Kampo medicine is a Japanese traditional herbal medicine that is based on
Chinese herbal medicine (CHM). The name is derived from the Japanese
symbols kan, which means China and po, which means medicine. Kampo
remedies are very important in modern-day Japanese medicine.
History
Traditional CHM was introduced into Japan from China through cultural
exchange between the fifth and sixth centuries and has been used for over
1000 years. Major classic textbooks of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)
include the following:
- Koteidaikei (Huang di nei jing: the Yellow Emperor’s Manual of
Corporeal Medicine) - Shinnohonzokyo(Shen non ben cao jing– the Materia Medica of the
Shen Nong) - Shokanron(Shang han lun)
- Kinkiyouryaku (Jin kui yao lue) were completed in the Han period
(202 BCto AD220), and several medical textbooks originating from
these works have been introduced from China.
Koteidaikeidescribed the theory of yin–yang and the five elements,
featured in the original philosophies of China. Shinnohonzokyodescribed
the effects of medicinal herbs, and was composed of 365 medicinal herbs
comprising animal, plant and mineral origins, and classified into three
different (upper, middle and lower) grades depending on their safeties and
efficacies. Shokanronand Kinkiyouryakuare both most important classic
textbooks for the treatment by the decoction of traditional Chinese
medicines. Shokanron has instructions on the diagnosis and treatment of
typhoid-like acute febrile diseases, called Shokan. The symptoms of this