Autumn Nanakusa

In the past, I’ve written about a certain obscure holiday in Japanese culture called Nanakusa (七草, “seven herbs”)¹, which takes place every January 7th, just after the New Year.

While reading about the Diary of Lady Murasaki (discussed on my other blog) I discovered that there is a parallel Nanakusa tradition in Autumn as well. There is no designated holiday, but since antiquity, these flowers and herbs were prized during the season of Autumn.

Old Japanese Name	Modern Name	English	Scientific Name
女郎花 (おみなえし)  ominaeshi	オミナエシ  ominaeshi	Golden Lace	Patrinia scabiosifolia
尾花 (おばな)  obana	ススキ  susuki	Chinese Silver Grass	Miscanthus sinensis
桔梗 (ききょう)  kikyou	キキョウ  kikyou	Balloon Flower	Platycodon grandiflorus
撫子 (なでしこ)  nadeshiko	カワラナデシコ  kawaranadeshiko	Fringed Pink	Dianthus superbus
藤袴 (ふじばかま)  fujibakama	フジバカマ  fujibakama	–	Eupatorium fortunei
葛 (くず) kuzu	クズ  kuzu	Kudzu	Pueraria lobata
萩 (はぎ) hagi	ハギ  hagi	Japanese bush clover	Lespedeza

This page shows some really nice visuals of each flower.

Some of these plants aren’t necessarily well-known today, but even as a foreigner, I recoginize a few of them. Susuki grass (a.k.a. Chinese silver grass) is an important part of Otsukimi, and Nadeshiko flowers are frequently used as a symbol of femininity in Japan. The national soccer/football team is named Nadeshiko Japan in fact. Hagi is used in Ohagi treats as well.

Regarding the reference in Lady Murasaki’s diary near the beginning is written the following text:

I look out from my room at the head of the corridor into the light morning mist. Dew is still on the ground, but His Excellency [Fujiwara no Michinaga, her benefactor] is already out in the garden ordering his attends to clear the stream of some obstruction. Plucking a sprig from a large cluster of maiden-flowers that blooms there on the south side of the bridge, he peers in over the top of the curtain frame…

Translation by Dr Richard Bowring

The “maiden flowers” according to the Japanese text are ominaeshi (golden lace) flowers. So, even in the 11th century, a thousand years ago, these flowers were prized among the aristocracy of Japan. Immediately after, Michinaga challenges her to compose a poem about the ominaeshi he plucked (a common practice back then), and she composes the following:

Japanese	Romanization	Translation
女郎花	Ominaeshi	Now I see the
さかりの色を	Sakari no iro wo	color of this maiden-flower
見るからに	Miru kara ni	in bloom,
露のわきける	Tsuyu no wakikeru	I know how much the dew
身こそ知らるれ	Mikoso shirarure	discriminates against me.

Michinaga is impressed by her quick wit (it’s basically why he hired her as a handmaiden to his daughter), he responds with:

Japanese	Romanization	Translation
白露は	Shiratsuyu wa	It is not the dew
わきてもおかじ	Wakitemo okaji	that chooses where
女郎花	Ominaeshi	to fall;
こころからにや	Kokoro kara ni ya	does not the flower choose
色の染むらむ	Iro no somu ran	the color it desires?

Such a poetic exchange for a single flower.

In fact, the Autumn list of flowers dates much further back than the 11th century. Take a look at these two poems from the Manyoshu anthology, poem 1537:

Original Manyogana2	Modern Japanese	Romanization	Rough Translation
秋野尓	秋の野に	Aki no no ni	In the autumn fields
咲有花乎	咲きたる花を	Sakitaru hana wo	if you count the
指折	指折り	Oyobi-ori	blossoming flowers
可伎數者	かき数ふれば	Kakikazo fureba	on your fingers:
七種花	七種の花	Nanakusa no hana	the flowers of Nanakusa

and poem 1538:

Original Manyogana	Modern Japanese	Romanization	Rough Translation
芽之花	萩の花	Hagi no hana	Hagi flowers
乎花葛花	尾花葛花	Obana kuzu hana	Obana, kudzu flowers
瞿麦之花	なでしこの花	Nadeshiko no hana	Nadeshiko flowers
姫部志	をみなへし	Ominaeshi	Ominaeshi,
又藤袴	また藤袴	Mata fujihakama	and Fuji-hakama
朝皃之花	朝顔の花	Asagao no hana	Asagao flowers3

… as you can see, these two poems are linked. It’s interesting that even as far back as the 7th century, these seven flowers were celebrated in poetry, and this tradition still persists in Japan today, the 21st.

Wishing you all a happy Nanakusa!

¹ Not to be confused with the Colonel’s “eleven herbs and spices”. 😉 I have enjoyed Kentucky Fried Chicken in Japan, and we try to try to enjoy it for Christmas every year even in the US, per Japanese tradition.

² Manyogana was an early Japanese script that used Chinese characters in a very phonetic way. This was eventually replaced by the simpler, short-hand form called hiragana. Only very early works of Japanese are recorded in Manyogana, but that does include the Manyoshu anthology.

³ A couple quick notes from the referenced website: the name Fujihakama has gradually changed pronunciation to Fujibakama. Also, apparently the Asagao flower referenced in the Manyoshu isn’t the same as the modern Asagao “morning glory” flower. It’s not clear what flower this referred to at the time. Finally, this flower isn’t the same as the kikyou flower that is now part of the seven flowers of Autumn Nanakusa.