Tenkawa Village Sightseeing Website

Daranisuke is a traditional herbal medicine for digestion that has been passed down for a long time in this region. It has been known for its effectiveness against stomachaches, diarrhea, and hangovers. It is extremely bitter, and there’s even a poem that goes, “First your face feels it, then your stomach; Daranisuke is bitter indeed.”

The name is said to originate from various theories, such as monks chewing on the bark of the kihada tree to stay awake while chanting Dharani sutras. The main ingredient is the bark of the kihada (Amur cork tree). In the past, it was prepared as a dried extract wrapped in bamboo bark, but nowadays, easy-to-drink pills containing extracts of kihada, along with ingredients like obaku (Magnolia obovata) extract, gennoshoko (Puerariae Flos), and gajutsu (Gastrodia elata), have become popular nationwide.

In the Dorogawa hotspring town, you can find signs for Daranisuke here and there.