Bikousui (微香水) is the easy way to enjoy a fresh blend of healing herbal water while out and about.
Using Japanese natural water from the Japan Alps and a variety of therapeutic herbs, you take off the herbal tea bag on the side of the bottle and pop it in the water. Put the cap back on and wait for around five minutes. You will see the water transform into a healing pinkish color. Voilà!
These kinds of drinks do an amazing job of transferring to an ordinary product a touch of luxury, earned from the sense of satisfaction the consumers gets from creating something themselves, from taking part in the brewing process no matter how essentially trivial. Bikousui gives you a fresh, just-made taste no matter where you are — a homey drink for a mobile population. Of course, the added emotional value the consumer receives also lets the manufacturer charge more.
Produced by Daishizen Seikatsukan in Gunma, this neat little soothing beverage reminds us of the instant bottled Kyoto green tea we reported about in 2008.
Unfortunately it is only really available online or through stores in Nagano and Gunma. Apparently there is one place in Tokyo selling Daishizen products in Suminari-ku (Aroma House Kurumi).
Take your choice from ten types of herbal blends. You can buy a bottle for around 150 JPY ($1.60).
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