In the "Autumn Seven Flowers Garden" before the Ninomaru rest area in the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace, just south of Palaceside Building, bellflowers (kikyo) bloom in delicate pale purple.
The autumn seven flowers come from a Manyoshu poem by Yamanoue no Okura counting seven blooms in autumn fields — hagi, obana, kuzu, nadeshiko, ominaeshi, fujibakama, and asagao — but kikyo is not named.
Obana is clearly susuki grass. Asagao has been debated as morning glory, hirugao, or mukuge; the kikyo theory gained strength and persists. True morning glory arrived with envoys in the Heian period, so Okura's asagao was likely not morning glory. A Manyoshu poem praises evening bloom over morning dew — confirming this. Labels in the garden note kikyo with "(asagao)" in parentheses.
Kikyo is "doraji" in Korean; an old folk song bears that name. In Japan "Toraji" suggests yakiniku restaurants — indeed a common shop name, like "Bellflower House" in Japanese, though that might evoke inns or wagashi. Kikyo in poetry and shop names shows how widely it is loved.