菖蒲湯 しょうぶゆ SHOUBUYU

What is Shoubuyu? It is a bath one takes with Shoubu leaves. 菖蒲 Shoubu or Acorus Calamus (in Latin) is a species of flowering plant grown in wetland. The plant is used in traditonal Chinese herbal medicine and in 端午節 (a day commemorating  屈原 Qu Yuan, a minister from one of the Warring States , 楚國 Chu . He killed himself , jumped into a lake , out of sadness and frustration of the downfall of his country Chu, this was before China being united by Emperor Qin from the Qin State, later the Qin dynasty ). Traditionally , people hang this plant on the roof during that day in China.

It is said that Shoubu  has the effects of reducing back pain and neuralgia.

Shoubu has been used since the days of Edo period in Japan and today , it is used in bath on 5 th May which is Children's Day ( こどもの日 kodomo no hi) in Japan . The day was originally called 端午の節句 (Tango no sekku) which is  part of the Golden Week holidays in Japan.

Originally ,  father and his young son celebrate Children's Day soaking in a bath together with Shoubu . Nowadays, both male and female children are celebrated on the same day. teenage/adult son and daughter don't do this -- creepy.


Of course , if you don't have children, you can take this bath by yourself on 5 th May in Japan. Since the plant has an aroma in water , the bathing is very relaxing.

This is 菖蒲湯 Shoubuyu.




This is a sweet eaten on Chidren's Day こどもの日 kodomo no hi, it is called かしわ餅 (kashiwa mochi) , a Japanese rice cake with Azuki bean paste (餡こ Anko , red bean paste) wrapped in oak leaf. The leaf is edible.  Red bean paste is used in both Chinese and Japanese sweets / pudding receipes.



Personally ,I like anything with Azuki beans. Azuki beans are not sweet by themselves, you have to sweeten it and make it a paste for sweets.