Seven Herbs Autumn

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Seven Herbs of Autumn (aki no nanakusa)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Early Autumn
***** Category: Plants / Humanity

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Explanation


Kaii Otsuki no hara 甲斐大月の原
Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重


The seven flowers of autumn, aki no nanakusa
秋の七草

Flowers blossoming
in autumn fields -
when I count them on my fingers
they then number seven.

The flowers of bush clover,
eulalia, arrowroot,
pink, patrinia,
also, mistflower
and morning faces flower.

aki no no ni
sakitaru hana o
yubi orite
kaki kazoureba
nana kusa no hana

hagi ga hana
obana kuzubana
nadeshiko no hana
ominaeshi
mata fujibakama
asagao no hana

Yamanoue Okura (C. 660 - 733)
Manyoshu: 8:1537-8


The seven grasses of autumn were often mentioned in verses of the Manyoshu, the earliest collection of Japanese poetry and song. Images of autumn grasses in a later anthology of court poetry, the Kokinshu, illustrate the culture of Heian Japan [784 - 1185] in a way that could not be captured by painting. Powerful and concise language draws out the subtle nuances of life and love at the time, just as nature and flowers invoke the mutable seasons of interior emotion.

The capacity of the autumn grasses for inspiring deep emotion among people in olden days may be viewed through their composite nature of beauty tinged with sadness. More than flowers of any other season, autumn grasses washed by rain and bent in the wind attain a beauty unsurpassed, and this is the beauty of flowers for the tea ceremony.

CLICK here for more ENGLISH information!
Urasenke Tea Ceremony
http://www.urasenke.org/new/flowers/index.html






The common theme of these seven flowers is the ""the pathos of things", also translated as "an empathy toward things" or "a pity toward things" (mono no aware 物の哀れ).

The chrysanthemum is notably absent in this flower collection.
But the chrysanthemum has its own festival on the ninth day of the ninth month, Choyo no sekku.

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Bush clover (hagi)
Lespedeza fam.
hagihara 萩原 field with bush clover



Pampas grass (susuki)
Miscanthus sinensis




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Kudzu flower, arrowroot flower, kuzu no hana
くずのはな 葛の花
kuzu 葛 (くず) Kudzu, Knabenkraut, Pfeilwurz
kuzu no ha 葛の葉 arrowroot leaves
kuzu kazura 葛かずら（くずかずら）Kudzu-Vine
makuzu 真葛 genuine kudzu
Pueraria lobata

Just using the word "arrowroot (kuzu)" in haiku refers to the leaves of the plant, which are white at the backside and theme of many poems since olden times.


Arrowroot is very strong and lively, the violet flowers stand up between the leaves and are full of power.

A person like a kuzu, "ningen no kuzu" means "human garbage".


makuzuhara 真葛原 (まくずはら) plain of genuine arrowroot


. fuusenkazura 風船葛 (ふうせんかずら)
Candiospermum halicacabum


kuzu horu 葛掘る (くずほる) digging for arrowroot
. . . . . kuzune horu 葛根掘る（くずねほる）
. . . . . kuzu hiku 葛引く（くずひく）pulling out arrowroot
kigo for late autumn



kuzu sarashi 葛晒し (くずさらし) bleaching arrowroot
kigo for late winter


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Large pink (nadeshiko) Wild Carnation
fringed pinks


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yellow flowered valerian, ominaeshi
おみなえし　女郎花
Patrinia scabiosaefolia

ominameshi　おみなめし
awabana 粟花（あわばな)"milled flower"

OMINA means "Woman (onna)" and the yellow flowers remind the Japanese of sweet chestnuts cooked with rice (kuri gohan) .. eshi ... meshi ..

On a long stem there are small yellow flowers and we can enjoy them swaying in the wind. These flowers are rather feminin and gentle in their poetic feeling. When written in hiragana, this feeling is felt double.


nana korobi ya oki no hana yo ominaeshi
七転び髪八起の花よ女郎花

seven tumble down
eight rise up...
maiden flowers

Issa
Tr. David Lanoue

Seven times down and eight times up, this refers to the famous
Daruma san !
and the courtesans of the Yoshiwara quarters.


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There is another flower of this family, written with the Chinese character for MAN,
otoko eshi 男郎花, which has white flowers and a thick stem.
Patrinia villosa

otokomeshi おとこめし
oodochi no hana 荼の花（おおどちのはな）
haishoo 敗醤（はいしょう）



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Boneset, fujibakama ふじばかま　藤袴
Eupatorium fortunei

The stem can be more than one meter long. The flowers can be pinkish or white. The flowers resemble a person dressed in a formal Japanese trouser (hakama), hence the name (bakama .. hakama).

This flower also has been the theme of many waka poems of elegance and beauty. Its color fades with the deepening of autumn. It has a faint smell which gets stronger if you break the stem.

Hakama, the formal trouser-skirt

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baloon flower, Chinese bellflower,
kikyoo ききょお　kichikoo 桔梗
Platycodon grandiflorus.
also called ASAGAO, "morning face".


The pronounciation in Japanese can also be: kichikau　きちかう, kichikou　きちこう.
She flowers in places with a lot of sunshine. Her color is especially beautiful. There are also white flowering plants.


kigo for mid-autumn


. rindoo 竜胆 (りんどう) gentian, autumn bellflowers 　
sasarindoo 笹龍胆（ささりんどう）
Gentiana scabra

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sawakgikyoo 沢桔梗 (さわぎきょう) Lobelia sessilifolia
choojina ちょうじな
kigo for early autumn

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kigo for spring

buds of the bell flower, 桔梗の芽 (ききょうのめ)


kigo for late summer


"Stone Baloon Flower", iwa gikyoo 岩桔梗 (いわぎきょう)
Campanula lasiocarpa



Chijima Island Baloon Flower,
Chishima kikyoo 千島桔梗 (ちしまききょう)
Campanula chamissonis

She flowers in the harsh climate of the mountain ranges in Hokkaido and the Chishima Islands in the north of Japan.


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

nora ni saku na wa kore made zo kusa no hana

Flowers of the grass:
scarcely shown, and withered
name and all.

.. Asei


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Related words

***** Seven Herbs of Spring (haru no nanakusa) (Japan)


AUTUMN PLANTS -
SAIJIKI


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