In the opening poem of “Kokin Wakashu” (“Collection of Japanese Poems of Ancient and Modern Times”), the Emperor writes about harvesting sansai (wild plants). The emperors of the Heian and Nara periods made it a rule to seek sansai in the forests in order to collect food and predict the harvest.
Amateur botanist and retired English teacher Kosaku Wada says Japan has relied on sansai to stave off starvation on a number of occasions in its history, especially in times of drought or natural disaster. This includes the aftermath of World War II, when Tokyo residents took to the hills to find nutrients in sansai staples such as warabi (bracken), tara-no-me (angelica) and kogomi (fiddlehead ferns), among other edibles.
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KEYWORDS
bamboo,
ragweed,
sansai,
wild plants,
Tomitaro Makino,
bracken,
fiddlehead ferns,
angelica,
Japanese royal ferns,
Japanese parsley,
cowbane,
aconitum,
coriaria Japonica,
Japanese knotweed,
persimmons
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