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Local Medicine
Mr. Aida leans down showing me kakidousi, a plant which can be used to stop bleeding. 99.10.19/ Temperature: 3C/ Weather: Partly cloudy/Wind Direction: NE
Start:Tokiwa, Sapporo /Latitude: 42 56 01 N /Longitude: 141 20 29 E
Destination: Lake Shikotsu , Chitose / Latitude: 42 47 52 N / Longitude:141 21 37 E
Distance Traveled: 28.3 kmIf you think going to the drug store or hospital is the only way to cure your illnesses, you'd better think twice. Today I happened upon a high altitude plant and medicinal plant shop.
Moving even further from bustling Sapporo, today I made my way up over the pass to Lake Shikotsu. Mixed deciduous and conifer forest could be seen for kilometers. The north slopes of most hills were covered in a thin layer of snow.
Shortly after the ascent up the mountain pass, the words "medicinal plants" written on a billboard sign alongside the road caught my attention. Telling me that mountains in the area are home to a wide variety of edible and medicinal plants, Mr. Aida, the shop owner, spent some time explaining to me the wonders of Hokkaido's local medicines.
"Nowadays if kids get injured up in the mountains, they run to the first aid kit, wipe on disinfectant, and put on a Band-Aid. If you are up the mountains, you have all you need to heal cuts naturally. You can use most plants to help stop bleeding and to clean wounds. Mugwort, kakidoushi (glechoma hederacea) and wood sorrel are just a few of your ordinary plants that you can use." Bending over he showed me some kakidoushi growing in his lawn.
Winter is here. Snow on a north slope along route 435. "To stop coughing you can use field horsetail. There are even ways to heal mental illnesses through medicinal plants that have been passed down for generations." Mr. Aida even suggested that I lick the resin of either Yezo spruce or white fir to relieve my exhaustion.
Mr. Aida said, "Most of the medicinal plants found in this forest are the backbone of Japanese medicine."
After my encounter with Mr. Aida, the forest that previously was 'just a beautiful forest' was now a forest of endless medicinal cures. There is so much to know about our surrounding environment, but I think the less we are in touch with nature the less we realize how much it provides for us.
Hokkaido silvervine another plant used in local remedies. There may be similar local medicines in your neighborhoods too. Please let me know if you discover any, particularly anything that might keep me healthy on this journey.
I looked for resin dripping spruce and firs but was unlucky. I'll keep my eyes peeled tomorrow.
Greg
PS. Momoyama has already lent me some of their local medicinal wisdom, 'travel again alcohol' (silvervine alcohol). The drink is said to have helped travelers in Japan to continue on. I have started drinking a little bit everyday and my body seems to be responding. Thank you Momoyama!
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