2020 Volume 55 Issue 2 Pages 194-202
Objective: Early in the Meiji era, Zensoku-tabako, the brand name of Asthma Cigarettes, were sold at drug stores in Tokyo. In the product's packaging, there was an Asthma Cigarette [C1] insert on which much important information could be found. In my study, I analyzed the contents of the Asthma Cigarette package insert. The objective of this investigational study on the use of asthma cigarettes in Japan is to examine the transformation of the pharmaceutical system and the Japanese Pharmacopoeia. Methods: I used the resources of the National Diet Library, the Medical Library at The University of Tokyo, and the Pharmaceutical Sciences Library at The University of Tokyo. The digital archives in these libraries were especially useful. I also examined the biographies and literature of the people involved. Results: I obtained a package of Asthma Cigarettes made by Koreyoshi Ogata, the second son of Koan Ogata, a famous scholar of rangaku (i.e., Dutch education). The third son of Koan Ogata, Koretaka Ogata, wrote the Asthma Cigarette package insert. Kenzo Kobayashi manufactured and began selling Asthma Cigarettes in November 1881. In 1886, the first Japanese Pharmacopoeia (JP1) was published. Cannabis indica, which was included in Asthma Cigarettes, was listed in the first edition to the fifth edition, published in 1932, of the Japanese Pharmacopoeia. Similarly extractum cannabis indicae and tinctura cannabis indicae were listed starting from the third edition of the Japanese Pharmacopoeia. Conclusion: The Ogata brothers and Kenzo Kobayashi are credited with the propagation of Asthma Cigarettes. After World War II, traditional politics, institutions, and society changed dramatically. One change can be seen in the sixth edition of the Japanese Pharmacopoeia (JP6), which adopted an American format. Cannabis indicae, which had been used in cigarettes and listed for 66 years in the Japanese Pharmacopoeia, was deleted. With the enforcement of the Cannabis Control Act of 1948, the medical use of Cannabis became prohibited. Though this act still remains in force today, thereby making the use of medicinal cannabis illegal, it is noteworthy that cannabis was used as a patent medicine in Japan 150 years ago.
