From Japanese Forests to Your Feet ・ How Vinegar Is Extracted from Kumamoto Bamboo, and Used to Soothe Your Soles
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Ever wondered what’s in those mysterious Japanese foot pads? This bamboo vinegar is a key ingredient!
What Is Bamboo Vinegar?
A concentrated natural extract of Japan's abundant bamboo, bamboo vinegar is a unique ingredient that locals call "chikusakueki" (竹酢液). The prized liquid is smoked and roasted out of tall stalks of bamboo that tower high overhead in Japan's quiet bamboo forests, towering green columns left to grow high into the sky throughout the seasons. Over a number of days, bamboo vinegar producers will harvest the stalks and draw the sap out of the bamboo using traditional methods, bringing out its best properties by aging the extract for years on end. The final product is highly acidic, which is why it's called a "vinegar," but it also contains more than 520 different organic compounds, along with a variety of minerals. These unique properties make bamboo vinegar a valuable commodity in Japan, which has historically been used for everything from sterilization and deodorization, to medicinal or relaxation purposes. This smoky bamboo essence is a powerful extract with a powerful pull.
From Bamboo Forests to Final Product, How Is Bamboo Vinegar Made?
The process of making bamboo vinegar starts in the greenery of the Japanese countryside, where huge bamboo groves cover the hillsides and crowd up to the edge of the narrow roads. This bamboo is used for a number of purposes, including the farming of tender bamboo shoots, but the stalks used to make bamboo vinegar are only the tallest, broadest ones in the forest.
Bamboo vinegar makers harvest bamboo stalks that have been left to grow tall for four or five years ー a long time for the quick-growing bamboo ー and they carefully chop down one towering plant at a time, letting the long green columns fall right out of the crowded forest.
The basic preparation process for the bamboo takes days, as workers chop the stalks into more manageable lengths and split the thigh-sized logs into thin strips. Once the strips are flattened and straightened out, they're bundled into hefty armfuls and tied together with twine, then left to dry naturally for another half a year.
The next few steps are where the magic really happens, as the bundles of bamboo are first piled carefully to smoke away in a smokehouse, and then afterwards moved to a huge outdoor oven. The next part of the process is the most vital, and workers carefully keep an eye on the thermostat to make sure the bamboo strips are heated to a temperature between 80 and 130 degrees celcius. Any cooler or any hotter, and the finished product won't be up to scratch. When the bamboo starts to steam and release the gently smoked sap pent up within, streams of vapor flow out of the oven's chimney, and the mist is funneled into a pipe and collected as condensation.
This precious liquid is fresh bamboo vinegar, but even when the bamboo is all baked into charcoal and the steam is all collected, the new batch of vinegar still isn't quite ready. The liquid is refined over and over to remove impurities, and then left to age to bring out the bamboo vinegar's very best qualities, over the course of a number of years.
How Is Bamboo Vinegar Used? What Is It Good For?
Bamboo vinegar is the hard-earned result of an arduous, years-long process of preparing bamboo, heating it, and carefully refining the steam it releases. Among its many uses, this sour, smoky, 100% natural liquid is added to a variety of products in Japan, to take advantage of the vinegar's purported deodorizing, antibacterial, and even therapeutic properties. Perhaps the most popular use is in foot sheets, where the bamboo vinegar is dried into a powder and added to patches, which are applied to the soles of the feet overnight.
Popular foot sheet brand Ashirira Sheet makes a whole line of the products, mixing the bamboo vinegar powder with other natural ingredients (including plants like lavender, mugwort, and grapefruit, or other materials like powdered titanium). Fans of Ashirira Sheet's bamboo vinegar foot sheets say that wearing them overnight on their feet can help them relax in the evening, sleep deeper, and then wake up feeling refreshed and restored.
Thanks to the lush bamboo forests in the Japanese countryside and the careful processing done by factories like this one in Kumamoto Prefecture, the countless organic compounds and minerals found within bamboo vinegar are undeniable, so it's easy to see why the liquid has long been popular for therapeutic uses. Will the Ashirira Sheet bamboo vinegar sheets really help you rest, relax, and recuperate? Well, there's only one way to find out, and that's to try them out yourself － they're easily available at drug stores in major cities around Japan (or online at the official website). Slap a few on your feet and let the natural bamboo vinegar sheets do their work, you might just find yourself a new fan of this unique Japanese ingredient.
For more info and updates from Japan, check Japankuru for new articles, and don't forget to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!
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Nara Prefecture's important history reaches back to 710, a time now called the Nara era, when it was once capital of Japan. Called "Heijo-kyo" during its time as a capital, it's said that nara was once the end of the silk road, leading it to flourish as a uniquely international region and produce important cultural properties of all kinds. To make the most of each season, travelers head to Nara Park, where the Nara deer who wander freely, or climb Mount Yoshino, a famous cherry blossom spot.
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Osaka is known for friendly (and funny) people, but its history is nothing to laugh at, playing a major part in Toyotomi Hideyoshi's 16th century unification of Japan. Thanks to long years of economic activity, it's one of Japan's biggest cities, and Osaka's popular food culture earned it the nickname "The Kitchen of the Nation." To this day Osaka is the model of western Japan, and alongside historic structures like Osaka Castle, it also has major shopping malls like Umeda's Grand Front Osaka and Tennoji's Abeno Harukas. Osaka is a place to eat, eat, eat, with local specialties like takoyaki, okonomiyaki, and kushi-katsu, and for extra fun, it's home to Universal Studios Japan.
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The Chugoku Region (中国地方) consists of five prefectures: Hiroshima, Okayama, Shimane, Tottori, and Yamaguchi. In Chugoku you’ll find the sand dunes of Tottori, and Hiroshima’s atomic bomb site, plus centers of ancient history like Grand Shrine of Izumo.
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Hiroshima Prefecture has everything, from world heritage sites to beautiful nature and delicious local cuisine, and it's either an hour and a half from Tokyo by plane, or four hours by train. Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima Island and the Atomic Bomb Dome, two Hiroshima UNESCO sites, are famous around the world, but in Japan it's also famous for food. Seafood from the Seto Inland Sea, especially oysters, Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, and Setouchi lemons are all popular, and the natural scenery alone is worth seeing.
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On the other side of the Seto Inland Sea opposite Japan’s main island, Shikoku (四国) is a region made up of four prefectures: Ehime, Kagawa, Kochi, and Tokushima. The area is famous for its udon (in Kagawa), and the beautiful Dogo Onsen hot springs (in Ehime).
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KAGAWA
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Kagawa Prefecture is on the northern part of the island of Shikoku, facing Japan's main island and the Seto Inland Sea. It's known for being the smallest prefecture in Japan, by area, but at the same time Kagawa is called the "Udon Prefecture" thanks to its famous sanuki udon. Aside from Kotohiragu Shrine and Ritsurin Garden, the prefecture's small islands are popular, and Kagawa is full of unique destinations, like Angel Road. They say that if you lay eyes on Zenigata Sunae, a huge Kagawa sand painting, you'll never have money troubles ever again.
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KYUSHU
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Located in the most southwestern part of Japan, Kyushu (九州) is an island of 7 prefectures: Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Oita, Miyazaki, and Kagoshima. The island's unique culture has been influenced by Chinese and Dutch trade, along with missionaries coming in through Nagasaki's port. Modern-day travelers love the lush natural scenery and fresh food, plus the natural hot springs found all throughout the area (thanks to volcanic activity)!
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FUKUOKA
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Fukuoka Prefecture has the highest population on the southern island of Kyushu, with two major cities: Fukuoka and Kitakyushu. Thanks to growing transportation networks, Fukuoka is more accessible than ever, and so are the many local attractions. On top of historical spots like Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine, travelers shouldn't miss Fukuoka's food scene, with motsu nabe (offal hotpot), mentaiko (spicy cod roe), and famous Hakata ramen―best eaten from a food stall in the Nakasu area of Hakata. Plus, it's full of all sorts of destinations for travelers, like trendy shopping centers, and the beautiful nature of Itoshima and Yanagawa.
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KAGOSHIMA
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Kagoshima Prefecture played a major role in Japan's modernization as a backdrop for famous historical figures like samurais Saigo Takamori and Okubo Toshimichi, who pushed Japan out of the Edo era and into the Meiji. Because of that, Sengan-en Garden is just one of many historical destinations, and when it comes to attractions Kagoshima has plenty: the active volcano of Sakurajima, popular hot springs Ibusuki Onsen and Kirishima Onsen, World Heritage Site Yakushima Island, even what Japan calls the "island closest to heaven," Amami Oshima. Kagoshima might be found on the very southernmost tip of the southern island of Kyushu, but there's plenty to see.
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OKINAWA
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The island chain of Okinawa (沖縄) makes up the southernmost tip of Japan, which is why it's also the most tropical area in the country. Thanks to a history of independence and totally distinct political and cultural events, Okinawa has a unique culture, and remnants of the Ryukyu Kingdom are still visible all over the islands. Food, language, traditional dress, it's all a little different! It's also said to be the birthplace of karate.
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