Peucedanum japonicum

In Korea, the plant is usually referred to as bangpung (방풍) or bangpungnamul (방풍나물) although its official name is gaetgireumnamul (갯기름나물).[5] In Korean cuisine, the leaves of coastal hog fennel are used fresh as ssam vegetable (for hoe) or pickled in soy sauce and vinegar to make jangajji. It can be used as a main ingredient in namul dishes, or added as a herb to soybean paste stew, starch jelly dishes, fritters and pancakes, noodle soups and dough soups, stir-fried glass noodles, rice, or even Korean-style Italian lasagne.[5][6]

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  Bangpungnamul-muchim (seasoned coastal hogfennel leaves)
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  Coastal hogfennel rice cakes for tteokguk (rice cake soup)

In Japan, peucedanum japonicum is also known as the longevity herb and long known to have medicinal properties. P. japonicum called chyou-mei-gusa, which translates to grass for longevity and is served in traditional Japanese dishes during shirayoi, the naming ceremony for a newborn, and yahnuyoi, celebration for the completion of a new house. Yonaguni Island produces over 90% of the herb's production in Okinawa and could become another significant medicinal crop for Okinawa, following turmeric and aloe. Cosmetics company Shiseido markets P. japonicum as a health food, Shiseido Longevity Herb, in the form of tablets, a powder and a drink.[7] Okinawns have a longer lifespan and lower incidence of cancer compared to the Japanese mainland. Some believe this longevity to be due to dietary factors, however the exact reasons have yet to be verified. In ancient times, P. japonicum leaves and roots were used as a medicine treatment for patients with sore throat in the Ryukyu Islands.[8]

People of China pronounce P. japonicum as bin hai qian hu (滨海前胡).[3] Its older name was fang kui (防葵).

Feverish people should not take it because it causes one to be delirious and see spirits. - Tao Hongjing (456-536 C.E.) - Taoist mediator of Maoshan and follower of Ge Hong - writing in 510 C.E.

In contrast to the Korean culinary uses listed above, the plant was considered in China to be medicinal but possibly deleterious to health and likely to cause delirium in those who consumed it in quantity:

Fang k'uei, if taken in excess, makes one become delirious and act somewhat as though mad. Ch'en Yen-chih / Chen Yanzhi (陳延之) 5th Century C.E.[9]

The plant referred in Taoist alchemical texts may be referring to Saposhnikovia divaricata (syn. Siler divaricata - Schultes and Hofmann mention another putative hallucinogen with a role in Taoist alchemy) rather than P. japonicum. Taoist sage Tao Hongjing speaks of two kinds of fang-feng (which normally refers to Saposhnikovia in Chinese), noting :

The root is spicy and non-poisonous. The kind that bifurcates at the top produces madness. The kind that bifurcates at the bottom causes reversion of old ailments.

'Spicy and non-poisonous' accords well with the culinary use of P. japonicum in Korean cuisine, whereas 'bifurcates at the top' and 'produces madness' accords with the morphology and medicinal/toxic properties of S. divaricata. However, as fang k'uei, P. japonicum is definitely used for medicinal as well as culinary purposes in China, where it is employed as an 'eliminative', diuretic, tussive, sedative and tonic.

Ming Dynasty pharmacologist Li Shizhen was likewise of the opinion that P. japonicum was, although medicinal, not toxic in itself, maintaining that the hallucinogenic properties of the drug were probably a result of its adulteration with material derived from Aconitum or Euphorbia species.[10]

In a mice model, the plant was found to possibility inhibit high fat diet-induced obesity for various possible reasons, including the presence of anti-obesity phytochemicals, which inhibit fat absorption through gene expression in the liver, adipose tissue and muscle.