Around the Edo period, Nanakusa-gayu became popular among samurai families and ordinary people; the Edo bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) held the ceremony as their official event in which all samurai warriors including the seii taishogun (literally, "great general who subdues the barbarians") ate Nanakusa-gayu.
江戸時代頃には武家や庶民にも定着し、江戸幕府では公式行事として、征夷大将軍以下全ての武士が七種粥を食べる儀礼を行っていた。