<b>Current Status of Moxa Manufacture in Japan </b> / 日本東洋医学雑誌

ABSTRACT

In Japan, moxa floss has long been produced by traditional methods. It has a high degree of purity and is incomparable to that in other countries. On the other hand, mugwort (leaves) are being imported from China now, and used to make the product sold in recent years. However details on this current situation have not been reported publicly.<br>Therefore we sent a questionnaire 14 major Japanese manufactures involved in the manufacturing, processing or domestic wholesale of moxa. The questions were both multiple choice and freely-written descriptive types, consisting of 29 items in 15 fields, about the current situation and problems faced in moxa manufacturing. The questionnaire was sent by return mail on 16 th November, 2011.<br>As a result, 12 out of 14 makers (85.7%) responded. Stocks wise, mugwort from Japan was 88 t, and import from China was 45 t. Moxa floss from Japan was 13 t, and import from China was 50 t. Manufacturing season started in late November and ended in late March. Stone mills, grain fans, and <i>nagatoshi </i>were used for manufacturing and many of these apparatus were made by craftsmen at their company. This survey enabled us to examine delivery and export systems for mugwort leaves and moxa floss, current moxa manufacturing and apparatus status, as well as problems and the future outlook for Japanese moxa floss makers.