Japanese peppertree, Zanthoxylum piperitum
The seeds are used cooked. It is ground into a powder and used as a condiment, a pepper substitute, the fruit can also be used.
It is often heated in order to bring out its full flavour and can be mixed with salt for use as a table condiment.
The ground and dry-roasted fruit is an ingredient of the Chinese 'five spice powder'.
The bark and leaves are used as a spice.
Young leaves are edible raw or cooked. They are used in soups or as a flavouring in salads.
The fruit is used in Korea in the treatment of tuberculosis, dyspepsia and internal parasites.
The resin contained in the bark, and especially in that of the roots, is powerfully stimulant and tonic.
Other Zanthoxylum varities, like the Nepal and Chinese peppertree, can be used as well.