1,400-year-old herbal bath recipe we offer in limited numbers in May.
Handmade drawstring bag, sewn in traditional kusudama-yu (medicine-ball bath) style.
The bag contains 25 grams of wild-harvested leaves of yomogi, plus leaves and fragrant roots of Japanese iris (shōbu).
Wild-Harvested • All-Natural
Pesticide-free. No additives, preservatives, colorings or fragrances.
Ingredients: Dried yomogi (Artemisia princeps) leaves. Roots and leaves of shōbu iris (sweet flag)
Contents: 1 pack
Product of Japan
Iris and Yomogi Traditions of May
The love affair with irises and yomogi runs deep in Japan's national psyche.
In 612 AD, Empress Suiko, Japan's first female monarch, decreed the 5th day of the 5th month of every year to be the day for collecting wild irises and yomogi leaves.
The tradition, called kusuri-gari (medicine hunt), is observed to this day.
Every May, Japanese hang iris and yomogi leaves at entrances and under leaves of their homes and take baths with iris leaves to promote good health and to ward off evil.
In the traditional Japanese calendar, May 5th is the first day of summer (called Rikka.)
It is also the day for three major celebrations:
- kodomo-no-hi (Children's Day)
- ayame-no-hi (Day of Irises) and
- tango-no-sekku (Double-Fifth, i.e. the 5th day of the 5th month.)
How to Take an Iris and Yomogi Bath
In a small bowl, make an infusion by pouring 4 cups of hot water over the pack.
Fill your bath with comfortably hot clear water, and add the infusion.
Take the pack with you inside your bath. Immerse yourself, relax, and breathe in the sweet and spicy herbal aromas.
After bathing, rinse your body, drink a cup of water to rehydrate, and take a nice, long rest!
