Seven Herbs

The seventh day of the New Year is the occasion for a special meal of rice gruel mixed with seven herbs (nanakusa). Adopted from China as early as the eighth century, the Festival of the Young Herbs is the first of five annual feasts that mark the changing of the seasons. The medicinal effects of the nanakusa were thought to ward off illness in the following months. Here, a loosely woven bag holds the seven herbs that a housewife has gathered.