01-07-2025
VOX POPULI: July 1 is the day to eat octopus in Kansai and ‘saba' in Fukui
Seeking relief from the brutal heat, I wandered into a botanical garden and found a cluster of 'hangesho' (Chinese lizard's tail) flourishing there.
Only a few of their green leaves, which were near the flower spikes, had white splotches that looked as if they were painted on with a brush. It is believed that these showy white marks serve to attract pollinators because the flowers themselves are too 'plain' to do so.
Once the flowering season is over, the leaves go back to being all green.
Given that the leaves turn only half white, one theory is that the name hangesho derives from the homonymous Japanese expression that means 'wearing only half makeup.'
Another explanation is that the plant flowers around hangesho, which denotes the 11th day after the summer solstice, according to Japan's traditional calendar.
I felt the strength of Mother Nature in the white leaves that flourish even under the scorching sun. In that sort of heat, humans end up sweating off makeup and sunscreen.
July 1 is hangesho but this has nothing to do with the Chinese lizard's tail. The term derived from the plant 'karasubishaku' (pinellia ternate or 'crow dipper') which comes up around this season and is also named 'hange.' This is written with characters meaning 'half' and 'summer.'
In the olden days, this was also said to be the last day for rice-planting.
There are certain foods that are eaten on this day in various parts of Japan. In some areas of the Kansai region, people eat octopus, hoping their rice seedlings will take root firmly like an octopus gripping something with its suction cups.
Octopus is a good source of taurine and other nutrients that are supposed to prevent summer fatigue.
In eastern Fukui Prefecture, the go-to food is 'hagesshosaba,' which I learned about in Kiyomi Hayashi's book 'Rokaru na Dentoshoku no Shohi, Ninshiki, Sono Henyo' ("Local traditional foods: Their consumption, familiarity and transformation").
During the Edo Period (1603-1867), the region's feudal lord encouraged his subjects to charcoal-broil a whole 'saba' (mackerel) on hangesho—a tradition that has survived to this day.
I am envious of the locals who say they 'love the aroma of the fish broiling all over town.'
A haiku by Amari Oki goes, 'The swaying of trees/ Reaches the fish/ On hangesho.' (It means that the swaying of trees reflected on the surface of water overlaps the moves of the fish on the day of hangesho.)
I think of the grasses, trees, fish and all precious things that exist in nature.
On this day that used to signal the changing of the seasons for rice farmers, I pray that this year's crop will grow well.
—The Asahi Shimbun, July 1
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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
