Prefers a humus-rich well-drained soil in full sun. Tolerates poor soils and atmospheric pollution. Requires shelter from cold north and east winds. Plants are hardy to between -10 and -15°c.

Young leaves - cooked. A famine food, it is only used in times of scarcity.

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in the autumn in a cold frame or greenhouse. Sow stored seed in late winter in a cold frame. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame. Root cuttings in late winter in a greenhouse. Division of suckers in the dormant season.

Common in hills and mountains all over Japan.