Ryukakusan Throat Medicine: Powder, Direct & Prices

Here's a rundown of Japanese Ryukakusan powder, Direct, candy, and tablets: the features of each type, Japanese prices, efficacy and ingredients, and how to take them, based on official Ryukakusan materials.

What kind of brand is Ryukakusan?

Ryukakusan (龍角散) is a Japanese throat-medicine brand with over 200 years of history.

It was born about 200 years ago, in the late Edo period, in the Satake domain of Akita. Fujii Shoteiji (藤井正亭治), the domain physician at the time, added the strengths of Chinese herbal medicine and Western medicine to an existing cough remedy to create a new medicine for the domain lord, who suffered from asthma. This became the basis for the Ryukakusan of later generations.

The name Ryukakusan is said to combine the names of the crude drugs blended at the time: dragon bone (龍骨), borneol (龍腦), and deer antler (鹿角霜).

After the Meiji Restoration, the Fujii family carried on Ryukakusan and moved into Tokyo. They founded the business in Kanda, Tokyo in 1871 and began general sales of Ryukakusan, and it went on to become widely known as a household throat medicine in Japan.

Ryukakusan original powder | price, efficacy, ingredients, dosage

Japanese Ryukakusan (龍角散) powder is Ryukakusan’s signature medicine, packed in a silver can. It’s a Class 3 OTC drug, sold at Japanese pharmacies and drugstores, and comes in three sizes: 20g, 43g, and 90g.

※ Simply calculated based on an adult single dose of 0.3g. Actual selling prices may vary by store.

✅ Ryukakusan powder efficacy

The efficacy of Ryukakusan powder is relief of cough and phlegm, and of hoarseness, throat roughness, throat discomfort, throat pain, and throat swelling caused by throat inflammation.

It’s a product where fine crude-drug powder acts directly on the throat’s mucous membrane, so you must take it without water. It works to return the weakened cilia movement of the throat to normal and to keep the function of expelling foreign matter working properly. It’s a sugar-free product, and it contains no ingredients that cause drowsiness.

✅ Ryukakusan powder ingredients

The active ingredients of Ryukakusan powder are four crude drugs: platycodon, apricot kernel, senega, and licorice.

• Platycodon - expectorant action
• Apricot kernel - cough-suppressing action
• Senega - expectorant action
• Licorice - anti-inflammatory action

✅ How to take Ryukakusan powder

One heaping scoop of the dedicated spoon of Ryukakusan is 0.3g. You must take it without water, and avoid food and drinks for 15-30 minutes after taking it. Putting the medicine straight into the back of your throat can make you choke, so let it dissolve slowly on your tongue.

• ① Detach the dedicated spoon from the inner lid.
• ② Open the inner lid.
• ③ Scoop a heaping spoonful of Ryukakusan powder.
• ④ Place the medicine on your tongue and move it toward your throat while it slowly dissolves.

Children should take it under the guidance and supervision of a guardian. In particular, for infants under 2 years old, seeing a doctor first takes priority, and the official instructions advise giving it only when unavoidable.

Ryukakusan Direct Stick | mint & peach price, efficacy, dosage

Ryukakusan Direct Stick (龍角散ダイレクトスティック) is a granule-type Class 3 OTC drug taken without water. It’s a powder medicine that dissolves quickly in the mouth, and comes in two flavors: mint and peach.

Each dose is individually packaged one packet at a time, so it’s easy to carry, and one packet is a single adult dose. A box contains 16 packets.

✅ Ryukakusan Direct Stick efficacy

The efficacy of Ryukakusan Direct Stick is relief of phlegm and cough, and of hoarseness, throat roughness, and throat discomfort caused by throat inflammation.

Fine crude-drug powder acts directly on the throat’s mucous membrane, keeping the throat’s cilia movement working properly and helping expel foreign matter. You must take it without water, and it contains no ingredients that cause drowsiness.

✅ Ryukakusan Direct Stick ingredients

The active ingredients of the Direct Stick are six crude drugs: platycodon, senega, licorice, apricot kernel, ginseng, and gambir.

The ingredient difference is that ginseng and gambir are added to the four crude drugs of the original Ryukakusan powder (platycodon, apricot kernel, senega, licorice). Mint and peach have the same types and amounts of active ingredients, with differences in flavoring and some additives.

✅ How to take Ryukakusan Direct Stick

Tear open the stick, place the powder on your tongue, and take it by moving it toward your throat while it slowly dissolves.

Putting the medicine straight into the back of your throat can make you choke, so let it dissolve slowly on your tongue.

You must take it without water, and leave an interval of at least 2 hours between doses.

Children should take it under the guidance and supervision of a guardian. If you split one packet into portions, fold over the mouth of the packet to store the rest and take it within 2 days. If symptoms don’t improve after 5-6 days of use, stop taking it and consult a doctor or pharmacist.

Ryukakusan Direct Mango R | efficacy, dosage

Ryukakusan Direct Mango R (龍角散ダイレクトトローチ マンゴーR) is a Class 3 OTC drug that you take by letting it dissolve slowly in the mouth without chewing.

It’s a mango-flavored product blended with fine crude-drug powder, and its mango scent and cooling sensation last a long time. One box contains 20 tablets.

※ Actual selling prices may vary by store.

✅ Ryukakusan Direct Mango R efficacy

The efficacy of Ryukakusan Direct Troche is relief of cough and phlegm, and of hoarseness, throat roughness, throat discomfort, throat pain, and throat swelling caused by throat inflammation.

Unlike the Direct Stick, its official efficacy includes throat pain and throat swelling.

✅ Ryukakusan Direct Mango R ingredients

The active ingredients are four crude drugs: platycodon, apricot kernel, senega, and licorice. It uses the same four crude drugs as the original Ryukakusan powder as active ingredients, and does not contain the ginseng and gambir found in the Direct Stick.

✅ How to take Ryukakusan Direct Mango R

Put one Mango R tablet in your mouth and take it by letting it dissolve slowly without chewing or swallowing. Leave an interval of at least 2 hours between doses. Children should take it under the guidance and supervision of a guardian.

Ryukakusan candy types & prices | Nodo Sukkiri candy lineup

The Ryukakusan Nodo Sukkiri candy (龍角散ののどすっきり飴) series is a signature throat candy blended with Ryukakusan herb powder and herb extracts. Ryukakusan candy is a food, not a medicine, so you can buy it at supermarkets and convenience stores too.

※ Based on the manufacturer's suggested retail price; actual selling prices may vary by store.

✅ Ryukakusan candy is not a medicine

The Nodo Sukkiri candy series is a food, not a medicine.

It’s a throat candy blending herb powder that Ryukakusan makes using whole herbs with a special process, and carefully selected herb extracts.

The herb extract contains 19 kinds of herbs, including peppermint, chamomile, licorice, thyme, sage, eucalyptus, and platycodon, and the herb powder raw material uses quince and chamomile.

Ryukakusan tablet types | standard, honey lemon, platycodon, lychee mint

Ryukakusan Nodo Sukkiri tablets (龍角散ののどすっきりタブレット) are grain-shaped candies smaller than the candy.

They’re a sugar-free product containing xylitol, blended with Ryukakusan herb powder. The small size makes them easy to talk with in your mouth and easy to carry.

The current official Japanese lineup has four types: standard, honey lemon flavor, platycodon tablet matcha herb flavor, and lychee mint flavor.

✅ Ryukakusan tablets are not a medicine

Like the candy, the Nodo Sukkiri tablet series is a food, not a medicine.

Ryukakusan tablets were developed from feedback from consumers who crush up the throat candy because they don’t have time to eat it. They’re smaller than the candy, made so you can easily eat them on the go or during work.

All four types, including the standard one, are sugar-free foods, and they’re also sold at convenience stores, drugstores, and supermarkets.

Frequently asked questions

Q1. Are Japanese Ryukakusan and Korean Yonggaksan the same product?

They aren’t the same product. Korean Yonggaksan isn’t a brand unrelated to Japan’s Ryukakusan, though. Boryeong signed a technical partnership agreement with Japan’s Ryukakusan in 1966, and launched Yonggaksan in Korea in 1967.

Boryeong currently sells Yonggaksan and the granule-type Yonggaksan Cool. Yonggaksan Cool is a granule product that adds ginseng, gambir, and noscapine to the platycodon, senega, apricot kernel, and licorice ingredients of the existing Yonggaksan.

Q2. Are Ryukakusan candy and tablets medicines?

No. The Ryukakusan Nodo Sukkiri candy and tablet series are foods, not medicines, and you can buy them at convenience stores, drugstores, supermarkets, and so on.

Q3. Where can I buy Ryukakusan in Tokyo?

The original Ryukakusan powder and Direct are Class 3 OTC drugs, so you can buy them at Japanese pharmacies and drugstores. At Don Quijote, look in the medicine corner.

Q4. Can I buy Ryukakusan tax-free?

Travelers eligible for tax-free need to spend ¥5,000 or more (pre-tax) on the same day at the same store where tax-free is available. Under the current system, consumables such as foods and medicines also have a pre-tax cap of ¥500,000.

From November 1, 2026, Japan’s tax-free system changes to a refund method, and the ¥500,000 purchase cap on consumables will be abolished.

Q5. Are there any side effects with Ryukakusan?

The official Ryukakusan instructions advise that if rash, redness, or itching; nausea or vomiting; loss of appetite; dizziness, or the like appear, stop taking it and consult a doctor or pharmacist. Also, if symptoms don’t improve after 5-6 days of use, stop taking it and consult a doctor or pharmacist.

Ryukakusan is Japan’s representative throat medicine, with over 200 years of history. If you’re buying Ryukakusan on a trip to Japan, check the types, prices, and differences in how to take the original powder, Direct stick, candy, and tablets, and choose the product you need.

If you want to buy tax-free, be sure to bring your passport.

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