IX. THE NANAKUSA. 



THE word nanakusa is the name of three categories in Japan. 

 It means literally "seven grasses" and is sometimes applied 

 to seven kinds of grasses occasionally used together. It is also the 

 name given to the seven vegetables or "greens" eaten on the sev- 

 enth day of the New Year. And the same name is applied to seven 

 kinds of "flowers" which are used for decorative purposes on the 

 special occasion of "moon-viewing" on the fifteenth day of the 

 eighth month (o. c.) or about the end of September. It will thus 

 be seen that for the present number we have been unable to select 

 any one "flower" as pre-eminently appropriate, although there are 

 plenty of blossoms; and also that this time the "flowers" (which, 

 in this case include "grasses") are a subordinate element in the 

 great festival of viewing the harvest moon. 



The authorities differ as to the flowers included among the 

 nanakusa ; but we have chosen the following list : 



Hagi (lespedeza or bush-clover) ; Obana (eulalia) ; Kuzu 

 (pueraria) \Nadeshiko (pink) ; Ominaeshi(patrima.) ; Fuji-bakama 

 (eupatorium) ; Asagao (wild morning-glory). 



This list has been put into verse* by an ancient poet, as follows : 



"Hagi ga hana 



Obana, Kuzu-hana, 

 Nadeshiko no 

 Hana, ominaeshi, 

 Mata Fuji-bakama, 

 Asagao no hana." 



This verse is meaningless except as a catalogue of the nana- 

 kusa; it contains merely their names, with the repetition of the word 

 hana (blossom) and the use of the necessary connections. f 



In spite of the fact that these flowers are used at the autumn 



*Chamberlain's Things Japanese. 



t Another list substitutes kikyo (platycodon) for fuji-bakama, and re- 

 arranges the order. 



