Drug Information Q&A Q2. When were drugs first used in Japan?

Answer

It is believed that full-fledged knowledge of drugs spread in Japan around the time when Buddhism was introduced from the continent. When Prince Shotoku, who protected Buddhism, built Shitennoji Temple in Osaka, he cultivated various medicinal herbs, manufactured and prepared medicines, and established a pharmaceutical dispensary to prescribe them.

Explanation

The history of medicines is as old as the history of mankind. For example, more than 10,000 years ago, the Jomon people became familiar with plants through the gathering of nuts and berries for food. In the ruins of their dwellings, we have found kihada (a deciduous tree of the mandarin family, known as oubaku), which is thought to have been used for medicinal purposes.

In ancient Japanese literature, the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters) contains several stories related to medicines. One example is the famous story of Okuninushi no Mikoto and the White Hare of Inaba. In the land of Inaba (Tottori Prefecture), Okuninushi no Mikoto encountered a rabbit that had been skinned and stripped naked and was crying. The rabbit had tried to cross the sea by tricking a shark, but it was discovered and its skin was ripped off, and it was suffering from being drowned in seawater.

Okuninushi took pity on the rabbit and told it to wash itself in fresh water and then sprinkle its body with the pollen of the Gamma plant. Gama is a perennial plant that is often found near water, and its pollen was a hemostatic and painkiller. Later, Okuninushi no Mikoto became the object of the other gods' enmity and was severely burned by a burning rock. At that time, the mother goddess scraped off the powder of a red clam, mixed it with the juice of a clam, and applied it to Okuninushi no Mikoto's body to save his life. The mixture of red clam juice and red clam powder was a remedy for burns in those days.

In addition to spreading the teachings of Buddha, Buddhism also encouraged the use of medicine and technology to help people. As a result, many monks who were knowledgeable about medicine and medical science came to Japan. For example, Ganjin (founder of the Ritsuryo sect of Buddhism in Japan; secular name: Junyu), who is depicted in Yasushi Inoue's novel Tenpyo-no-iraka, failed five times in his attempts to travel from the Tang Dynasty to Japan, losing his eyesight along the way, but after much effort in 753, he made his sixth attempt In 753, he made his sixth attempt to come to Japan. In 753, he arrived in Japan on his sixth attempt, after much effort, but lost his sight along the way.

On the other hand, Ganjin was also a medical monk who was well versed in medicines. Although he was blind, he was able to distinguish any medicine by sniffing it out, and it is said that he cured Empress Dowager Komyo, wife of Emperor Shomu, of an illness.

Some of the medicines from that time are still stored in the Shosoin Repository of Todaiji Temple.

Chart/Column

2｜Illustration of medicinal herb hunting

This painting (wall painting) depicts Emperor Suiko (the left figure shielding himself from the early summer sun) leading a group of officials, each dressed in the color of his rank, in the hills of Udano (present-day Uda City, Nara) in Yamato, Japan, around May 611, to gather medicinal herbs. This is the same scene depicted in the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan). It is said to be the first record of medicinal herb gathering in Japan, and is also mentioned in the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan).

Source: Collection of the Naito Museum of Pharmaceutical Science

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