Kampo
Shennong is believed to have tasted hundreds of herbs to ascertain their medicinal value and effects on the human body and help relieve people of their sufferings.
The oldest written record focusing solely on the medicinal use of plants was the Shennong Ben Cao Jing which was compiled around the end of the first century B.C.
Empress Kōmyō (701–760) established the Hidenin and Seyakuin in the Kōfuku-Temple (Kōfuku-ji) in Nara, being two Buddhist institutions that provided free healthcare and medicine for the needy.
For centuries to come Japanese Buddhist monks were essential in conveying Chinese medical know-how to Japan and in providing health care for both the elite and the general population.
In 753 A.D., the Chinese priest Jianzhen (in Japanese Ganjin), who was well-versed in medicine, arrived in Japan after five failed attempts in 12 years to cross the East China Sea.
During the Heian period, Tanba Yasuyori (912–995) compiled the first Japanese medical book, Ishinpō ("Prescriptions from the Heart of Medicine"), drawing from numerous Chinese texts, some of which have perished later.
Most of the physicians were Buddhist monks who continued to use the formulas, theories and practices that had been introduced by the early envoys from Tang China.
After 12 years of studies in China Tashiro Sanki (1465–1537) became the leading figure of a movement called "Followers of Later Developments in Medicine" (Gosei-ha).
This school propagated the teachings of Li Dongyuan and Zhu Tanxi that gradually superseded the older doctrines from the Song dynasty.
Based on his own observation and experience, he compiled a book on internal medicine in eight volumes (Keiteki-shū) and established an influential private medical school (Keiteki-in) in Kyōto.
His son Gensaku wrote a book of case studies (Igaku tenshō-ki) and developed a considerable number of new herb formulas.
While the etiological concepts of this school were as speculative as those of the Gosei-ha, the therapeutic approaches were based on empirical observations and practical experience.
This return to "classic methods" was initiated by Nagoya Gen'i (1628–1696), and advocated by influential proponents such as Gotō Gonzan (1659–1733), Yamawaki Tōyō (1705–1762), and Yoshimasu Tōdō (1702–1773).
Some, such as Ogino Gengai (1737–1806), Ishizaka Sōtetsu (1770–1841), or Honma Sōken (1804–1872), even tried to incorporate Western concepts and therapies, which had made their way into the country through physicians at the Dutch trading-post Dejima (Nagasaki).
Some of them, such as Yamada Gyōkō (1808–1881), Asada Sōhaku (1813–1894), and Mori Risshi (1807–1885), organized an "Association to Preserve [Traditional] Knowledge" (Onchi-sha) and started to set up small hospitals.
The 14th edition of the Japanese Pharmacopoeia (JP, Nihon yakkyokuhō) lists 165 herbal ingredients that are used in Kampō medicines.
[6] Lots of the Kampō products are routinely tested for heavy metals, purity, and microbial content to eliminate any contamination.
Kampō medicines are tested for the levels of key chemical constituents as markers for quality control on every formula.
