Sengoku medicine

[shikken]

Can anyone tell me what medicine was like during the Sengoku period. I know European medicine was pretty shocking but I can't really find anything solid on Japanese medicine other than it was apparently better and had lots of Chinese in it.

[Carl Jung was right]

Well I'm afraid I'm not much of an authority, but I do want to clear a misconception. European medicine wasn't actually that bad when it came to setting bones or performing certain kinds of acute surgeries, even though it had no concept of anaesthetics or bacterial infections. I surmise that in general, Japanese medicine was no different, and lacking in empirical foundation of modern science, it could only deal with things from a sort of "hey it worked the last time I did it" perspective. So technically speaking when it came to closing a wound or setting a broken bone, I think Japanese surgeons, who had plenty to practice in the corpse ridden battlefields of feudal Japan, were quite effective for what they were worth. It is frequently portrayed in films and documentaries, that Japanese used opium as a pain killer, I'm not sure how accurate that is, but if you're living in a time period where the feudal family next door happens to want your head on a pike, you're going to need a lot of dope on hand for more than just throwing a wild disco party.

[Heiro de Bodemloze]

that is a vexing question indeed. I have read quite a lot on battles etc, but oddly enough I have never touched upon the medicine used after. I should have to check some on that. Can I advice looking through the former articles and posts of Ying, Duke of Qin? She was very knowledgeable before she sadly left us.

[Erwin Rommel]

http://www.ittendojo.org/articles/general-6.htm

Hope this helps, and for HeirofAlex, maybe a new material for his AAR...

[Heiro de Bodemloze]

That's a great resource, Erwin : Wait, you mean me or someone else?

[miramira]

Hi,

i can remember the source, but i have a book, which mentions the types of powders/medicines carried by ashigaru, and samuarai, and exactly which pouch would hold what etc.

anyway the carried a several chemcial powders which were based of certain types of ash, they would use these in summer to keep away mosquitos.


now days we need muhi, i will find the source soon, i think it was Secrets of the Samurai by Tuttle press.