I have started taking a course in “yakuzen” (Oriental-medicine-based diet/food) by a Japanese woman who is actively involved in yakuzen and is trying to educate the public about it here on the Gold Coast, so I’d like to talk about that in this article.
It’s called a “course,” but it’s 2 classes a month for 4 months, rather than a whole lot of study on a daily basis, so you can take the course in between times even if you work. And although we’re talking about a diet and food based on Oriental medicine, the course isn’t just all about learning the difficult, formal knowledge of Oriental medicine itself, it’s more about learning what effects different foods have, how to manage your health and your physical condition, as well as the basics for putting it all into practice in daily life. The teaching materials form a proper curriculum written by an international yakuzen master from Japan, and the teacher herself is a qualified international yakuzen master chef, which means you get a thorough education in the basics of yakuzen. I have only just started the course, but I understand that eventually I will be able to ascertain the condition of my health by looking at the condition of my tongue. Learning what foods cool or warm the body and what foods work on each of the 5 viscera (heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, and spleen) will enable me to put that knowledge to good use in managing health on a daily basis, just by putting them on the menu from day to day.
If you don’t live locally, you can also take the course online. I live close enough to go by car, so I am attending face-to-face, which means that after the class, anyone who wants to gets to enjoy a yakuzen lunch made by the teacher. Classes finish right at noon, so having a delicious yakuzen lunch puts me and my empty stomach in seventh heaven. The delicious, highly nourishing cooking permeates your body. I chat about various things with the other students over lunch and usually we have a great laugh about some current topic before going home. It’s nice and relaxed after the class, as though you were at home, but during the class, everyone listens intently to what the teacher says. You get a lot of specialized terminology along the way, which does make it more difficult than I had imagined, but a health enthusiast like me can absorb the content without too much trouble, which makes it enjoyable. There’s homework after each class and you have to plan a menu by yourself from what you have learned on the day. There’s also a Facebook group for people taking the course, so you can exchange all sorts of information, support each other, and offer advice when there’s an occasional difficult topic, which means that while everyone hangs in there together, the motivation level increases.
After completing the course, anyone who wants to can take the certification examination to be a beginners’ level yakuzen instructor. One of the reasons I wanted to take this course was that I wanted to study yakuzen and learn what to do with the medicinal plants like the mysterious fruits and barks you find in Asian food stores in Australia here and there run by Chinese people.
Looking at these items in the stores, but not knowing how you should prepare them and what they are good for was something that had long bothered me.
Nowadays in Australia, people have become more health conscious, with foods like gluten-free and vegan, but still, if you’re not feeling well, people go and see a doctor and are straight away given a prescription for antibiotics for all sorts of conditions. Western medicine, still so reliant on drugs, is mainstream. Once I went to a specialist dermatologist after getting a rash on my face and amazingly was given a prescription for a course of antibiotics lasting more than 2 months. On top of that, they were quite strong antibiotics and made me ill, so I wound up going to a hospital emergency department. In the end, it got better by going on a “skin fast,” putting as little as possible on the skin rash. After that incident, I lost quite a bit of trust in the Western medical treatments here. It is wiser to look after your body yourself, rather than temporarily suppressing illness with drugs. I want to learn all about yakuzen and make use of it for the purposes of consistently taking good care of my health and practicing healthy living. And I am also excited about treating my family and friends to homemade yakuzen food once I have completed the course.


Photo at left: The teacher told us about this nutritional tonic liquor, which is like “Yomeishu” (an Oriental medicinal liqueur made from herbs in Japan).
Photo at right: A delicious and fortifying yakuzen lunch

The teacher puts up posts about yakuzen on Instagram, so if you’re interested, take a look at her account! @knowledge_of_east