Jinjitsu

In Japan, Jinjitsu (人日 jinjitsu?), literally "Human Day", is one of the five seasonal festivals (五節句 gosekku?) that were integrated into the Japanese Imperial calendar over 1,000 years ago. “Sekku” is the term given meaning special day of observance. The festival is now celebrated on the seventh day of the first month and is considered a part of the New Year observances that are celebrated during this time. It is also known as Wakana no sekku, "the feast of seven herbs", or Nanakusa no Sekku, (七草の節句 nanakusa no sekku?), “The Day of Mankind”, from the custom of eating seven-herb kayu (七草粥 nanakusa-gayu?) to ensure good health and to ward off away evil spirits in the coming new year. The name “Day of Mankind” generates from the stipulation of no harm coming to humans on this day and the name “Festival of The Seven Herbs” comes from a tradition of store owners gathering and providing the seven lucky herbs to the emperor as nanakusagayu. The typical herbs used for the creation of nanakusagayu are nazuna, seri, gogyo, hotokenza, suzushiro, and hakobe. However, in some regions other variations are used. The tradition of eating nanakusagayu on the seventh day spread during the Heian period and by the Edo period those below the Shogun would consume it the morning of this day prior to coming together to address the Shogun. Another piece of reasoning behind the Japanese people eating nanakusagayu on the seventh day, Jinjitsu, is because it is also used as a day of rest. The soup mixture is easy on the stomach and is consumed to rest the digestive system that may have been weakened by the food that is consumed during the first days of the New Year.