We investigated the description and changes in nomenclature of the muscles of facial expression in Japan. In 1774, the first description of the muscles of facial expression appeared in “Kaitai Shinsho”. The description and nomina of some facial muscles were slightly modified in “Jutei Kaitai Shinsyo (1826)”. A detailed account of the facial muscles was described in “Kaitai Soku (1858)”.

At the beginning of the Meiji Period (1868-1912), Western medicine was introduced to Japan. Since then, translation of original English anatomy text books was published in Japan. In these anatomy books, the names of the muscles differed considerably depending on the translators. In the mid-Meiji period, Japanese doctors, who were educated in German medicine, began to write anatomy text books by themselves. The descriptions of the facial muscles were then based on German anatomy descriptions.

Eventually, Japanese doctors formed a consistent understanding of the descriptions of the facial muscles, and their interpretations, in various anatomy books. With the publication of Suzuki's “Kaibougaku Meii Zen” in 1905, the basic Japanese terminology for the anatomy of the facial muscles was almost unified.