《The Seven Herbs of Spring》
Japan has a long-lasting custom of eating rice porridge with seven herbs on the morning of January 7th.
Now, it is impossible to grow or pick up those herbs in the city and a package of herbs is available at supermarkets.
《This year I had the porridge as a supper on Jan. 4th.》
The seven herbs are: Japanese parsley,shepherd’s purse, cudweed, chick weed, henbit, turnip and Japanese radish.
Each plant has no special medical effect, like St. John’s wort, or scent, like peppermint or thyme.
I think that ancient Japanese had regarded those herbs as harbinger of spring.
We also have “seven herbs of autumn”, and according to Wikipedia, “seven herbs of winter/summer” also exist in Japan. I suppose people regarded seasonal plants and flowers as helpful for keeping health and enjoyed taking them.
