[The origin of pediatric acupuncture technique: beginnings and historical background of pediatric acupuncture practitioners].

Pediatric acupuncture for infants in Japan has its own special method. There is no specialized literature about it that was published before the 20th century and it has not been investigated systematically. To elucidate the history of pediatric acupuncture, we investigated fragmented information on pediatric acupuncture written in the medical literature published before the Meiji Restoration and articles on traditional Japanese medicine (Kampo) and acupuncture published after the Meiji Restoration. We analyzed the history of Japanese pediatric acupuncture from the viewpoints of the acupuncture needles and the methods. As a result, we found that pediatricians used fragments of broken pottery for the treatment in the 1650's. This finding suggests that the present pediatric acupuncture needles originated from "ho-shin" which was used for the treatment of "oketsu" for infants (in ancient China) and that the present pediatric acupressure technique was derived from the pediatric acupressure by using friction with small stones. In addition, our analysis suggests that the integration of the edged pediatric acupuncture needles and the acupressure-like technique correlates with the "Regulations for Acupuncture and Moxibustion clinics" published by the Ministry of Home Affairs in Japan and enforced in 1912.