Morning glory

朝顔 asagao

Morning glory

Opening at dawn and fading by midday, the morning glory stands for the fresh, short-lived beauty of a summer morning. A craze in Edo gardens, it became a favourite on yukata, tenugui and fans for July and August.

China, brought as a medicinal plant in the Nara-Heian period

Introduced from China as a medicine (its seeds are a purgative), the morning glory became an ornamental flower in the Edo period. Crazes for odd 'changed' varieties (henka asagao) peaked in 1804-30 and again in 1848-60, and the flower spread onto combs, tenugui, uchiwa fans and kimono. Its fading by midday also tied it to the Genji chapter 'Asagao' and to poems on passing time.

A summer pattern worn in July and August; the Iriya morning-glory fair in Tokyo keeps the Edo craze alive each July.

Technique catalog · draft for review

Every way to wrap, carry and wear a furoshiki.

The furoshiki.com archive, sliced into annotated steps with plain directions, plus techniques found in research.