Hagi is one of the seven autumn herbs and is a representative plant of autumn. Nowadays, various flowers are on the market, and Hagi flowers are not noticeable. However, Hagi has been familiar to Japanese people since ancient times than the cherry blossoms that represent spring, and is the most read in the Manyoshu. Hagi is also a flower that symbolizes women, just as there is a truly passionate song in the tanka of Princess Shikishi, “Haji blooming on the coast of Mano is rubbing the flowers like waves coming together and is blooming like writhing with love”. It is a tanka by Princess Shokushi, who loves Sadaie Fujiwara but does not get what he wants, comparing her painful heart to Hagi flowers.

萩は秋の七草の一つで秋を代表する植物です。今では様々な花が出回っていて、萩の花は目立ちません。しかし、萩は春を代表する桜よりも古くから日本人に親しまれ、万葉集でも最も多く読み込まれています。式子内親王の歌に「寄せかへる波の花摺り乱れつつしどろにうつす真野の浦萩」と言う誠に情熱的な歌があるように、萩は女性を象徴する花でもあります。藤原定家に心を寄せはするがままならない、式子内親王の千々に乱れる我が身を萩に擬えた歌です。