Nihon ishigaku zasshi. [Journal of Japanese history of medicine]最新文献

The "Jue" refers to a disease appearing frequently in the ancient book of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The definition of "Jue" is ambiguous because of various cognitions of this illness today. We studied the primary meaning of "Jue" in Suwen, Lingshe and the chapter of Bianqueyun in Shiji and revealed the following results. In general, it is believed that the "Jue" will be caused by an imbalance between internal "Yin" and "Yang." The "Qi" of the external world, which varies according to each season or day and night, additionally seems to influence the inner body. In the pathology of "Jue", when the external "Qi" cannot reach the deep part of the body, at first, the internal "Qi" deviates from the natural course and cannot work in the body. The spirit in the deep part, subsequently, cannot work freely and paroxysmally changes location to the upper and surface parts of the body. The Guo prince's disease noted in the chapter of Bianqueyun in Shiij seems to have been a case of "Jue". In the case of the Guo prince, the method of treatment with "Sanyangwushu" by Bianque was based on the theory of "Sanbujiuhouzhen" which is a classic diagnosis in Suwen.

Comparing "Oranda Keiraku Kinmyaku Zoufu Zukai" with the original edition by Remmelin, I conducted an examination of "untranslated terms." Some "untranslated terms" were omitted without any mark noted in the illustrated reference book of the translation, while others were omitted in the commentary, although their marks appear in the reference book. The analysis of these terms has clarified that the omissions were most likely caused by inappropriate annotation of marks in the translation, or due to the translator's arbitrary judgment of omissions, or because the terms were beyond comprehension by conventional concepts of Eastern medicine and thus entries for their translations were impossible. This article demonstrates the imperfections in the translation of"Oranda Keiraku Kinmyaku Zoufu Zukai" from the viewpoint of"untranslated terms."

The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate that buckwheat has been recognized, both in Japan and China, as a crop that is useful in many ways: as an agricultural crop, and for the healing powers and properties that, according to traditional Chinese medicine, it has. A comparative study of ancient documents pertaining to medicine in these countries has made it clear that this is the case. Buckwheat, however, has been used quite differently in each country. As is shown in some ancient Chinese documents pertaining to medicine, China has treated buckwheat primarily as a medicine for clinical use rather than as an edible crop. Nowadays, buckwheat is eaten only in some regions of China. Although it came to Japan from China as a medicine, in Japan buckwheat gradually became a popular food crop. It has become an important component of traditional Japanese cuisine thanks in part to government support and the strong demand that developed in Japanese society.

The present paper focuses primarily on a philological and historical study of the Arśapraśamanisūtra ("The Sūtra of the Tranquilization of Hemorrhoids"). This Sūtra is one of the Buddhist scriptures that is characterized by the magico-religious treatment of various diseases, especially by means of "healing spells" (skt. dhāranī or mantra), as shown by the preliminary survey in our penultimate paper "The Tradition of Healing with Magical Spells as Seen in Buddhist Texts," Journal of the Japan Society of Medical History 55/1 (2009), 77-96. In our last paper "The Tradition of Healing with Magical Spells as Seen in Buddhist Texts (2): A Study of the Arśapraśamanisūtra: Edition and Japanese translation" we provided critically edited texts of the Tibetan and Chinese translations accompanied by their Japanese translations with critical notes and annotations. In this paper we analyze the descriptions of hemorrhoids as found in the Sūtra in comparison with those illustrated in classical Ayurveda literature, besides a detailed philological examination of the relevant passages available only in the Chinese translation of the Mūlasarvāstivāda-Vinaya. We also offer further observations about the methods and principles for the treatment and healing of hemorrhoids that are attested in Buddhist scriptures, as well as make an overview of the transmission and historical reception of the Arśapraśamanisūtra in Japan between the Nara and the Taishō periods.

Martin Luther achieved great success in religious reformation, though he was said to have suffered from many kinds of diseases during his lifetime. Unfortunately, however, his medical history has never been reported in Japan. Since the second half of his thirties, he was suffering from severe constipation, causing hemorrhoids and anal prolapse. At the beginning of his forties he had vertigo, tinnitis and headaches, which were the signs of chronic purlent otitis media and ended in left otorrhea and pyorrhea of the left mastoiditis. Nearly at the same time, he started to suffer from anginal pain, colic and dysuria due to urinary uric acid stones, gout and left leg ulcer, which were all caused by metabolic syndromes. The last 1/3 of his life was affected by the shadow of diseases, and his religious activities were frequently disturbed. He died from myocardial infarction at the age 63, in February 1546.

The background of the higher education of Dr. Michiharu Matsuoka shown on the official resume was disclosed by Dr. Kazuo Naito in 1986, but the courses of the elementary and secondary schools were not described in it. In regard to his lower educational courses, the author referred to the laws and regulations issued by the Ministry of Education of the Japan Government and the Yamaguchi Prefectural Office. Those were often revised with times. The author presumed the elementary school (Murozumi Primary School [the first established primary school at the birthplace; Murozumi, Hikari-City, Yamaguchi Prefecture]) and middle schools (Prefectural Yamaguchi Middle School and Yamaguchi High School) to which he had been admitted. These presumptions were made to explain his whole educational course without unreasonableness. After finishing the first school year of the Yamaguchi High School, he was transferred to the Preparatory Course of the Yamaguchi Higher School (Yamaguchi Kotô Chugakkô, Yoka), because of the amendment of the educational system. Then he was transferred to the Preparatory Course of the Daisan Higher School (Daisan Kotô Chugakkô, Yoka), and to the Preparatory Course of Daiichi Higher School (Daiichi Kotô Chugakkô, Yoka). After his graduation from the Regular Course of the Daiichi Higher School (Daiichi Kotô Chugakkô, Honka), he was admitted to the Medical College of the Imperial University from which he graduated in 1897. In addition, he was a medical student of the Graduate School of the Imperial University of Tokyo just before he left Japan for studying abroad. The whole academic carrier of Dr. Matsuoka is not only clearly clarified, but it is also indicated that he was one of the successful examples of the educational system proposed by Yamaguchi Prefecture in Meiji era which articulated the local primary and middle schools with the Imperial University of Tokyo.

Modern medicine was introduced in Japan in the second half of the nineteenth century. In order to investigate this historical process, this paper focuses on the dissemination of information of a new medical technology developed in the mid-nineteenth century; it does so by making comparisons of the access to medical information between Europe, the USA and Japan. The hypodermic injection method was introduced in the clinical field in Europe and the USA as a newly developed therapeutic method during the 1850s and 1870s. This study analyzed information on the medical assessments of this method by clinicians of these periods. The crucial factor in accumulating this information was to develop a worldwide inter-medical communication circle with the aid of the medical journals. Information on the hypodermic injection method was introduced in Japan almost simultaneously with its introduction in Europe and the USA. However, because of the geographical distance and the language barrier, Japanese clinicians lacked access to this worldwide communication circle, and they accepted this new method without adequate medical technology assessments.