The Festival of Seven Herbs (七草の節句 nanakusa no sekku) is the long-standing Japanese custom of eating seven-herb rice porridge (七草粥 nanakusa-gayu) on Jinjitsu (January 7).
The nanakusa are seven edible wild herbs of spring. Traditionally, they are :
- Water dropwort (seri, Oenanthe javanica)
- Shepherd's purse (nazuna)
- Cudweed (gogyō, Gnaphalium affine)
- Chickweed (hakobera, Stellaria media)
- Nipplewort (hotokenoza, Lapsana apogonoides)
- Turnip (suzuna)
- Daikon (suzushiro)
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. This chant varies as well.
The seventh of the first month has been an important Japanese festival since ancient times. The custom of eating nanakusa-gayu on this day, to bring longevity and health, developed in Japan from a similar ancient Chinese custom, intended to ward off evil. 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 spring-time nanakusa are mirrored by the "seven flowers of autumn", which are bush clover (hagi), miscanthus (obana, Miscanthus sinensis), kudzu, large pink (nadeshiko, Dianthus superbus), yellow flowered valerian (ominaeshi, Patrinia scabiosaefolia), boneset (fujibakama, Eupatorium fortunei), and Chinese bellflower (kikyō). 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 anthology.
It is critical to understand that Oenanthe javanica, or Japanese parsley, is a different species of the Oenanthe family of plants, and is non-toxic. As this species is not found outside of Asia unless specifically cultivated, one should always consider wild-growing varieties to be absolutely lethal in even the tiniest amounts.
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