Have you ever heard of a health supplement called “Ryukyu Shugoh Densetsu”? The supplement, which was born in Okinawa and is now sold nationwide, is made of selected medicinal herbs, including the world’s only Okinawan turmeric, Koukin. The passion of a young man born on Miyako Island who believes in the power of Okinawan plants has created a product that has gained the support of many.
The power of robust plants growing under the strong sunlight of Okinawa
Receiving the power of medicinal herbs leads to a long life. Okinawa Chosei Yakuso Honsha” expresses this idea in its company name. The store, factory, and farm are located on a peaceful piece of land overlooking the ocean in Nanjo City in the southern part of Okinawa’s main island. The company grows many medicinal herbs and uses them to produce and sell supplements and herbal teas.
The representative product of Okinawa Chosei Yakuso Honsha is “Ryukyu Shugoh Densetsu” (legend of Ryukyu Shugoh). It is a health supplement that has become nationally known for the impact of its name and the ease with which it can be purchased at convenience stores. It has become a friend to those who enjoy drinking, as it is said to “keep you from getting drunk” and “prevent hangovers.
All injuries and colds were cured with medicinal herbs.
Mr. Seikichi Shimoji, who is currently the chairman of the board, started Okinawa Chosei Yakuso Honsha, which has been in business for 50 years. Mr. Shimoji was born on Miyako Island in 1945, shortly after the end of World War II. There were no hospitals on Miyako Island at that time, and his grandmother always healed him of wounds and injuries, colds, and fevers by taking plants and rubbing them on them or giving them to him to drink by infusion.
The biggest incident was when she fell from a tree and broke her arm in elementary school. As usual, my grandmother gathered medicinal herbs, put them on the affected part, fixed it with a piece of wood, and wrapped it with chicken skin. After three months of doing this, she was completely cured. Because of this experience, she could not help but explore the wonderful and unknown possibilities of medicinal herbs.
When he grew up and moved out to the main island of Okinawa, people around him treated him as an eccentric because of his obsession with plants. Still, he did not stop his research, and began to cultivate in his fields plants that grow like weeds on roadsides, but which have a variety of beneficial effects, and began to make his own original teas. At the age of 29, he established Okinawa Chosei Yakuso Honsha on the main island of Okinawa.
The tea created at that time is Fukujurai, a blend of teas that is still sold as a standard product. In addition to Ryukyu Shugoh Densetsu and Fukujurai, Okinawa Chosei Yakuso Honsha currently manufactures and sells 40 other products.
Focusing on the proven effects of turmeric
Although the name “turmeric” has become well known throughout Japan, it was originally not something that even Okinawans were very familiar with. Mr. Shimoji noticed the effects of turmeric, which grew wild only a few times in Okinawa, on the human body, as well as its good suitability for Okinawa’s soil and productivity, and began researching its commercialization in the hopes that more people would benefit from it.
Among several types of turmeric, spring turmeric, fall turmeric, and purple turmeric, it was spring turmeric that found particular hope. Spring turmeric, also called “Kyouou,” contains more than 100 ingredients, including essential oil components, curcnoids, azulene, and camphor, that are not found in fall turmeric. We asked our own couple, as well as friends and acquaintances, to consume this in powder and tablet form on a daily basis. After gaining a lot of experience and insight, they were convinced of the effectiveness of the product and decided to market it as a commercial product.
However, just as the Okinawa Fair was beginning to be held in mainland Japan, the couple had the opportunity to visit department stores throughout Japan. The health food boom of the 1980s also brought turmeric to the forefront of attention. From there, the value of turmeric finally became known in Okinawa.
Demand gradually increased, and although orders were placed by phone or postcard at a time when there was no Internet, the number of orders from all over the country kept increasing. And the letters of thanks kept coming in, saying, “Thanks to turmeric, I am healthy now,” or “I am cured of my illness.
Turmeric supplement developed in collaboration with the University of the Ryukyus and took three years to complete.
For more than a decade since then, I had always wanted to analyze the medicinal properties of turmeric, but had been unable to take the plunge due to lack of funding, when I was approached by a unique opportunity to conduct joint research with the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Agriculture of Ryukyu University under Okinawa Prefecture’s new health industry creation project.
The ingredients and effects of several Okinawan plants, including spring turmeric and guava, the synergistic effects of the medicinal properties of multiple plants, and the blending techniques used to enhance the medicinal activity were studied, and after repeated experiments to demonstrate the effects, Ryukyu Shugoh Densetsu was developed and born over a period of three years.
By blending other medicinal herbs with spring turmeric as the main ingredient, a further synergistic effect on the function of the liver in particular was proven. All ingredients are grown without agricultural chemicals, and no preservatives, preservatives, or antioxidants are used.
Spring turmeric is rich in essential oil components and minerals. The essential oil component has a strong bactericidal effect and protects the stomach, making it good for stomach ulcers, etc. It is also said to have a high antioxidant effect. It is an ideal item for people who drink alcohol, but it is also recommended for non-drinkers to improve their health.
First Emperor’s Cup awarded in Okinawa Prefecture
In 2005, Okinawa Chosei Yakuso Honsha was awarded the Emperor’s Cup at the 44th Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Festival. The following year, the company received the Okinawa Promotion Meritorious Service Award from the Cabinet Office, and in the spring of 2017, the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette for its many efforts to help many people’s health.
Turmeric is made from the root. The root grows to a size that is seven or eight times larger than that of ginger. Turmeric itself has strong bactericidal properties, does not require pesticides, and grows well without fertilizers or water.
In addition to spring turmeric, other types of turmeric grown in Okinawa include fall, purple, and white turmeric. Turmeric, which is an essential ingredient in curry, refers to autumn turmeric. In taste, spring turmeric has the most bitter flavor. The color of the berries also differs: spring turmeric is pale yellow, autumn turmeric is bright orange, purple turmeric is slightly purple, and white turmeric is white. Spring turmeric is called spring turmeric because it blooms in spring, while fall turmeric blooms in fall. The timing of flowering and harvesting differ depending on the type.
There is also a variety called Okinawa Koukin, which has been researched and bred over the past 20 years and is grown exclusively at the Okinawa Chosei Yakuso Headquarters. This Okinawa King Gold has succeeded in containing tetrahydra curcumin, an ingredient with extremely high antioxidant power, and is one of the ingredients in products such as Ryukyu Shugoh Densetsu. This tetrahydracurcumin is said to have a higher absorption rate than regular curcumin because of its lower molecular weight.
Behind the store is a large herb garden. Lively subtropical plants and spices grow there and can be observed. In the Showa period (1926-1989), when restrictions on bringing plants across national borders were not yet strictly enforced, Mr. Shimoji would obtain useful local medicinal herbs on his business trips abroad, and he would bring them back to Okinawa.
He would plant the plants he brought back to Okinawa to see if they were suited to the local climate. It is said that there are as many as 1,000 varieties of plants planted here. In fact, Gymnema sylvestre and Mangelikon, which are included in Ryukyu Sakagou Densetsu, were brought back from overseas to increase the number of seeds, allowing for stable cultivation.
In addition to its own fields, the company contracts with about 50 farmers in Nanjo City, Okinawa’s main island, and Miyako Island for turmeric and medicinal herbs, ensuring healthy, naturally grown raw materials.
Harvested from fields here and there are gathered here, washed, sorted, dried, sterilized, made into tablets and tea, and packaged, all in a processing plant adjacent to the store.
“Without the farmers, our products would not be made.”
His son, Takahiko, who took over as representative three years ago, recalls, “I was forced to help out all the time since I was a small child, and I really hated both self-employment and medicinal herbs. Once he became an adult and worked at another job, he joined Yakusosha because he wanted to further expand and support the family business.
Since then, he has been making efforts to help as many people as possible experience the excellence of the products that his parents worked so hard to create. Recently, he travels with his products to various events around the country once or twice a month. For contract farmers, he has decided to purchase their products at a higher price than anywhere else, saying, “Our products cannot be made without the farmers, so we want to protect their livelihood.
The generation has changed, and the chairman still goes to the fields every morning to interact with the plants.
It is said that health foods lack the power to tell whether they are working or not. However, 20 years have passed since the launch of Ryukyu Shugoh Densetsu, and sales are still growing.
Anyway, there are many people who are concerned about their health. We want to help them improve their health. With this single-minded determination, he will continue to devote his passion to spreading the hidden power of medicinal herbs.
