Abstract
Introduction: In this study, the author investigated the etymon of the Japanese word ZAYAKU and how this drug form is perceived in Japanese medicine from a pharmaceutical point of view.
Methods: The author used materials from the National Diet Library’s Digital Collection, Kyoto University Library, Waseda University Library, the search results from Google Books, and the author's collections.
Results and Discussion: In Kinki-Youryaku (published in 3rd Century A.D.), two kanji characters for zayaku were found, and their meaning is to put a drug in. The author found the word zayaku (suppository) in Edo-Halma (HARUMAWAGE : Dutch-Japanese dictionary; 1796). Udagawa et al. translated the Dutch word zetpil into the Japanese word zayaku. Zet means sit as Japanese za and pil means drug as yaku. However, suppositories were rarely used in traditional Dutch medicine in Japan during the Edo Era. Before the beginning of the Meiji Era, English medicine was introduced to Japan, and suppositories were used in Japanese Navy medicine. Nevertheless, the Japanese government adopted the German medical system in 1869, and suppositories were not registered in either the first or second editions of the Japanese Pharmacopoeia. When Japanese physicians and pharmacists published the third edition of the Japanese Pharmacopoeia (1906), suppositories were registered in it.
