Seven herbs - Nanakusa

Seven kinds of wild herbs are eaten in porridge on the morning of the 7th day of the New Year, or an event to celebrate by eating them. The custom of eating seven kinds of herbs in a soup on this day to ward off evil spirits dates back to ancient China, and perhaps influenced by this custom, in Japan, at least since the early Heian period, aristocrats and their ladies-in-waiting would pick and eat young herbs in hopes of staying healthy and living a long life. However, it is said that it was only after the Muromachi period that people started making porridge with seven herbs. The seven herbs are generally said to be seven kinds - parsley, shepherd's purse, Japanese gogyo, chickweed, amplexicaule, turnip, and Japanese white radish - but this does not necessarily vary depending on the era or region, and some believe it is sufficient to include some of these herbs. In the current Nanakusa festival, a cutting board is placed in front of the Shinto altar the night before, and wild herbs are chopped and pounded with the back of a knife, a wooden pestle, a brazier, or a ladle before being offered to the gods. In the morning of the 7th, the chopped herbs are taken down and eaten in rice porridge. Sometimes pieces of mochi (rice cakes) are added. When pounding the seven herbs, people chant, "Seven herbs shepherd's purse, before the birds of China fly to Japan, awase batabata," which is said to be a repurposed version of a bird-chasing song sung on Little New Year's Day to pray for a good harvest, but the meaning is unclear. There is also a popular belief that cutting your nails with the juice of the seven herbs will prevent injury. The 7th day of the New Year has long been called Jinjitsu, and in the Edo period it was designated as one of the five seasonal festivals. The period from the 6th to the 7th is also called the sixth day of the New Year and the seventh day of the New Year. The seven herbs rice porridge is an essential food for this important occasion, and in some places the seventh day of the New Year is called the "Seven Herbs Festival." In addition to the spring seven herbs, there are also autumn seven herbs that are enjoyed by looking at them.

[Noriaki Tanaka]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

正月7日の朝に粥(かゆ)に入れて食べる7種の野草、もしくはそれを食べて祝う行事。この日、羹(あつもの)にした7種の菜を食べて邪気を避けようとする風は古く中国にあり、おそらくその影響を受けて、わが国でも、少なくとも平安時代初期には、無病長寿を願って若菜をとって食べることが、貴族や女房たちの間で行われていた。ただ、七草粥にするようになったのは、室町時代以降だといわれる。七草の種目は、一般にはセリ、ナズナ、ゴギョウ、ハコベラ、ホトケノザ、スズナ、スズシロの7種だとされているが、時代や地域によってかならずしも一定せず、そのうちのいくつかが含まれていればよいと考える所もある。現行の七草の行事では、前の晩に神棚の前にまな板を据え、包丁の背やすりこ木、火鉢、杓子(しゃくし)などで野草をたたき刻んでから神に供え、7日朝それを下げて粥に入れて食べるという所が多い。供え餅(もち)の砕片を加える場合もある。七草をたたくときに、「七草ナズナ、唐土(とうど)の鳥が日本の国に渡らぬ先に、あわせてバタバタ」などと唱え、これは小正月に豊作を祈って行う鳥追い歌の転用だとされるが、意味は未詳である。七草の汁をつけて爪(つめ)を切ると爪のけがをしないという俗信もある。正月7日は古くから人日(じんじつ)ともいわれ、江戸時代には五節供の一つにあてられていた。また、6日から7日にかけては、六日年越、七日正月などともいわれている。七草粥はこの重要な折り目の欠かせない食品で、この行事から正月7日を七草節供とよぶ所もある。なお、この春の七草とは別に、見て楽しむ秋の七草もある。

［田中宣一］

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