January 7 is known as the day of 七草（nanakusa: literally seven herbs). And there is a custom for Japanese people to eat 七草粥（nanakusa gayu: rice porridge with seven herbs) in the morning. If you eat 七草粥 on Jan. 7, it is believed that you won't get sick for the rest of the year. Seven herbs are セリ(seri: dropwort), ナズナ(nazuna: shepherd's purse),ゴギョウ(gogyo: cottonweed),ハコベラ(hakobera: chickweed),ホトケノザ(hotokenoza:henbit),スズナ(suzuna:turnip),スズシロ(suzushiro: Japanese radish). Eating 七草粥 is to rest the stomach and intestines after too much eating at New Year's and to provide green nourishment.
It was today of 20 years ago that the Showa Emperor passed away and that the new era called "平成（Heisei）" started.
No comments:
Post a Comment