Part 1 Medical History and Biography. General Works. Anatomy. Physiology and Pharmacology
Part 1 Medical History and Biography. General Works. Anatomy. Physiology and Pharmacology
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GORDON E. MESTLER
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GORDON E. MESTLER
(a book of strange diseases), but this is believed to be equivalent to the Yamaino soshi of JAKUREN and KASUGA, a collection which appeared in the 12th
or 13th century.
In 1933 FUJIKAWA published his Xihon igakushi koyo, which is a summary
or abstract of Japanese medical history from ancient times to the end of the
Edo period (1867), arranged chronologically by periods, and including a
chapter on the history of specific diseases in Japan. This book, containing information not in the original 1904 edition of Nikon igakushi, was also a sort of
supplement to that larger work. Nihon igakushi koyo was republished, without
enlargement, in 1941 but printed on very poor paper-one of the "literary"
effects of the war. The illustrations are mostly portraits, but also include
specimens of the calligraphy of famous Japanese physicians, with views of the
tombs of some of them; plates reproduced from Japanese translations of certain
foreign (i.e., \Vestern) medical works; and a picture of wooden models of the
skull and bones of the foot, used for teaching. Reference is made to the famous
and exceedingly rare work Seyakuini (kai)nanlai z5zzt, composed by Kanzen
MIKUMO in 1798, and one of its remarkable colored plates, showing the
thoracic viscera in situ, is reproduced. The traditional association of religion
and the care of the sick is shown by the "atlas" of a Buddhist temple, one
humanistic implications.
Interestingly enough, there is a small paper-book series in Japan, like our
"pocket-book" variety, and in 1937 appeared a title Sekai igaku shi by FUJIKAWVA, with the help of Kaneyoshi AKAMATSU, which is a brief summary
of world medical history. This little survey was republished in 1947; it has no
illustrations.
It is (or was) the custom in Japan for an author to present manuscript copies
of his work to the National Library in Tokyo (which is comparable to our
Library of Congress). In 1929 three such manuscripts were given to the National
Library and in 1935 these were published together as Furo by Kakutaro
NAKAGIRI, Isha no fuizoku by FUJIKAWVA, and Teien to futzoku by Mat-
291
characters).
FUJIKAWA was editor-in-chief of Kyorin sosho, a work in five volumes,
published in 1922. The associate editors were Kenzabur6 OGAWA, Mitsunori
KARASAWA, and Shiro AMAKO. It will be informative to describe the
contents of this work as abstracts from old Japanese medical books, and to give
some details. Volume 1 contains abstracts from the following eight books:
Honch6 idan (1822)-talks on Japanese medicine-and HonchJ idan nihen
(1830), each by Tsunenori NASU. These books mention seaweed as useful in the
treatment of cystic swellings of the body, a medicine for a child which is
"good" for erysipelas (tandoku), and congenital syphilis (taidoku). Pictures are
shown of a typical physician with his assistant, and of a typical pharmacist of
the period; also shown is a Japanese physician of five centuries ago, carrying a
balance, because "to be very accurate in dosing drugs is most important."
There is a sketch of a venerated statue of Sanki TASHIRO (1465-1537), one
of the best and most famous of the early Japanese physicians, together with a
diagrammatic representation of his medical "theory." According to this theory,
the condition of the urine and stools are very important indicators of human
health: ". . . if the blood becomes cold the person will have diarrhoea, and if
hot the stools become black; if the blood does not circulate constipation results,
if it circulates well the stool is normal; if the air is cold the urine output is increased, if air is hot the urine is red; if air in the body does not circulate the
urine does not go out, if it does circulate well the urine will be normal." The
other old books referred to in Volume 1 of Kyorin sosho are: Honch6 ika kosekiko (1815) by Shutei NAKAGAWA; Yamai-no soshi (12th-13th cent.) written
by a priest JAKUREN, with paintings or drawings by Mitsunaga KASUGA
(a Japanese artist of the Kamakura period); Shinsen yamat-no soshi (1850)
drawn by Ippo FUKUZAKI; Keiei yawa (1810) by Gempaku SUGITA (17331817); Idan-sho (ca. 13th cent.) by Tomotoshi KOREMUNE; and Rangaku
teikW (1816) by Gentaku OTSUKI (1757-1827). Volumes 2, 3 and 4 also contain abstracts from old Japanese medical books, the sources of which are unknown. Volume 5 of Kyorin sosho comprises a collection of essays originally
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GORDON E. MESTLER
written by Nankei TACHIBANA (died 1805), Julsei HIRANO, and Shinkatsu or Ranken IZAWA (1777-1829). The essays, stories, and anecdotes by
TACHIBANA are especially interesting, giving the gossip of physicians; on
preventive hygiene against "colds" contracted around hot springs (with notes
on bathing as a cure for disease); the romance of a physician-friend; a story of
shipwrecked Chinese fishermen; and a description of an actual case of a disease
of the legs causing swelling of one leg only (elephantiasis?). TACHIBANA
had apparently designed a musical instrument "like a pipe organ," and was
invited by Kogyua YOSHIO (1724-1800), a famous Japanese physician of the
period, to visit him in his "Western-style" room3 at his home in Nagasaki. An
autobiographical sketch by TACHIBANA states that he was very sick as a
boy, had asthma at 39 years of age, and gives a self-description of his own case
of a stomach disease (which was cured by going on a diet). The essays by
HIRANO are on various aspects of medical science. The essays written by
IZAWVA were never published before appearing in Kydrin sosho, and are on
anecdotes of physicians; on moxa and garlic (a mixture which is described as
a medication "good" for boils and for disease of the breast of women); on
whooping cough (noted as difficult to cure in children); on rice cakes (claimed
as "good" for curing nocturnal incontinence); on a description of the ancient
"disease-goblin;" and on Chinese medicines, with quotations from KO-TEI,4
the legendary Chinese physician-emperor, and from other early writers. In its
entirety, Ky6rin soisho presents a remarkable survey of the medical lore of
Japan in early and pre-Meiji periods.
The history of specific diseases as they have occurred in Japani was made the
subject of another book by FUJIKAWA in his Xikon shippei shi, a work in one
volume published in 1912 and apparently never reprinted. This book describes,
Such rooms, not too uncommon at the present time in the homes of the upper middle
class (or better) in Japan, were a comparative rarity in the early days and such an invitation
was a signal honor, especially from one so great as YOSHIO.
Japanese "reading" for HUANG TI (legendary (lates, 2698-2598 B.C.), to whom was
traditionally attributed the original writing of the ancient Chinese works known in Japan
as So-mon (the Chinese Sn-Wen) concerning philosophical, physiological, and anatomical
subjects, and Rei-sz (the Chinese Ling-Clz'n) a treatise on internal diseases and acupuncture.
These works were parts of the Chinese Nei Chling, reputedly the oldest medical hook in
existence. Parts of the Nei Ching have appeared in translation in the literature of the Western
world; see, for example, L6on Wieger: Histoire des croyances religielzses et des opinions phlilosoplziqzfes en Chine depuis l'origine, jntsqut'd ntos joutrs (Sienhsien: Hokienfu, 1917 and 1922),
a small part of which, in turn, was translated into English by Percy M. Daw son in his paper
entitled "Su-wen, the basis of Chinese medicine" (Ann. .1Med. list., s.1, 7: 59-64, 1925).
But the definitive work on that ancient Chinese medical classic is, of course, the recent translation by Dr. Ilza Veith of the first 34 chapters, which wNas publishedl as Huang Ti Nei Ching
Sn i'en, The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine (Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins,
1949). In the introduction to her translation Dr. Veith saYs: "As the basis of all subsequent
medical writing in China andl Japan, it [the Nei Chlingl affected the destinies of the peoples
in a large part of the oriental world for thousands of -ears."
293
and discusses from the medical viewpoint, diseases as mentioned in old Japanese books and classical writings. Described in Nihon shippei shi are epidemic
diseases (ekibyo), smallpox (toso),5 chicken-pox (suito or mizu-boso), measles
(mashin), German measles (fushin), cholera (korera), influenza (ryuakoseikambo), enteric or typhoid fever (cho-chibusu), and dysentery (sekiri). The
Japanese names for these diseases are shown in parentheses, in Romaji characters. For each of these diseases FUJIKAWA has given the name(s) as derived from old sources, the physical conditions of the disease, the chronology
of the disease, pathological considerations, methods of treatment, and references to the literature. Parallels are drawn with the history of these same
diseases in Western countries, particularly in Germany. The illustrations
emphasize the demonic origin of disease (Plate I C), methods to placate the
wrath of such demons (thereby diminishing the incidence and severity of the
disease), and hygienic measures for the household control of the disease and
comfort of the patient. Originally projected as a two-volume work, for some
unknown reason the second volume of Nihon shippei skli was never published
and it is now believed that FUJIKAWA did not even write it in manuscript
form.
A brief word about FUJIKAWA may be of interest. Although he always
signed all of his books with the prename "Yu," this is actually a pseudonym,
for his real given name was "Asobu." Born in 1865, coming from a long line of
physicians, he studied in Germany and graduated in medicine from Jena; he
was also a Doctor of Letters. FUJIKAWA'S lasting fame rests principally
upon his monumental history of medicine in Japan, the Nihon igakushi, described above. He died in 1940, and his brain is preserved in the collection of
brains of prominent savants in the MIuseum at the Tokyo University M\Jedical
School.
From the series of basic historical works by FUJIKAWA we continue on our
way with Ishigaku ronko by Tetsu IWAKUMA, first published in 1943 and
reprinted in 1946. This is a study in Japanese medical history, being largely a
comparison of medicine in Japan with that in Western countries. The contents
can be summarized as follows: how to study medical history and what can be
learned from such study; Japanese medical history after the death of FUJIKAWA; a comparison of famous Oriental and Occidental physicians; a comparative study between the Geka soden of Yeikyu or Chinzan NARABAYASHI
(1648-1711) and Ambrosie Pare's Chirurgie; a description of the first dissection
of the delightful items in this collection is a short diary in manuscript, written in
1848 by the father of a young child suffering from smallpox. During the first three days the
nature of the illness was unknown; then a diagnosis was made, and this diary is a day-by-day
account of the visits of the physician and of the medical treatment ordered by him, with
memoranda of medicines. Visits and presents from the patient's many young friends were also
carefully noted.
5 One
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GORDON E. MESTLER
done by a Western person in Japan;6 and the history of special medical treatments: bloodletting, use of the stomach tube, inhalation techniques, etc.
We proceed to a brief consideration of other histories of medicine in Japan,
and of certain Japanese-written histories of Western (i.e., European) medical
science. Nara jidai igaku no kenkyui by Toshiyo HATTORI, published in 1945,
is a study of medical science in the Nara period (710-784 A.D.) and describes
the beginnings of medicine in Japan. The early religious influences are represented by portraits,and writings of GANSHIN (died 763 A.D.), RYOBEN,
and DOKYO (ca. 762 A.D.), each of whom was a famous priest, and by lists of
many kinds of medicines derived from Buddhist writings. Important early
historical references are to two Chinese works known in Japan as Shinshui
honzo (ca. 731 A.D.) and Honzi komoku (n.d.), each by unknown writers, and
each on medicinal plants and minerals.
Historical narratives on the interval between "pure" Japanese medicine and
Japanese knowledge of and attitudes toward Western medicine are to be found
in two recent books. One of these is Seiigaku to3zanshiwa by Fujihiko SEKIBA,
published in 1933, a two-volume work which is a series of historical tales telling
how the Western medical science came to the East. Illustrative material consists mostly of portraits, but also includes other biographical information of
Japanese physicians, as, for example, specimen handwriting of Seien or Genzui
KOISHI (1784-1849) giving his philosophy about medical science. Some
allusion is made to medical "truants" in Japan, and there are pictures of early
operative procedures, and of special instruments for the surgical treatment of
wounds. Reference is made to the Geka shinmeishu of Soan INOUE, a book
on general surgery published in 1610.
The other recent book is Seiy&-izyutsu denrai-shi, on the history of the introduction of Western medicine into Japan, first published in 1942 with a third
edition in 1944. The author of this work, Jyfujiro KOGA, is not a physician but
is a noted Japanese historian, born at Nagasaki in 1878. He was honored by
Holland in 1920 and given the title of "Ridder in de Orde van Oranje-Nassau."
This book is an excellent summary, giving the early and the later history of this
subject from the voyages of the first Europeans visiting Japan7 to an account of
George Bruce Newton, an English naval surgeon who advised the Japanese
government in 1868 to establish a hospital at Yokohama for the treatment of
syphilis and who died at Nagasaki in 1871. KOGA gives great prominence to the
influence of the Dutch and describes the work in Japan of the following Western
physicians: Arnold Dirckz, Daniel van Vliet, Constantin Ranst, William ten
Rhyne, Engelbert Kamper (or Kampfer), Carl Peter Thunberg, Jan Cock
Blomhoff, Pompe van Meerdervoort, A. J. C. Geerts, C. G. van Manvelt, and
6 This dissection was performed on June 9, 1859, by the Dutch anatomist, Pompe van
Meerdervoort, upon the body of an executed criminal. The place was Nagasaki.
7The Portuguese in 1543; later the Dutch in 1549.
295
A. F. Bauduin. (It is, perhaps, significant of our comparatively meager knowledge of medicine in Japan that the work of these men was completely overlooked by Garrison, and that there are only a few scattered references of a
minor nature to Japanese medicine in his otherwise exhaustive chronology of
world medicine and public hygiene.) Ambroise Pare's Chirurgie made a tremendous impression upon the Japanese and a copy of that classic French work
(in Dutch translation) was owned by NARABAYASHI who translated parts of
it in his Geka soden. A picture of the copy of the Pare used by NARABAYASHI
is one of the interesting illustrations in this history of European influences in
the development of Japanese medicine. In olden time almost all Japanese
physicians had "secret" treatments or medicines which they did not want other
people to have. One such secret treatment used by the YOSHIO family in
1783 is reproduced in the form of handwriting, described as "a kind of 'bibliography' of works on how to bandage, how to cure wounds, how to treat diseases
of the skin, and how to join broken bones." Another interesting illustration
depicts an anatomical model of a longitudinal section, in the coronal plane, of
the entire human body. This three-dimensional model was made of paper, and
used for teaching at a medical school in Nagasaki. It should be remembered by
the reader that it was at Nagasaki that the influence of Dutch medicine was
first felt in Japan.
The widespread interest of the Japanese in medicine and science outside of
their own country can, perhaps, best be introduced by reference to Sekai
igakushi, written by Mo TOMINAGA and published in 1928. This is a history
of world medical science, exclusive of Japan, arranged according to a chronobiographical scheme, with many small portrait illustrations of the great names
in world medicine. Of special interest are chronological tables showing the
parallel or simultaneous historical developments in medicine, in science, and
in society and politics (including art, literature, etc.). This book has an extremely good alphabetical index of all names (printed in English), with subject
titles in a separate index (printed in Japanese, except for terms for which
there are no equivalent Japanese characters).
Seishua or Masanaga OGAWA (born 1874), a Japanese physician who has
travelled and studied bacteriology in Germany, France, and Italy, and who
was until 1925 a professor in the Kyushu Medical University, has written two
books on the history of medicine in the Western world. One of these histories,
published in 1931, is entitled Taisei igakushi: Kodai chfsei hen and covers
the ancient and medieval periods. Of special interest are comments on anatomy
and pharmacology as found in the Iliad and the Odyssey of Homer; on artistic
representation of medical subjects, especially the paintings of Adriaen Brouwer;
and an illustration of a zodiacal chart showing the seasons and time of the
year (literally, from Japanese interpretation, "the twelve policies") and their
relationships to parts of the human body used for acupuncture, with an outline
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GORDON E.
MIESTLER
figure of the sites for acupuncture. This illustration was reproduced from a
15th century book in the Paris National Library, probably the Fasciculus
medicinae (1493) of Johannes de Ketham.
The other book by OGAWA is entitled Seiyo igakutshi, and was published
in 1943. Although essentially a reprinting of his Taisei igakushi.. . much new
material in both text and illustrations was added so that, for the Japanese
reader, Seiy5 igakushi brings European medical history to the beginning of the
20th century. There is also some comment on medical history in America.
The Western medical texts which seem to have made the greatest impression
on the Japanese historical mind are the De Humanii Corporis Fabrical of
Andreas Vesalius, the Chirurgie of Ambroise Pare, and the Elementta Physiologicae Corporis Humanii of Albrecht von Haller. The characteristic regard of
the Japanese for ancestor worship and the veneration of the spirit of the deceased is reflected in excellent illustrations of the tombs of three European
scientists-those of Paracelsus, van Leeuwenhoek, and Boerhaave. Neither
Taisei igakushi ... nor Seiyo igakushi contain any accounts of Japanese
medicine or of the influence of XVestern medicine on the development of medical
science in Japan.
To acquaint the Japanese reader with the history of medicine in the XVestern
world further, Charles Singer's book A Short History of Medicine (1928) was
translated into Japanese by Yoshihito SHINOTOH and Doji MUKASAKA
and published in 1930 as Daiseibutsugakusha to seibutsugakut.
According to FUJIKAWA, the first work on the history of medicine in
Japan was the Honchl iko of Doyfi KUROKAWA, published in 1663, and
there appears to have been a hiatus in medico-historical writings in Japan
from that time until the latter part of the 19th century. In 1884 at Tokyo,
Kashiro KAKU published a medical history of Japan with the title Kokoku
iji yentkaku shoshi.9 Incomplete citations have also been given by Whitney to
the following Japanese writings on the history of medicine in the island empire: an unpublished (?) manuscript entitled Dai nithon idd enkaku-k5 by
Zensetsu KOCHI or KAWACHI; Nih/on ijutsu eiikaku-kJ (on changes in Japa8 It is probable that the Japanese had no direct knowledge of Vesalius' w-ork, since the engravings of the Kaitai shzinsho were based, in part, upon the work of the Spanish anatomist,
Juan Valverde, who copied parts of Vesalius' De Fabrica. . ., later appearing in the Dutch
language as A Vesatti en Valuerda anatomie, ofte afbeeldinghle zan de deelen des rnenschlelychlen
lichaiems, en derselver verklaringhe (Amsterdam: Cornelis Danckertz, 1647), a copy of which
is known to have been used in Japan.
9 This work was one of the bases for the long paper entitled "Notes on the history of medical
progress in Japan" (Trans. Asiatic Soc. of Japan, 12: 245-469, 1885) written by, Willis Norton
Whitney, a physician and interpreter attached to the U. S. Legation in Tokyo. This paper
offers a wealth of information and, for the non-Japanese reader, is a "must" for any thorough
understanding of the history of medicine in Japan. The check-lists of Japanese (and Chinese)
medical books and of names of physicians appended to that paper are particularly complete.
297
PLATE I. A. Title page of original edition of the Ni/hon igakushi (1904). B. "Customs"
of early Japanese physicians. Upper: A physician making medicines, and one taking the
pulse. Lower: A physician examining a wound, and another taking the pulse. C. Eki-ki, the
"demon of illness," attacking a household. D. Title leaf of original edition of the Kokushi
igensho (1834-35).
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GORDON E. MIESTLER
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GORDON E. MESTLER
gathered together from museum collections and from private sources. By this
time the reader should be aware that the predilection of the Japanese-especially the early scholars-for using pseudonyms, aliases, and pen names often
makes accurate identification difficult. Even recourse to years of birth and
death is not without its problems, too, because the conversion from Japanese
periods or eras to the Western calendar is not always an exact process. Translations ("readings") of names, especially the prenames, are also fraught with
many serious differences in spellings. Genealogical complications arise, too,
from the habit of adopting professional assistants (or, as the Japanese say,
he "entered into . . ."). This was especially prevalent in the early days, where
often the given name of the family head was assumed by the adoptee. FUJINAMI emphasizes the importance of authenticated portraits, such as are
in this work, to help overcome the difficulty imposed by differences in Japanese
"reading" of proper names, and comparison with the portraits in other authoritative writings leaves little doubt as to "who was who." Ika senltetsu sliiOz sIna
is a unique modern source book on the great names in Japanese medicinethe TAMBAS, the MANASES, the YAMAWAKIS, the KAGAWAS and
other familial dynasties, together with a brilliant array of individual physicians,
all influential in the historical development of medicine in Japan.
FUJINAMI did not refer to any pre-existing Japanese writings on medical
biography, but it is known that Sahaku or Koretsune ASADA (1813-1894),
himself a noted physician, compiled a six-volume biographical dictionary of
famous Japanese physicians. This work was published with the title KJkokzl
mneiident (n.d.).
Although by no means exclusively medical, reference should be made to the
most important Japanese biographical source book in current use: Shinisent dai
jimmei jitent (1937), commonly referred to as "HEIBONSHA'S Biographical
Dictionary." The title means, literally, "new selected big persons name
dictionary," and is in eight volumes. Volumes 1 though 6 are of famous Japanese, Chinese, and Korean persons; volumes 7 and 8 are of famous foreign
persons.
Dasan MANASE (1507-1595), perhaps the most famous of the early Japanese physicians, and prolific writer in the entire field of medicine15 as then
practiced in Japan, was the reputed author of the only known early study on
the diseases of famous persons, a two-volume work entitled I gaku tenshoki (n.d.).
The "medicine of history" is one of the more intriguing aspects in the cultural
study of medicine, and one with rather wide implications. It was entirely blocked
15 Author of the Keiteki-slia, a handbook of practical medicine in eight volumes, written
between 1571 and 1574 and based upon pre-existing Chinese texts. FUJIKAWA referred to
this work as the most comprehensive, if not the most important, medical writing produced
in Japan up to that time.
301
out, from the bibliographical point of view, by my close friend the late Dr.
Judson Bennett Gilbert of Schenectady, New York, whose work was left
unpublished at the time of his premature death in 1950. But, as it is to most
Americans, the Japanese medical literature was unknown to him. Attention
should be called, therefore, to any Oriental contributions to the medical
biography of the great men (and women) of history. Such a recent contribution
is Van Gogh 1lo shogai to seishinbyo-English title: "Vincent Van Gogh, His
Life and Psychosis"-by Ryruzaburo SHIKIBA,16 a two-volume work of
tremendous proportions published at Tokyo in 1932. Of a total of 1468 pages
of text and illustrations, over 100 pages are strictly medical (psychiatric) and
justifies the inclusion of this study in the present paper. But, especially in the
"case" of Van Gogh, it is absurd to dissociate his artistic and literary activities
from his mental imbalance, and this work by SHIKIBA also presents a complete biography, a review of letters, a summary of the works of Van Gogh with
notes on exhibitions, and ends up with a rather comprehensive bibliography
of Van Gogh covering published material in all languages. The illustrations
seem to be well-chosen, and of particular interest is a group of reproductions
of all of the known self-portraits of Van Gogh. Included in this work is a short
medical note on Van Gogh, written by Shigeyoshi or Mokichi SAITO) (died
1953), a famous Japanese physician and poet. Van Gogh no shogai to seishinbyo
is unquestionably one of the most important medical studies of that Dutch
painter, etcher, and lithographer to appear in recent years, and the fact that
it is of Japanese origin has evidently obscured it from our view. Printed in a
limited edition, the set in the writer's library is one of three copies reputed to
be in America (and the only one definitely known by the author to be in this
country).
Of bibliographical importance as a reference work is Saishin nippon-rekishirekishi-nenpyJ, compiled by K. OMORI and S. TAKAHASHI (published
1945, passim). This is the standard book used to convert dates from Japanese
periods or eras to the Western calendar.
Although this paper is concerned with Japanese medical books, it soon becomes obvious that one cannot entirely divorce the medicine of Japan from
that of China, and I should probably be remiss in my obligation to medical
librarians generally-and particularly to those who are my personal friendsif I neglected to call attention to an eight-volume work by Yasunaga or Rekiso
TAKI (1755-1810) entitled Isekiko, or, sometimes, Iseki nenpiyo (n.d., but
16 The author of this work is one of Japan's foremost living psychiatrists, an essayist and
short-story writer, and is probably the world's leading authority on Van Gogh. My owvn
meeting with Dr. SHIKIBA at his home and hospital in the middle of a pine and bamboo
forest in Ichikawa, Chiba-ken Prefecture, early one rainy morning, was one of the memorable
"adventures" in my book-hunting experiences in Japan.
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GORDON E. MESTLER
303
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GORDONT E. MESTLER
piled at the specific command of the shogun, Iyeharu, before his death in
1786 for the promulgation of medical knowledge among the common people,
describing how to remedy maladies of various kinds without the help of a
physician.2' Of interest in this general medical "handbook" is an illustration of
the most famous of all moxa spots, called "sanri," with detailed directions
telling how to "know" it. Sanri is a superficial spot on the antero-lateral aspect
of the (left) leg, three "leagues" (or Japanese inches = sun = 3.3 cm.) inferior
to the depression formed by the condyles of the femur and tibia anid the border
of the patellar ligament. It is not known why, among the literally hundreds of
sites for moxibustion, this one should be the most famous, and the reason is
probably buried in the traditions of historical usage. The only thing we can say
now is that moxa was applied at the spot "to run fast." As is to be expected in
a work of this nature, the remedies were based upon the adaptive use of things
commonly found in the early Japanese home; and for medicines to be compounded from ordinary flowers, plants, or trees, and from animals, including
birds, molluscs, and fish. Because it was intended for use by the common people,
Ko kei saikyiihi was written in easy Japanese "reading."2"
Somewhat similar in nature is a work entitled Byoka sutchi, by Kakukei or
Shigesata HIRANO, published in eight volumes from 1832 to 1834. Volumes
1 and 2, subtitled Kokoroegusa, are on general hygiene,23 on the medicinal uses
of foods, and on the practical use of massage. There is a description of a home
pharmacopoeia, and there are illustrations of nursing care. Warnings are made
against superstitions in medicine. Volumes 3 and 4 have the same subtitle
and are not dated exactly, but must have appeared about 1833. They are on
obstetrics and gynecology, with a section on the care of babies. Volumes 5
and 6 are subtitled Kotobukigusa, and were published in 1834. They give
practical knowledge about sickness in the home, to be read by either the
patient or his family. VolumeS opens with a short history of syphilis (baidoku),
followed by a description of the physical condition (pathology?) of this disease
21
It
should
be pointed out that in olden times in Japan the profession of medicine was
hereditary, and at the time of the publication of KO kei saikyuXho there were not manx- physicians in the land.
22 In this work w-ill be found the original illustration showing how to save the drowned
reproducedl as Fig. 40 on p. 109 in Castiglioni's History of Medicine (New York, Knopf, 1947. 2d
ed.).
23 FUJIKAWA credits Hiroizumi MIONONOBE (785-860 A.D.) with composing the first
Japanese work on hygiene, Setsuyo-yAiketst (n.d.), and states that the original writing was lost.
PLATE II. A. First leaf of the Sl/impukuji text of Kojiki (1266, copied 1368-71). B. Diagrammatic representation of the "system" of the Hac/li ju-iclii nan-kyo, from Nan-kyd hon-gi
(1633). C. A typical leaf of the Rangaki. kaitei (1783), with Japanese ideographs interspersed
with the kana syllabarv. D. Anatomical diagram of Chinese origin, showing internal organs,
from Ido nichiivj k5nokiku (1709).
PLATE II
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306
GORDON E. MESTLER
in the patient and general knowledge concerning it. Other subjects conisidered in
Kolobukigusa are: tinea or ringworm (tamushi), influenza and fever, beri-beri
(kakke), fainting and dizziness (memai), madness (kichigai), intestinal
worms (sanada mushi), seasickness, burns and scalds, dog bites, snake bites,
rat bites, and on cuts, bruises, and wounds, with illustrations on how to make
-and apply bandages.24 In our modern times of super-specialization it is worth
noting that in those days in Japan whenever joint dislocations occurred the
patient was advised to call, not a physician but a "hone-tsugi" (a bone setter).
Volumes 7 and 8 of Byoka suchi, which are subtitled Zaba hikken, will be
described in Part II of this paper in the section on early Japanese obstetrical
books.
In 1839 an English physician named Benjamin Hobson went to China where
he spent twenty years in study and practice. He learned to read Chinese, and
found that the Chinese medical books of that time were not correct so he
tried to 'make them right." While in China he made friends with a Chinese
physician, CHIN Shui-do, and together they helped each other make paper
anatomical models and collect European medical books. One result of this
sojourn of Hobson's in China was his writing, in 1851, directly in the Chinese
language, of a treatise on human physiology, with notes collected from various
physiological books (chiefly English printings). This was a work which CHIN
under the pseudonym of "Nankai," later translated into Japanese and published in Japan in 1857 as the Zentai shinron, in two volumes. This title literally
means 'a nlew theory of the whole body," and is a peculiar mixture of human
and comparative anatomy, with many detailed drawings of the skeletal system,
muscles, arteries, veins, nerves, viscera, and the organs of special sense with
their physiological rationale described in text. Of particular interest are illustrations of microscopic sections of skin, showing hair follicles, sweat glands,
and sebaceous glands. Drawings of the vascular tree clearly show the influence
of European knowledge. An intriguing illustration is a picture of "heroic
wrestlers," showing the functional "play" of the superficial muscles of the
body in action-an illustration which foreshadows this technique as a teaching
medium by the use of similar poses (with photographs) in standard present-day
anatomical texts.25 Zentai shinron, as the Japanese translation of Hobson's
writing on anatomy, physiology, medicine, surgery, gynecology, and pediatrics,
24 In olden times when the
Samurai committed hara-kiri (more correctly "seppuku," as
the classical term for suicide by cutting the belly) he did not always kill himself, and of special
interest are instructions of what to do if he was found still alive and an illustration showing
how his wound should be bandaged.
26 For example, in Cunningham's Text-book of Anatomy (N. Y., Oxford, 1953), in books like
R. D. Lockhart's Living Anatomy (N. Y., Oxford, 1952), and in recent publications in the field
of art and anatomy. For the Japanese reader, this subject has been fully elaborated by the
work of Akihiko TSURUMARU entitled GeiyJ kaibo zu-shuI, published in 1950.
307
308
GORDON E. MESTLER
309
wood-blocks to compose the printed leaf, and are not all cut into one large
flat wood-block as was the customary practice.
Of unusual interest is a one-volume work entitled Ido-choho-ki or, more
correctly, Ido nichiyo3 komoku, which is a Japanese printing of what was probably
originally a Chinese medical text by an unknown author. The editor was
Masatoyo HONGO, and the original Japanese edition was dated 1709, with an
enlarged edition published in 1780, and a later one in 1818. This book was
evidently a popular one. It is a description of the everyday use of medical
treatment, for medicine and surgery in general. The unique interest for us is
that Ido nichiyo komoku was "a book for a person who is going to be a physician," apparently an early textbook designed particularly for the use of
medical students. There are chapters on obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics,
massage, pharmacology (giving prescriptions), moxibustion, and acupuncture.
A very important illustration in this book is a diagram showing the internal
organs (Plate II D) as divided or classified into the five Zo (spleen, heart, liver,
lungs, kidneys) and the six Fu (colon or large intestine, small intestine, gall
bladder, urinary bladder, stomach, abdominal cavity3"). Since the original
1709 edition of this work is pretty much a direct copy from an early Chinese
text, the archaic forms of the viscera are not surprising, but their persistence
in the later editions-after the time when dissection of the human body had
so materially changed the Japanese knowledge of human anatomy-can only
reflect the lag which must have prevailed in Japan between the learning (or
"discovery") of new ideas and their general acceptance.
ANATOMY
It is well-known that the vague, almost mythical, anatomical concepts of
early Chinese medicine also prevailed in Japan for many centuries. Indeed,
there were no anatomies, as such, produced in Japan until the latter part of the
18th century. Although but few of the anatomical works then written were
based upon original investigation, they were, nevertheless, very important
factors in the gradual transition of Japanese medicine from the ancient traditional beliefs of the Chinese through the European influences to the emergence
of Japan as a modern nation with respect to medical knowledge and practice,
with not a few significant contributions to medical science to its credit.
Separate Japanese publications on the history of anatomy in Japan are
probably very few.32 I know of only one, entitled Edo-jidai no seirigaku (A short
history of the anatomy and physiology of Japan in the Edo period), written
31 Abdominal cavity = sho = various parts, and, in the sense used in this old book, consists
of the region below the heart and above the stomach, the region around the stomach, and the
region above the urinary bladder.
-1 Briefly outlined, however, in its general features by Gakutaro OSAWA in his paper entitled "Zur Geschichte der Anatomie in Japan" (Anat. Anz., 11: 489-504, 1896).
310
GORDON E. MESTLER
311
The famous Japanese interpreter for the Dutch, Ryoi MOTOKI (16281697), had copied Johi Remmelin's plates, a work which was later published
(posthumously) in 1772 with the title Oranda zenku naigai bungozut and depicted human anatomy on separate plates. It was, however, not considered
particularly important in Japan. The anatomical work of Jean Palfyn, probably
his Heelkonstige ontleeding van's menschen lighaam ... (Leyden, 1718 or 1733),
was translated into Japanese in 1857 as Parfin kaibo zufu by Hosaku SAITO;
and a year later saw the posthumous publication of Kaitai soku, a textbook
of anatomy in eight volumes by Ryotei SHINGU (1787-1854), which was a
translation of Joseph Jakob von Plenck's work (unidentified) on anatomy,
surgery, gynecology, and pediatrics.
Baien MIURA (1723-1789), a noted Japanese physician and philosopher
who was interested in anatomy, wrote a book Zobutsu yotan published in 1781,
based (in part) upon original drawings of the skeletal system which had been
made in 17/41 by Toshuku NEGURO. NEGURO, an ophthalmologist and
artist (whose son was also a physician), had studied skeletons of two prisoners
executed by burning, but had restricted his drawings to the system of bones.34
Zobutsu yotan also included the work of Goritsu ASADA (1734-1799), a great
Japanese astronomer and anatomist, who had studied the anatomy of animals as
well as of man. Reference is made to a work by Riken NAKAI entitled Etu-so
rohitsu, published in 1773, and considered by my friend, Dr. OGAWA, as the
best book on anatomy before the Kaitai shinsho.
The most important single work among the Japanese (or Chinese) medical
books which form the collection being described in this paper is the famous
and now comparatively rare Kaitai shinsho composed by Gempaku SUGITA
(1733-1817), one of the most famous of Japanese physicians (Plate III A),
a work first published in 1774. This classis work35 was a milestone in the history
of medicine, and particularly of anatomy, in Japan, marking as it did the
transition from the traditional Chinese medical teachings to the period when
medical knowledge (anatomy) was to be based strictly upon human dissection
and when anatomical inferences were to be confirmed "in the flesh," so to speak.
Kaitai shinsho was the first Japanese translation (Plate III B) of a Western
anatomical work, and was based principally upon the Tabulae anatomicae (Amsterdam, 1731) of Johan Adam Kulmus (or Kulm). On the threshold of a most
fertile and productive period in Japanese medical writing, the Kaitai shinsho
launched a long series of anatomical works, some of which have already been
referred to above. Others will be described as we go along, and the reader
34 These drawings have been reproduced from the original in a commentary entitled "Miura
Baien no 'Zobutsu yotan' nitsuite," written by Teizo OGAWA and published in the Nihon
Ishigaku Zasshi in 1942.
35 The publication of this work was also to cause an intellectual "renaissance" in Japan
in all other fields, as well as in medicine.
312
GORDON E. MESTLER
PLATE III
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GORDON E. MESTLER
315
Kailai shinsho; and additional figures were included, probably taken from Kulmus' Onltleedkutndige tafelen... (Amsterdam, 1734). There is a noteworthy similarity between two of the skeletal plates in this atlas and certain of the traditional Vesalian figures in the First Book of the De Humanii Corporus Fabrica (in
Dutch translation, as remarked in footnote 8).
In 1805's Genshin or Shinsai UDAGAWA (1769-1834) published his Ihan
teiko, which was a manual of anatomy in three volumes of text (Plate IV A),
based on the works of Stephanus Blankaart (more correctly, Stephen Blancard), Jean Palfyn (or Palfin), and Jakob Benigus Winslow. Interestingly
enough, Ihan teiko also includes lecture notes by a pupil of UDAGAWA,
named Toshi or Shun SUWA. The sequence of anatomical structures elaborated
in this text is as follows: brain, nerve, thoracic and abdominal viscera, arteries
and veins, intestines, the mesentery (described as a "double film"), lymphatic
vessels, urogenital system, peritoneum, retina of the eye, blood, skin, subcutaneous tissue and fat, muscles, ligaments, bone, and cartilage. There is
also a description of the physiology of digestion. Reference was made to a
mysterious liquid, called reiki (literally, "spirit water"), in connection with
the function of the nerves; the belief being that this produced the clear liquids
also found in the gall bladder, the pancreas, sweat glands, and in the composition of saliva, tears, etc., and was identified also with blood serum and lymph.40
Containing no illustrations, the text has an advertisement at the end which states
that an atlas for Ihan teik5 will be issued later. This was done, and in 1808
appeared the remarkable atlas with the sub-title NaishJ dohan-zu containing,
so the postscript by Kincho or Ryuikei SUGITA states, the first copper-plate
engravings ever made in Japan for such a subject. The engravings4' were done
by Denzen AODO, the most famous Japanese engraver in the Edo period,
and were reputed to have been copied so carefully that if they are compared
with the original Dutch engravings no differences can be detected. The title
leaf, bearing a medallion portrait of Stephen Blancard above a scene showing
him dissecting (Plate IV B), was done by one of AODO'S pupils, named
Reikya ARAI. The sequence of engraved plates is as follows: brain, in situ
and removed; spinal cord and system of nerves; tracheal, bronchial tree and
lungs; heart and great vessels; vascular system; opening of the anterior abdominal wall to the greater omentum, showing the successive layers of skin,
subcutaneous tissue, muscle and fascial coats, and peritoneum; dissection of
39 Sometimes given, probably erroneously, as the l1th year of Kansei (= 1799).
40 It should be remembered by the reader that in those days internal and external secretions
were confused with each other. But it is tempting to interpret the Japanese description of this
mechanism, however hazy, as a forerunner of our present-day concept of endocrine control,
exerted on a body-wide basis through glandular secretions.
41 The original engraved copper plates are now a National treasure of Japan, and are preserved in the National Museum in Ueno Park (T6kvo).
316
GORDON E. IESTLER
the MA. gastrocnemius to show the structure of its fibres; superficial muscles of the
anterior and posterior aspects of the body; and fetus and immature skeleton.
Each of the engraved plates is accompanied by an explanatory text on the
opposite leaf. A modern reprint edition of the anatomical atlas for Ihan teiko
was issued in Japan in 1945, but the facsimile plates were, of course, very
inferior to the original work. There are no titles or dates given for the original
Dutch works, but they were probably the De neiuw hervormde anatomie.
(Amsterdam, 1686) of Stephen Blancard; the Heelkonstige ontleeding van's
menschen lighaam. . (Leyden, 1718 or 1733) and/or the Waare en zeer
naauwkeurige beschrijving der beenderen van's menschen ligchaant ... (Amsterdam, 1758) of Jean Palfyn; and the Exposition anatomique de la structure du
corps humain, in Dutch translation (Amsterdam, 1752) of Jakob Benignus
Winslow.
In connection with the Ihan teiko, just described, it is interesting to note that
a Japanese translation in manuscript, entitled Blankaart naikeisho, of Blancard's anatomical work also came into my possession. This is a copy in a
precisely beautiful calligraphy, written about 1810 by an unknown personbut presumably a medical student.42 This Japanese translation of Blancard's
anatomical work was first offered to me in a quaint old bookshop on Morikawa
in Tokyo as having been originally written by someone named "Browncarrots,"
the only literally phonetic translation of the name which could be made from
the Japanese characters.
A Japanese treatise on anatomy and anatomical dissection in five volumes
was published in 1813 by Shoshui or Boku or Koki MITANI (1774-1823) with
the title Kaitai hatsumo. This was not the first original Japanese work on
dissection, since priority in that respect had been established by the appearance
in 1759 of the Zo-shi of Toyo YAMAWAKI. But that earlier work was short
and its illustrative material limited to a few crude drawings of the viscera.
Kaitai hatsumo appears, however, to be the first Japanese exposition on the
whole system of human anatomy, based upon original observation (including
dissection) and knowledge of other anatomical works. An inserted advertisement for this book is translated to read as follows: "This book is Kaitai hatsumo,
42 It was not an uncommon habit in those days for students w-ho were really interested in
their studies to copy thq books and manuscripts owned by their professors. For one thing
printed books were scarce in Japan, and students could not always afford to buy the few copies
that did exist.
PLATE IV. A. Title leaf of original edition of the text of the I/ian teiko (1805). B. Title leaf
for engraved copper-plate atlas of the Ihian teiko (1808). C. A representative anatomical diagram from original edition of the Kaitai hiatsum6 (1813), showing posterior-anterior view of
viscera. Note adrenal glands. D. Prescription for medicines, used in 759 A.D. Note official
signature (hanko) of the Emperor Junnin.
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318
GORDON E. MESTLER
on some new Dutch theories'3 and moreover some dissections of a real dead
body to make it sure. And it has become clear that the Dutch theories are
right and the traditional Japanese and Chinese theories which [have been]
with us for 3000 years [are] quite wrong." (Somehow one gets here the impression of a persistent reluctance to relinquish the traditional anatomical beliefs
in favor of the European knowledge which had come into Japan. After all,
the gross inaccuracies of the traditional teachings had been firmly established
by the work of Gempaku SUGITA and his friends in the previous century.)
Scattered throughout the text of Kaaitai hatsumo is a series of anatomical plates
printed in color. These drawings were very well executed, and illustrate the
following structures: thoracic and abdominal viscera, in situ (Plate IV C);
the lungs, with a careful dissection of the bronchial tree; the heart; the diaphragm; the spleen; the stomach; the liver and gall bladder; the kidneys,44
with their blood supply, and the ureters; the urogenital system, in male and
female, with the plexus of veins draining testes and ovaries; the uterus, with
Fallopian tubes and ovaries (the ovaries are shown as contained w-ithin the
uterine tubes); the urinary bladder in the male, with testes and accessory
organs of reproduction (seminal vesicles, prostate), and penis; the small and
large intestines, with the vermiform appendix; the blood supply to the intestine through the mesentery; the pancreas; a schematic diagram of the
lymphatics (called "water-ducts") associated with the small intestine (the
function of the lymphatics, it was believed, was to control blood volume of the
body); the general vascular system of the entire body; the system of spinal
nerves; and, finally, the gross appearance of the brain. The last volume of
Kaitai hatsumo is in the form of an appendix, written by one of MITANI's
pupils named Konsei MINAMOTO. This work was of sufficient historical
importance to be entirely reprinted in a facsimile edition as recently as 1930.
The most important early Japanese work on osteology was probably con43 The Dutch anatomical books whose "theories" were being examine(l by MITANI were
not identified bY him, but they are believed to be like those used in the composing of the
Kaitai slhins/to.
44 In Plate IV C it is interesting to note the adrenals shon as circular (spherical) bodies,
separate from the kidneYs. This concept was not unique with the Japanese, however, since
the adrenals had l)een so represented in, among other works, the Insti/letiones analomticae ...
of Caspar Bartholinus the Elder (posthumous edition b1 his son, Thomas Bartholinus, Lugd.
Bat., 1641), also in the .4natlomiia of/e on/ledinge des n7zenschelijken lic/maatis (Amsterdlam, 1688)
of Thomas Bartholinus, a copy of which was probably in use in Japan. Anatomically, the
Japanese referredlto the adrenals as the "small kidneys;" their physiological function was imperfectly understood, their endocrine significance then undreamed of. However, after the
discovery of the active princip)le of the adrenal medlulla 1b George Oliver and Edward Albert
Sharpey-Schafer in 1894, fate was to choose a Japanese-American scientist, Jokichi
TAKAMINE (1854-1922), to be the first (independently from the work of Thomas B. Aldrich)
to isolate adlrenalin in pure crystalline form, in 1901.
319
320
GORDON E. MESTLER
321
32-2
GORDON E. MESTLER
GAWA (1755-1797), published in 1793, a translation of the Medicinae compendium ... (Lugd. Bat., 1731 or Venetiis, 1751) of Johannes de Gorter, which was
the first Western book on medicinie to be translated into Japanese.46 According
to FUJIKAWA, the first physiological work written in Japan-on physiology
in the modern scientific sense-was Igen suiyo by Choei TAKANO (1804-1850),
published in 1836. This Japanese writing was derived from the Dutch translation by F. van der Breggen, Grondbeginselen der natuurkunde vant den mensch
(Amsterdam, 1835), of the work of Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, also from a
Dutch translation by one "Ypma" (or Ypey ?), Handbock der natuurkuntde
vant den menschl (n.p., n.d.), of the work of Theodorus Georgius Augustus
Roose, and from a work originally written by an unidentified person named
"Delahyje" . . . (in the Japanese text it merely says" ... must be an 'anatomy'
book of unknown title and date").
An interesting situation is presented by a work apparently written (published ?) in 1832 by Koan OGATA (1810-1863), entitled variously as Jinshint
kyuiri shokai or Rasetsu jinshin kyuiri or possibly "read" in other ways. This
writing was based on the Handbock der natuurkunde van den mensch of T. G. A.
Roose, and on a Dutch translation by Adolphus Ypey, Handleiding tot de
phijsiologie ... (Amsterdam, 1809), of Roose's Handbuch der Physiologie des
Menschen. There are at least four known versions47 of the translation by Koan
OGATA: a copy in the collection of Wataru HIROSE dated 1861, one owned
by Tomio OGATA dated 1862, and two different copies (or editions ?) of
unknown dates in the collection of Koichi (?) UCHIYAMA. It is believed
that the copy in HIROSE'S collection is "closest" to the original work as
written by Kaan OGATA, and no copies of the original Japanese translation
are known to exist at the present time. Incidentally, Koan OGATA was also
the author of the first Japanese work on general pathology, his Byogaku tsuiron
(1849), the first volume of which was entirely on physiology; this work will be
remarked upon more fully in Part II of this paper.
In 1843 appeared Fushi keikun ikun, composed by Koan OGATA (18101863) as a translation into Japanese of the Enchiridion medicum .. . ("Praxis")
of Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland, from the Dutch translation by H. H. Hageman, Enchiridion medicum. Handleiding tot de geneeskilndige praktijk...
(Amsterdam, 1838). This was a very influential book in Japan. Two later
Japanese translations of this same work were made by other persons: Satsubyo kikan by Kosei AOKI, published in 1857; and Fushi-shindan by Michimi
(?) YAMAMOTO, published in 1858.
46 Shlinko taigai
by Seiken TSUBOI, published in 1826, was the first Japanese work interdiagnostic methods, especially recommending the use of the clinical thermometer (from FUJIKAWA).
47 In olden days in Japan, after a book was written, if it was reprinted or "copied" certain
changes were often incorporated in the reprinting or copying, accompanied by minor differences in the title. This explains the apparent dissimilarity in titles given above, which actually
refer to the same original writing.
p)reting European
323
324
GORDON E. MESTLER
under the title Seiri-gaku shi nempo, a small hand-list in which the events and
literature of physiology in Japan are woven into the historical development of
physiology in the Western world, and correlated with social and cultural
progress. Other recent works of physiological interest are Nihonl seirigaku
bunken, a bibliography of Japanese physiological writings, compiled by the
Japanese Physiological Society and published in 1932, and Kinsei seirigakushis6shiron by Seizaburo URAMOTO, a Japanese-written history of physiological ideas in the Western world in recent years, published in 1935.
As in the case of the history of medicine in general, so there has been great
interest in Japan in the developments in physiological science elsewhere in
the world, especially in Western countries. Besides the book by URAMOTO,
referred to above, lwao FUJIOKA (died 1930) wrote Kinisei seirigaku shiron,
first published posthumously in 1931 by Genji KURODA, a friend of FUJIOKA,
with a second edition in 1932. This book consists of two sections, the first of
which is an early history of Western physiology, and the second section presents an outline of the last 100 years of physiology. Unfortunately, there is no
Japanese physiology in this book, which treats entirely of the Western world.
It is illustrated with portraits of European physiologists.
For the benefit of the Japanese reader, John F. Fulton's short history of
physiology in the Hoeber "Clio Medica" series was translated by Susumu
HARASHIMA and published in 1933 as Fulton seirigakut shisnti.
There is a good history of pharmacology in Japan, Nippon yakugaku shi,
written by Totaro SHIMIZU (born 1886) and published in 1949. Several
interesting illustrations enliven this book and make it somewhat more intelligible to the non-Japanese reader. The earliest references are to lists of medicines given to the Emperor in 756 A.D. (In olden times in Japan it was the
custom to present anything new or "good" to the Emperor before it was
provided for the general public.)49 Careful directions were given for wrapping
(i.e., packaging) medicines, the compounding and prescribing of which occupied
a great part of the time of the early Japanese physician. Special mechanical
devices were constructed for making pills. Later on, pharmacy shops took over
much of this work, some of them becoming nationally famous.50 Important
early works referred to are: Kempo shokuniit zukushi utaawase, by an unknown
author, written in 1214: Dosan kirigami (n.d.), by Dasan MANASE (150749 The reigning emperor often had a close personal relationship to the health and welfare
of his people. This was particularly true in the case of the Empress Komyo who established
many hospitals-the most famous was called "Seyaku-in"-where the poor people could come
for medicines. Plate IV D shows a prescription issued from that hospital to a pharmaceutical
house, calling for more medicines to supply the needs of the indigent sick. (The Emperor
Junnin had succeeded the Empress Komyo by 759 A.D., the year this particular prescription
was used, and had continued that practice.)
60 "Baiyaku no fukuro-shu"-a collection of (original) trade medicine bags-was another
of the rare "finds" of the writer while he was in Tokyo.
325
1595); Honzo bengi by Genri ENDO, published in 1681; Jinrin kummo zui,
by an unknown author, published in 1690; Yakuho kokoroegusa by Yfunei OTA,
published in 1876; Shisen honzo komoku (n.d.), which was a Japanese translation of a work by Anton Johannes Cornelis Geerts entitled Les produits de la
ntature japonais et chinoise, that had been published at Yokohama in 1878;
Kummo zui (n.d.) by Ekisai NAKAMURA; and Shichijuiichi ban shokunin
zukushi utaawase (n.d.), by an unknown author. A work by Shinsai UDAGAWA
(1769-1834) entitled Ensei iho meibutsu ko or Shikyo ikoku meibutsu ko (n.d.)
was on materia medica, and introduced into Japan abstracts from the pharmacopoeias of Amsterdam (Pharmacopoeia Amstelodamensis, 1792), of Leyden
(Pharmacopoeia Leidensis, 1751), and of Batavia (no reference). Governmental
control over pharmacological practice in Japan began with the establishment
in 1886 of the Pharmacopoea japonica. This history, Nippon yakugaku shi,
concludes with a rather extensive bibliography of Japanese pharmacological
works, and a chronology of pharmacology in Japan from 701 A.D. to 1949.
The first Japanese writing on materia medica was apparently a two-volume
work entitled Yakkei (or Yakkyo) taiso, composed in the last half of the 8th
century by Hiroyo WAKE. Based upon Chinese writings, it listed many
medicines derived from plants, vegetables, insects, animals, and mineral
sources, describing their properties and giving therapeutic uses. This was
followed by the Daido ruijuiho, or "Collection of recipes of the Daido period,"
which had been compiled in 808 A.D. at the command of the Emperor Heizei
or Heijo, who sought thereby to re-establish the authority of the "pure"
Japanese medicine of an earlier age, based upon 'secret' prescriptions collected
from ancient records. One of the compilers of this work was Hirosada IZUMO
(died 870 A.D.); the other, not accurately identified, appears to have been
named Masanawa ABE. The original writing of the Daido ruijutho has been
lost,51 and existing books of the same title are spurious copies written at a
later date (one such manuscript copy is reported to be in the University of
Pennsylvania Medical Library).
HonzJ wamy6 was a work in materia medica supposed to have been composed
in the Engi period (901-922 A.D.) by Yasuyori TAMBA. Like many other
early medical works in Japan, its origin is shrouded in some uncertainty. The
title means, literally, "Japanese names for medicinal plants." It is known that
Yasuyori TAMBA (912-995 A.D.),52 one of the early great names in Japanese
medicine, edited a work referred to as Yasuyori honzo. (Honzo = an herbal).
It is probable that the original composing of the Honz5 wamyo was as a compilation from earlier Chinese writings, describing medicines derived from minerals,
koki, which does exist, contains a report to the Emperor on the Daido ruijahj.
Who also composed, in 982 A.D., the 26-volume Ishinho, consisting of abstracts of Chinese
51 The Nihon
52
classic writings, embellished with his own observations and opinions-a work which is now the
oldest existing medical book of Japan.
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GORDON E. MESTLER
from plants, and from animals. Many "honzos" have been written, but the
Honzo wamyo is one of the most famous and there have been several successive
copies or editions of it, rendered by different hands. Tho copy in the collection
of the writer is a photographic facsimile edition of 1926, the original of which
was a two-volume work published in 1796, edited by Sukehito FUKAE with a
preface by Yasunaga or Genkan TAKI or TAMBA (?) (1755-1810). That rare
copy was owned by Fumihiko OTSUKI, a famous Japanese man of letters.
The introduction to the 1926 edition is a scholarly dissertation, written by
Kan and Akiho YOSANO53 with the help of Atsuo MASAMUNE, on the
various editions of the Honzd wamyo. The work itself is in the form of a dictionary describing Japanese medicines derived from plants and minerals. The
printed characters are Chinese, but not in a pure style; therefore one leaf gives
the old Japanese alphabet, and this is followed by "reading" or an explanation
for those who cannot understand the Chinese ideographs in the text, a section
which is arranged to serve also as an index of medicines.
One of the classic Japanese medical writings was Yakutseni zokuhzen, by Shiuan
or Shuitoku KAGAWrA (1683-1755), published in 1738. This publication is a
curious instance of a book being "bibliographically lost," so to speak, since it
was originally conceived as a supplement, forming the fourth volume of
Ippondo yakusen, a Japanese treatise on pharmaceutical prescriptions published in 1731 by the same author, but it is actually a separate work in its own
right. Only the first 16 leaves of Yakusen zokuhent are on the healing powers of
hot springs, the major part of this book being concerned with describing the
therapeutic effects of tobacco, tea, oils, grains, vegetables, plants, fish, nuts,
birds, and animals.54 There are no illustrations.
Genshin or Shinsai UDAGAXVA (1769-1834), famous as the composer of
the I/han leiko, also made the first Japanese translation of European materia
medica, in his lVaran (or Oranda) yakkyo published in 1828. This was based
upon the pharmacological writings of Adolphus Ypey, H. J. van Houte, J.
Arnemann, and Christianus Ignatius Niewenhuis (another group of European
physicians whose work was overlooked by Garrison).
In 1822 Yoan UDAGAWA (1798-1846) published Botania-kyc), a work on
botany which appears to have been a translation of parts of an economic
dictionary or encyclopaedia of French agricultural science originally compiled
by Noel Chomel, together with abstracts from other European writers. This
was followed in 1834 by Yoan UDAGAWA'S Shokugaku keigan, important
as the first Japanese writing on botany which was based principally on original
study (although it does include some translated parts from an unidentified
European work).
" A husband and wife team, also famous as poets, whose romance is a
modern legend
in Japan.
54 In Japanese rural areas the horn of certain animals was ground or shaved to a powder,
called ryukakusan ("dragon-horn-powder"), and used to treat every kind of disease.
327