name aoi is said to have originated from the heliotropism of these plant's' leaves, which look up ("aogu" in Japanese) toward the sun. The plants species known under the generic name aoi are dicotyledonous plants distributed from temperate through to tropical zones. They are dicotyledonous, and many species varieties have alternate leaves that split divide palmately. The flowers are radially symmetrical, with five petals each, multiple stamens, and filaments that agglutinate in the shape of columns.

       Nowadays, the word aoi is usually used as the common name for tachi-aoi (common hollyhock), but in ancient Japanese poetry it referred to the fuyu-aoi (Chinese mallow)variety. The first work of Japanese literature source that mentions aoi is Man'yoshu ("Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves", after 759), and the most widely accepted theory is that the word aoi there refers to fuyu-aoi.

       Aoi is used as the common name not only for plants in the mallow family Malvaceae, but also for futaba-aoi (Asarum caulescens) in the family Aristolochiaceae. Aoi is used as the common name not only for plants in the mallow family Malvaceae, but also for the futaba-aoi (Asarum caulescens Maxim, also known as two-leaf mallow) species in the family Aristolochiaceae. The aoi crest, which combines three futaba-aoi leaves, gomon (hollyhock pattern), which is famous as the motif of the Tokugawa family crest, combines three leaves of futaba-aoi. In the Hollyhock Festival (Aoi Matsuri) held at the Shimogamo Shrine and Kamigamo Shrine in Kyoto, the saio (traditionally, a young female member of the imperial family who served as the high priestess of the Kamo Shrines; nowadays, a young unmarried woman from Kyoto) and the chokushi (imperial messengers) wear futaba-aoi leaves futaba-aoi leaves in their hair or crowns, or use them to decorate shrine buildings as decorations of the portable shrines by attaching the leaves to the columns pillars and the bamboo screens. From the Heian period (794-1185) onward, the Hollyhock Festival became a feature of tanka poems, and there have been many love songs, in particular, that use word play to associate the name of the festival ("aoi" or "auhi") with au hi ("the day we meet"). It is believed that futaba-aoi is the species of hollyhock mentioned the hollyhock variety featured in Kokin waka shu ("Collection of Japanese Poems of Ancient and Modern Times", ca. 905), Genji monogatari ("The Tale of Genji", early 11th century) (in chapters 9, 12, 35, 41), Aoi ("Heart-to-Heart"), Suma ("Suma"), Wakana-ge ("Spring Shoots II"), and Maboroshi ("The Seer"), and Tsurezuregusa ("The Harvest of Leisure"Essays in Idleness, 1330-1332) is futaba-aoi. From the Heian period (794-1185) onward, some tanka poems mention the Hollyhock Festival, and many love poems engage in word play, using the word aoi to suggest "the day we meet," both meanings being written afuhi in the historical orthography.

       The common hollyhock produces The tachi-aoi variety blooms with large red, purple, yellow, and or white blossoms at the base of the its leaves. The Chinese mallow producesfuyu-aoi variety blooms with small light-yellow or light-purple blossoms. And the futaba-aoi futaba-aoi variety has two alternate leaves, with and a single, bell-shaped, and light-red or light-purple blossom hanging between the petioles. 

Related People, Things and Events

Books

Aoi (hollyhock) featured in poetry and tales

Related Works

Aoi drawings on clothing and craft works

Craft works, etc. adorned with aoi patterns

Videos

Past Exhibitions

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Institutions Holding Related Materials

  • The National Diet Library (NDL), founded in 1948, is the library which belongs to the Diet. The NDL assists the activities of the National Diet. The Library collects and conserves materials and information both from Japan and abroad, serving as a foundation of knowledge and culture and providing library services to administrative and judicial entities and Japanese citizens.

  • As Japan’s representative museum, Tokyo National Museum collects, preserves, displays, and researches the cultural properties of Asia with a focus on Japan, and also provides educational programs.

  • Kyoto National Museum collects, preserves, displays, researches and provides educational programs focusing on cultural properties from Heian- through to Edo- period Japan, when the capital was located there.

  • Keio Museum Commons [KeMCo] functions as a "hub" of Keio's cultural assets, which spans a variety of fields including art, archaeology, literature, history, and medicine, and the educational and research activities behind it. At KeMCo, we aim to create a place where various communities can interact and generate new discoveries and ideas based on cultural properties (objects) in an environment where digital and analogue technologies are fused together.

  • Kyushu National Museum explores how Japan’s history of cultural exchange with the rest of Asia has impacted the formation of its culture. To that end, we engage in the collection, preservation, exhibition, and research of cultural properties, in addition to providing educational outreach to the local community.

  • 東京都小平市にある薬用植物を収集、栽培している植物園。園内ではウスベニアオイやトロロアオイが栽培されている。

  • 兵庫県神戸市にある総面積142haの植物園。園内のロックガーデンでは、フタバアオイなどが栽培されている。

  • 京都市北区にある神社。毎年5月15日に下鴨神社とともに葵祭が行われる。1994年に「古都京都の文化財」のひとつとして世界遺産(文化遺産)に登録されており、本殿・権殿は国宝。

  • 京都市左京区下鴨泉川町にある神社。毎年5月15日に葵祭が行われる。1994年に「古都京都の文化財」のひとつとして世界遺産(文化遺産)に登録された。

External Links

  • 1000種類以上の植物、花の名前がわかる植物図鑑。カンアオイ、トロロアオイの項目がある。

  • 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。

  • 国立科学博物館筑波実験植物園内の植物を検索することができる。研究者ノートなど専門的な解説もあり。

  • 「葵の御紋 カンアオイ属」を前後編に分けて執筆。

  • 京都市観光協会の京都観光オフィシャルサイト「京都観光Navi」による、葵祭の解説。例祭の詳細や、行列のコースなどを紹介している。

References

  1. 植物文化研究会, 雅麗 編,柏書房
  2. 山田卓三, 中嶋信太郎 著,北隆館
  3. 柏書房
  4. 平田喜信, 身崎寿 著,東京堂出版
  5. 平凡社