Reviving tradition: Traditional medicines in modern Japan 1868-2005 (360G-Wellcome-090593_Z_09_Z)

This project examines the history of Japan's traditional medicines since the late 19th century. Kampa, a localised version of traditional Chinese medicine, had been Japan's traditional medicine for over a millennium. Following the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Japan began a rapid programme of Westernisation and modernisation that included Kampa's replacement by Western style medicine. After 1874, only physicians trained in Western style medicine were permitted to practice in Japan. But the type of traditional medicines used in Japan before the Meiji Restoration continued to be consumed. Kampa revived in the decades after World War II. The resurgence of Kampa medicines was due to a combination of factors, including the realisation of limitations to Western medicines following drug tragedies such as the thalidomide; the development of technologies to mass produce standardised versions of Kampa medicines; and the government's 1976 decision to recognise Kampa medicines as legitimate prescription drugs. My research aim is to provide a comprehensive multifactorial explanation for the fall and rise of traditional medicines in modern Japan.