The New Year is an important occasion in Japan where people forget the old and embrace the new. Many traditions and customs are followed to this day. Of course, like anywhere else, many Japanese feast on osechi ryori and other festive meals as well as drink to their heart’s content.
Is your stomach feeling alright after partying during the New Years?
What is Nanakusagayu?
Nanakusagayu (七草粥) is a simple, nourishing rice porridge made with seven specific spring herbs. While it was historically believed to ward off evil and prevent illness, today it is primarily eaten to soothe an overworked stomach and provide much-needed vitamins after the holiday indulgences.
The following seven herbs bud early in spring and added to this porridge: cudweed, radish, water dropwort, shepherd’s purse, turnip, chickweed and nipplewort.
The custom of eating Nanakusagayu started from the Edo period. Eating this seven herb porridge on the seventh day of January was said to banish evil and prevent illness.
These days, you can even find these seven vegetables sold as a “Nanakusagayu set” in one pack! You can also buy a pack of “dried Nanakusagayu” so its really easy to make one.
Just mix the dried herb mix to your porridge and that’s it!
You can also find these at convenience stores on January 7th! In case you have a bad stomach, you know what to eat 🙂
A Healthy Start to 2026
Whether you are feeling the effects of a New Year’s party or just want to participate in a 1,000-year-old tradition, a bowl of Nanakusagayu is the most authentic way to kick off the first week of January.
