Although Kampo began as a Japanese adaptation of Chinese herbal medicine, over the centuries it developed into a unique system of diagnosis and treatment. Japanese physicians began to use Kampo in daily practice long before people in the United States advocated the integration of alternative systems of medical practice into mainstream medicine. The work “Kampo” is composed of two characters: “kam” means “Chinese” and “po” means “way” or “method”. So Kampo is the Japanese transformation of Chinese herbal medicine. As early as the beginning of the 7th century the empress Suiko, who had a keen interest in medicine, sent emissaries to China to study Kampo. In the Nara period (710-94) Buddhist monks who traveled to China for religious study also learned Kampo, and began to practice it on their return. At this time, Buddhist monks and priests were the main practitioners of medicine. In the 9th century the first Japanese medical text about herbal formulas was written.

The three principles that guided the development of Kampo were simplicity, prevention and safety. To simplify the canon, 365 remedies were selected from the 16,834 remedies taught in China. Since Japanese Buddhist monks were vegetarians, formulas containing animal products were excluded from early attempts to adapt Chinese herbal medicine to Japan. The 365 remedies were divided into three classes, according to the intrinsic value attributed to them. The most valued remedies were those that were the safest and prevented disease in order to prolong life. The 120 remedies called Joyaku (upper class or most valuable medicine), are all preventive medicines. These remedies have minimal to no side effects and are meant to be taken for long periods of time. There are 120 Chuyaku remedies (middle class medicine), which were used after an acute illness to regenerate energy and prevent recurrences and lingering debility. The underlying idea is that a person’s constitution influences the types of diseases that affect them. This prefigures the contemporary idea of genetic influences on a person’s risk for disease. Chuyaku sometimes causes side effects and should not be used for too long. Finally there are 125 Shimoyaku (lower class or least valuable medicine), which are used to treat acute and chronic diseases. Ironically, the bulk of contemporary allopathic medicines would fall into the class Kampo practitioners consider to have the least value. Shimoyaku usually causes side effects, and should only be taken for a short period of time.

By the 15th century the practice of herbal medicine became a profession that attracted some of the best minds in the country. A distinctly Japanese herbology developed, and from this time until the end of the 19th century Kampo was the primary form of medicine in Japan. In other words, Japanese physicians were Kampo practitioners. Acupuncture was also practiced, but it was not considered as important or as effective, and was primarily practiced by non-physicians.

During the Meiji period (1868-1912 C.E.) Japan was opened to the influence of European culture. Eager to modernize, the emphasis in medicine shifted to adopting Western methods of surgery, anesthesia and microbiology. Kampo was all but abandoned. It began to attract attention again as early as 1920 and from 1934 to 1945 Japan’s Kampo Medicine Association published a monthly newsletter. Beginning with its creation in 1938 the East Asian Medical Organization has published a monthly newsletter of clinical Kampo medicine. By 1950 a number of physician organizations for Kampo were founded, including the Japan Toyo Medical Association based at the Asian Medicine Research Center at Chiba University and the Japan Society of Oriental Medicine. The clinical and research efforts of these organizations have been so successful that today Public Health Insurance covers 148 Kampo formulas prescribed by physicians, 861 over the counter preparations, 180 raw herbs and 53 powdered herbs prescribed by physicians. The Ministry of Health approves herbs and herbal formulae by the same process that governs new pharmaceutical products and strictly regulates the quality of Kampo products. For all products standardization, specification, purity, stability and microbiological assays are among the mandatory tests that are monitored by the Ministry of Health. Public confidence in the ability of the government to regulate public safety is very high. Partly as a result of this, up to 80% of physicians in Japan have prescribed Kampo for their patients.

The traditional philosophy underlying Kampo can be summarized as the belief that health depends on unimpeded circulation, which in turn depends on the body’s ability to maintain homeostasis. Disease is an imbalance resulting from the interaction between the person’s constitution and the environment, both external and internal, which forms the context of the person’s life.

Content last modified on Sep 19, 2003