Moxibustion in Japan and Korea

Short answer: moxibustion travelled with Chinese medicine to Japan, where transmission began from the 6th century, and to Korea ^[1][2]. Japan uses the terms kyū (灸), with moxa called mogusa and the plant yomogi. Korea calls moxibustion tteum (뜸) ^[2]. Japan developed refined direct methods, while China relies more on moxa sticks ^[1].

Japan

History

• Moxibustion appears in Japanese literature from Murasaki Shikibu’s 11th-century Tale of Genji onward ^[1].
• It peaked in the Edo period (1603–1867), when many distinctive Japanese techniques emerged, and was used widely for pain and health maintenance ^[1].
• Since the Edo period, moxibustion, acupuncture and shiatsu were traditionally occupations of blind practitioners. Today a licence is required, and moxibustion is mainly practised by acupuncturists and shiatsu therapists ^[1].
• Many Buddhist temples in Japan are known for moxibustion treatments ^[1].
• The European word “moxa” comes from Japanese mogusa, via 16th-century Portuguese missionaries and Buschoff’s 1674 book ^[2].

Techniques

• Okyu (thread moxa). Ultra-pure moxa is rolled into threads and pinched into strands of four standard sizes, from string-like through sesame and half-rice-grain to rice-grain. They are burned on the skin, with heat controlled by size and sometimes by limiting oxygen ^[1].
• Moxa grades. Japanese moxa ranges from coarse (for indirect use) to superior grades for direct moxibustion ^[2].
• Kyu to shin is needle moxa ^[1].
• A Chinese survey of Japanese methods describes moxibustion with Japanese characteristics, mainly diathermal (heat-penetrating) moxibustion together with folk methods ^[3].

Everyday use

Outside medical settings, moxibustion is a common home remedy in Japan, used mostly by older adults or for children ^[1]. Japanese stick-on and smokeless products are sold internationally, such as smokeless Chosei-kyu and Seirin’s Moxsafe ^[4].

Licensing and safety in Japan

• Japan licenses acupuncturists and moxibustionists. A 2025 report notes that physicians have no moxibustion certification system and calls for more medical education in the field ^[5].
• A multicentre prospective survey in Japanese educational facilities found mostly mild, transient adverse events, though the sample was too small to define risk precisely ^[6].
• Japanese researchers have studied the physiology of acupuncture and moxibustion, including skin and muscle blood flow and reflex mechanisms ^[7][8].

Korea

• Name and legend. Korean folklore attributes the development of moxibustion to the legendary emperor Dangun ^[2].
• Products. Stick-on moxa (tteum) sets are widely used, and the stick-on moxa design is sold across Japan, Korea and China ^[2]. Korean companies also make charcoal moxa cones (for example Dong Bang) ^[4].
• Research. Korean studies include smoke-chamber tests of stick-on moxa, in which smokeless types produced 3.4–5.5 Ds ^[9], chamber measurements of indirect moxa emissions ^[10], and a trial of moxibustion for pain and “coldness” after hysterectomy that reported warmer abdominal and lumbar temperatures ^[11].
• Guidelines. A comparison found that Chinese acupuncture-moxibustion guidelines emphasise operating protocols, while Korean guidelines emphasise frequently used clinical interventions ^[12].

Related pages

• History of moxibustion
• Moxibustion techniques
• Moxa cones and stick-on moxa

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