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

The present paper focuses primarily on a philological and historical study of the Arśapraśamanisūtra ("The Sütra of the tranquilization of hemorrhoids"). This Sūtra is one of the Buddhist scriptures that are 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 previous 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. The original text of the Arśapraśamanisūtra, most probably written in Sanskrit, is lost whereas its Chinese and Tibetan translations have survived. After an introductory summary, we provide critically edited texts of the Tibetan and Chinese translations accompanied by their Japanese translations with critical notes and annotations. In particular, the Tibetan translation presented here has been critically edited for the first time on the basis of collation of the five editions of the Tibetan Buddhist Canon. In our next paper we will analyze the descriptions of hemorrhoids as found in the Sūtra in comparison with those illustrated in classical Ayurveda literature. And we will also offer further observations about the methods and principles for the treatment and healing of hemorrhoid that are attested in Buddhist scriptures.

Citrulline is a non-protein amino acid and is produced by the enterocytes of the small bowel. The isolation though ofcitrulline is generally ascribed to the 1930s. In the present article, we demonstrated that before 1930, there was use of the term citrulline, signifying a resin produced by Citrullus Colocynthis. This citrulline is different from modem citrulline. However, neither was modem citrulline isolated in 1930 but somewhat earlier. Reviewing the original manuscripts, Koga and Ohtake (1914) did indeed isolate citrulline for the first time and at least half a dozen other researchers cite their work. Even though their work didn't lead to the determination of the structure and nature of citrulline, theirs was the first to isolate it. Our results have a certain historical and scientific significance and are discussed in extent.

The "Okuni-nikki (Diaries of our Clan)" of the Hirosaki Clan Government covers the years 1661-1867. Akitomo Matsuki and Yōichi Hanada picked up medical topics from these diaries, and edited them in two volumes of "Tsugaru-ijibunka-shiryōshūsei: Okuni-nikki" (1993, 1994). I selected cases of insanity and suicide from these volumes. Selected were (1) 12 cases of insanity (in its wider sense) (5 cases of insanity, 2 cases of depression, a case of mania, a case of hypochondriasis, a case of epilepsy, a case of pavor nocturnus, and a case of insomnia), (2) 16 cases of suicide and self injury, cased by insanity (in its wider sense) (11 cases of suicide, a case of suicide and injuring another person, a case of attempted suicide, 2 cases of lovers' attempted suicide, and a case of self injury; 8 cases of them were caused by insanity), (3) 3 cases of killing and injuring others, caused by insanity (a case of killing another person, and 2 cases of injuring others), (4) a drunk case of injuring another person, and (5) 13 cases of suicide and self injury, without description of insanity (9 cases of suicide, 2 cases of attempted suicide, a case of lovers' suicide, and a case of penis cutting off). There were no described cases of possession or alcoholism. In the Edo Era, in several provinces and clans had legal procedure to confine insane patients. As for the Hirosaki Clan, I could not find clues to suggest the existence of such legal or customary procedures.

Through the case-study of the visit of a prominent New Zealand medical reformer and his wife to Japan in 1904, this article examines new aspects of the health and environmental connections between Japan and New Zealand in the early twentieth century. At one level, the article analyses the broader context of interest in Japanese plants in New Zealand and the model of Japanese health reforms constituted by these connections. At another, it argues that subjects previously considered separate--such as modem health reform, scientific agriculture and gardening, and Japanese and New Zealand intellectual influences--need to be considered together as contemporaries understood them. Doing so, it suggests, enables the more accurate consideration of the intellectual and scientific worlds of the early twentieth century and hints at the global dimensions of aspects of thought and state and societal reform associated with modernity.

This article examines Siebold and his relations with the Tokugawa shogunate acupuncture doctor Ishizaka Sotetsu, based on both Western and Japanese primary sources. It is well known that Siebold's contribution to a better understanding of Oriental medicine in Europe was limited to his interest in Japanese acupuncture, particularly Ishizaka Sotetsu's acupuncture. However, past research on this subject has only relied either on documents written in Dutch by Siebold's disciples or on Ishizaka Sotetsu's writings on acupuncture, therefore making it impossible to match the Dutch translations with the original Japanese manuscripts. This article brings new insights in Siebold's study on Ishizaka's acupuncture, investigating from a comparative point of view documents held by Leiden University, Leiden National Museum of Ethnology, Ruhr-Universittät Bochum, Toyo Bunko Library and the Ishizaka family's collection. The second part of the article analyzes also how Siebold's interest in Ishizaka Sotetsu's acupuncture differs from Rhyne's and Kaempfer's interest in Japanese acupuncture