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4 app. Autumn 2018The Japanese Pharmacopoeia (JP),1 published to regulate the properties and quality of medicines by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, defines crude drugs (shoyaku) as “medicinal parts obtained from plants or animals, cell inclusions and secretes separated from the origins, their ex-tracts and minerals.” Its list includes 226 items (as of 2018). In the Edo period (1603-1867), Western medicine introduced from the Netherlands was called Rampo, while Japanese traditional medi-cine, based on ancient Chinese medicine, was termed Kampo. A kampo medicine consists of sev-eral crude drugs, and therefore has a number of active components. While the purpose of Western medicines is to allay specific symptoms, kampo medicines are prescribed according to a patient’s physical constitution and the characteristics of the ailment, so as to enhance the body’s inherent power to heal itself.Crude Drugs as Cultural AssetsCrude drugs used for kampo medicine are not only used on the frontlines of modern medical treatment, but are also considered the cultural as-sets of medicinal lore developed over centuries. Most crude drugs are of botanical origin, but they also include those sourced from animals and min-erals. These medicinal materials have been passed down in ways suitable to Japan’s climate and en-vironment, and have been adapted to the physi-cal constitution of the Japanese and their eating habits.The Yamato area (present-day Nara prefecture) was where the ancient capital of the imperial court was located (ca. 250-710). After the introduction of traditional Chinese medicine from the conti-nent, people’s lives in this area became closely as-sociated with the gathering and cultivation of me-dicinal plants. The way people of antiquity prayed to the gods for protection against illness and the importance they attached to medicine can still be observed in the festivals held at the Ohmiwa and Sai shrines in Nara. During the Asuka period (late sixth century-710), the imperial court spearhead-ed the introduction of both Buddhism and medi-cine from the continent, and medicinal plants began to be considered necessary for well-being. The Nihon-shoki, the oldest official history of Ja-pan, completed in 720, records that the Empress Suiko (554-628) led herb-gathering excursions in areas such as Uda and Takatori in Nara. Not only its history, but the geography, climate and environ-mental character of the Yamato region favored the cultivation of Japanese medicinal plants, and it be-came known as a major center for the production of high quality medicinal ingredients. These in-cluded toki (Japanese Angelica Root), shakuyaku (Peony Root) and jio (Rehmannia Root).Morino-KyuyakuenThe Morino-Kyuyakuen, or the Morino Herb Garden, is located in the city of Uda in northeast-ern Nara prefecture. It is Japan’s oldest private herb garden and was founded in 1729 by the Morino family’s first-generation Tosuke, Michi-sada Saikaku (1690-1767). Eighth Tokugawa shogun Yoshimune’s strategy to realize domestic production of medicinal plants during the Kyoho era (1716-1736) is considered a successful exam-ple of industrial policy, as it led to the cultivation of native medicinal plants intended to substitute for imported varieties, as well as to the develop-ment of quality crude drugs. Saikaku served as a guide for Saheiji Uemura, an official in charge of herb-gathering projects. To reward his efforts, Saikaku received herbal seedlings of precious foreign medicinal plants. He was devoted to cul-tivating wild herbs and growing medicinal plants in his own garden, known today as the Morino Herb Garden. Between 1729 and 1740, the Sho-gunate gifted Saikaku a total of more than thirty medicinal plants of introduced species. Through his association with specialists in natural history and honzogaku—the traditional study of medicinal plants—Saikaku became skilled at identifying me-dicinal materials and developed improved meth-ods of cultivation. In 1767, Saikaku completed the ten-volume Matsuyama-honzo (“Matsuyama herbal”), an illustrated reference book of medici-nal flora and fauna. Even after several centuries, the Morino Herb Garden is still preserved in its original state and embodies Saikaku’s aspirations to produce medicinal materials domestically.Domestic Herb ProductionThe Matsuyama-honzo was a closely guarded heirloom of the Morino family, and for 260 years the original manuscript was virtually unknown to the public. In 2014, with the cooperation of the Morino family, I was permitted to digitally record and publish. It comprises ten traditionally bound volumes designated as follows: Herbs 1; Herbs 2; Climbing Plants; Fragrant Herbs & Shrubs; Mountain, Marsh & Poisonous Herbs; Water Plants & Fernery; Grain & Vegetables; Trees; Scaled Creatures, Birds & Mammals; Turtles & Shellfish. The work contains colored illustrations of 1,001 species of natural flora and fauna. The precise depictions of plants include the roots used for medicinal treatments. By analyzing these digital images, we have been able to understand the original species used in crude drugs and how current species evolved, which has furthered our studies regarding Tosuke bofu (Saposhnikovia Root and Rhizome) and Japanese Angelica Root.The bofu entrusted to Saikaku in 1735 was Saposhnikovia divaricata Schischkin (Umbellif-erae), indigenous to northeast China and Mon-golia. Called Tosuke bofu in Japan, in reference to Saikaku’s given name, its roots and rhizomes are efficacious in lowering fever and reducing pain and muscle spasms. The seeds of the bofu culti-vated in Japan today originated from those first introduced here from China during the Kyoho era and have been replanted continuously in the Morino Herb Garden ever since. In the Herb 2 volume of Matsuyama-honzo, both ideal and or-dinary ranked bofu are shown, suggesting how the introduced seeds were domestically cultivated and their seedlings nurtured.Toki is another traditional medicine from China. The original species of this plant differs between China and Japan: the Angelica sinensis Diels is from China and the Angelica acutiloba Kitagawa is from Japan, known as obuka toki. The latter is said to have derived from the cultivation of a wild species (miyama toki) and was distributed as Yamato toki. The quality of Yamato toki was developed using traditional methods such as the mekuri practice of removing buds from the pre-vious year in the spring of the second year. This practice inhibits blossoming and prevents the root from becoming fibrous, thereby becoming strong and consolidated.Development of HonzogakuAs retainers of the fourteenth-century imperial court, the Morino family were early producers of kudzu (Japanese arrowroot) starch: production of quality kudzu starch has been the family business for over 450 years. Since the era of Saikaku, suc-cessive heads of the family business are referred to as Tosuke. In 1749, Saikaku transferred family leadership to his heir Takesada; this second head Tosuke was also deeply interested in medicinal plants and followed in the footsteps of Saikaku, operating the family business as well as maintain-ing and supervising the Morino Herb Garden. Re-cords indicate his close friendship with the noted naturalist Ransui Tamura (1718-1776), with whom he frequently exchanged herbal seedlings. Takesada, as a shogunal official in charge of me-dicinal plants, increased the number of herbs cul-tivated in the Garden. After receiving permission to pick katakuri (Erythronium japonicum) in land that was directly controlled by the Shogunate, he steadily boosted the production of katakuri starch powder. The traditional crude drugs he produced and processed were sold to wholesalers in Osaka and Kyoto, and the Morino family became known as the herbal wholesalers of Uda.Kotoku, the third Tosuke, traveled to Edo (pres-ent-day Tokyo) in 1789 and presented the Shogu-nate with 12 crude drug products which had been bestowed upon his grandfather Saikaku (the first Tosuke). Kotoku was then entrusted with other Chinese medicinal plants and cultivated them in the Garden. Shigemichi (1804-1882), the fifth Tosuke, exchanged specimens with well-known naturalists. Organizing plant specimens collected since the Saikaku era, Shigemichi compiled a two-volume botanical work entitled Somoku-yofu. Yo-shitsu Yamamoto (1809-1864), a celebrated natu-The Medicinal Traditions of NaraPreserving Herbal IngredientsKyoko Takahashi, Ph.D.Associate ProfessorDepartment of Applied Pharmacognosy, Museum of Osaka University Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University