Mugwort and the Gods of Medicinal Herbs: The Healing Power of Sacred Plants in Japan

The Spiritual Power of Mugwort and Boys' Day

Mugwort is a perennial plant of the Asteraceae family that grows wild throughout Japan. Its remarkable vitality and distinctive fragrance have made it a treasured sacred herb for warding off evil since ancient times. Known scientifically as Artemisia indica, mugwort shares its genus name with the Greek goddess Artemis, reflecting the universal recognition of this plant's sacred nature. In Japan, however, mugwort faith runs especially deep, permeating virtually every aspect of daily life.

The custom of displaying mugwort and sweet flag at the eaves during Tango no Sekku on May fifth was already an established court ritual by the Heian period. It originated from the belief that these plants' powerful scents drive away plague and evil spirits, and descriptions of using mugwort during the May festival appear in the classic literary work The Pillow Book. Eating yomogi mochi, or mugwort rice cakes, is not merely a culinary tradition but a spiritual practice of absorbing the plant's sacred power to pray for good health. In Okinawa, mugwort is called fuchiba and is added to goat soup, demonstrating how each region developed its own unique medicinal herb food culture.

Bathing in mugwort-infused water, known as yomogi-yu, has long been regarded as a purification act connected to Shinto misogi rites. The custom of soaking in mugwort baths on May fifth continues at public bathhouses throughout Japan today, and modern science has confirmed that cineole, mugwort's aromatic compound, promotes blood circulation and produces relaxation effects.

The Mythology of Herbal Healing in the Kojiki

Any discussion of Japan's medicinal herb faith must include the healing myth of Okuninushi recorded in the Kojiki. When Okuninushi was left near death with severe burns from his eighty brothers' persecution, the shell maidens Kisagai-hime and Umugai-hime were dispatched by his mother to treat him. Kisagai-hime scraped her shell into powder while Umugai-hime mixed it with water to create a healing salve.

Scholars interpret this myth as empirical knowledge about the healing properties of calcium carbonate found in shells, preserved and transmitted through mythology for future generations. Similarly, in the tale of the White Rabbit of Inaba, Okuninushi instructs the rabbit, whose skin had been stripped by sharks, to wash its body in fresh water and wrap itself in cattail pollen. Cattail pollen actually possesses hemostatic and anti-inflammatory properties, demonstrating that ancient peoples had an accurate understanding of plants' medicinal effects.

Sukunahikona and the Lineage of Medicine Gods

At the center of Japan's medicinal herb faith stands Sukunahikona-no-Mikoto. According to the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, Sukunahikona was a child of Takamimusubi-no-Kami who, despite his extremely small stature, possessed extraordinary wisdom. Together with Okuninushi, he traveled throughout the Central Land of Reed Plains, establishing treatments for human and livestock diseases and teaching methods to prevent harm from insects, birds, and wild animals.

Shrines dedicated to Sukunahikona are scattered across Japan, with the Sukunahikona Shrine in Osaka being particularly notable. Located in Doshomachi, where herbal medicine wholesalers gathered during the Edo period, it continues to receive veneration from pharmaceutical companies today. During the Shinno Festival held annually on November twenty-second and twenty-third, Sukunahikona is enshrined alongside the Chinese deity Shennong as ancestral gods of medicine, and papier-mache tigers are distributed as health amulets.

In the Nara period, Empress Komyo established the Seyakuin dispensary in 730 CE, institutionalizing herbal treatment for the poor. Sixty varieties of medicinal substances from that era survive in the Shosoin repository, including cinnamon bark, licorice root, ginseng, and rhubarb, many of which remain components of modern traditional Chinese medicine. These served simultaneously as offerings to gods and Buddhas and as practical therapeutic medicines.

The Tradition of Herb Gathering and Mountain Deity Blessings

Kusagari, or medicinal herb gathering, is an ancient traditional practice of harvesting wild medicinal plants from fields and mountains. The Nihon Shoki records that on May fifth in the nineteenth year of Empress Suiko's reign (611 CE), a kusagari expedition was conducted at Udano in what is now Uda City, Nara Prefecture. This event is considered one of the origins of the Tango no Sekku festival. Men would hunt deer to harvest rokujou, the velvet from young antlers, while women gathered medicinal herbs.

Mountains have been considered divine territory since ancient times, and forests under the protection of mountain deities were rich in medicinal plants. Shugendo practitioners accumulated knowledge of medicinal herbs through their mountain ascetic training and descended to villages to treat the people. En no Gyoja, the legendary seventh-century mountain ascetic, is said to have gathered herbs on Mount Katsuragi and Mount Omine, creating a traditional medicine called Daranisuke. This medicine is still manufactured and sold in the Yoshino region of Nara Prefecture, making it one of Japan's oldest folk medicines with a history spanning over thirteen hundred years.

Many shrines maintained herb gardens where plants were cultivated as offerings to the gods. In the vicinity of Izumo Grand Shrine, local herbs were prized as Izumo medicinal plants, and numerous medicinal species grow naturally within the sacred precincts of Ise Grand Shrine. The preservation of shrine forests from development has inadvertently served to protect precious natural habitats for medicinal plants.

The Science Behind Traditional Japanese Medicinal Herbs

Many traditional Japanese medicinal herbs have had their efficacy validated by modern science. The cineole (1,8-cineole) contained in mugwort possesses antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, and bronchodilatory effects have also been confirmed. Additionally, the chlorophyll abundantly present in mugwort has been shown through research to have bactericidal and deodorizing properties and to promote wound healing. Moxa, used in traditional moxibustion therapy, is made by refining the white trichomes from the underside of mugwort leaves.

Dokudami, known as juyaku or the ten-medicine herb, is reputed to possess ten different medicinal properties, including diuretic, detoxifying, and antibacterial effects. Its active compound, decanoyacetaldehyde, has demonstrated potent antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus. Gennoshoko, whose name literally means present proof, earned its name because its effects appear immediately upon consumption. It has been widely used as an excellent intestinal remedy since the Edo period. Senburi, named because it remains bitter even after being steeped a thousand times, contains the bitter compound swertiamarin, which stimulates gastric juice secretion.

These herbs represent compelling examples of remedies whose effectiveness was recognized through empirical observation and later confirmed to contain scientifically validated active compounds, testifying to the accuracy of ancient peoples' observational skills and wisdom.

Seasonal Herb Traditions and Folk Wisdom

Japan's calendar incorporates numerous annual events related to medicinal herbs. The custom of eating nanakusa-gayu, or seven-herb rice porridge, on January seventh involves cooking seven spring herbs: seri, nazuna, gogyo, hakobera, hotokenoza, suzuna, and suzushiro. This tradition also served as a rational dietary practice to replenish vitamins and minerals depleted during winter. The custom of chopping the herbs the previous evening while chanting the nanakusa-bayashi song is interpreted as a ritual act to awaken the spiritual power of the plants.

During the Peach Festival on March third, peach blossoms were believed to ward off evil spirits, and there was a custom of bathing in water infused with peach leaves. Peach leaves contain tannins and magnolol, which are actually effective against heat rash and eczema. During the Nagoshi no Harae purification ceremony on June thirtieth, people pass through a ring of kaya grass to cleanse six months of spiritual impurities. Kaya grass itself has medicinal properties and has been used as an herbal remedy for its diuretic and hemostatic effects.

In autumn, there is a tradition of appreciating the seven autumn flowers: bush clover, pampas grass, kudzu, wild carnation, patrinia, thoroughwort, and bellflower. Among these, kudzu serves as the raw material for kakkon-to, a widely used cold remedy, while bellflower root is used as a cough-suppressing herbal medicine in traditional formulations today. These seasonal observances represent the crystallized wisdom of ancestors who understood how to harmonize the body with nature's rhythms.

Applying Herbal Wisdom to Modern Life

In contemporary society, the most important message conveyed by medicinal herb faith is that healing power exists in the natural world around us. According to World Health Organization research, approximately eighty percent of the world's population utilizes traditional plant-based therapies in some form, demonstrating that herbal wisdom is far from a relic of the past.

There are many ways to incorporate herbal wisdom into daily life: picking mugwort to make rice cakes, brewing homemade dokudami tea, or growing mint and shiso in your garden. Each of these represents a modern continuation of medicinal herb culture stretching back to ancient times. What matters most is not consuming plants merely as raw materials but approaching them with gratitude as gifts from nature.

Just as Sukunahikona traveled the land with Okuninushi, sharing herbal knowledge with the people, learning about the power of plants, utilizing them wisely, and passing this knowledge to the next generation remains an important role entrusted to us. Even a single mugwort plant growing at your feet carries the blessings of the earth and the power of the divine. This awareness reconnects us with nature, something easily lost in the bustle of modern life. The healing power that ancient people discovered in mugwort continues to reach us, unchanged, to this very day.