earticle

영어

Despite the withdrawal of traditional medicine (Kampo) from the national healthcare system throughout modern Japan, its use has not disappeared entirely. In the mid-1920s, a new generation of Kampo practitioners led a revival of Kampo use in Japan. Particularly following the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese Kampo community, aligned with Japan’s external aggressive policies during that period, employed Kampo as a tool for cultural influence in China and sought to win the hearts and minds of the Chinese people. They aspired to foster collaboration within East Asia, leading to the emergence of ‘Oriental Medicine’ discourse. They sought to leverage the unique circumstances of wartime to rejuvenate and revitalize Kampo. The trends in Japanese Kampo are disseminated through networks of individuals centered around the East Asian Medical Association, influencing regions including Korea, Manchukuo, and inner China. In Korea, notable figures like colonial official scholar Sakihara Tokuha championed this approach. In parallel with the Japanese Kampo community, they advocated for ‘Oriental Medicine.’ In contrast to the previous strategy of ‘eliminating physicians but retaining the medicines,’ they advocated the establishment of Traditional Korean Medicine(TKM) hospitals and TKM research institutes in Korea, along with comprehensive studies on TKM itself. Sakihara Tokuha’s viewpoints served as a clear reflection of the shifts in Japan’s colonial TKM policies during this era. The ‘ambition’ of the Japanese medical community to revive Kampo found its earliest success in Manchukuo. With the involvement of figures from the Japanese Kampo community and Sakihara Tokuha, Manchukuo officially recognized the status of TCM, introduced TCM examinations, instituted TCM hospitals and research centers, and established formal educational institutions for TCM. It is worth noting, however, that these series of reform measures in Manchukuo were essentially modeled after the new style of TCM from Japan and thus became a historical opportunity to transform traditional East Asian medicine and proliferate Japanese-style Kampo.