ABSTRACT
Ninety percent of the crude drugs consumed in Japan depend on imports. Recently, the Japanese government has been promoting the domestic production of crude drugs. We investigated the history and current situation of the cultivation of medicinal plants and the production of crude drugs in the Tohoku region, where the 71st annual meeting of the Japan Society for Oriental Medicine was held in August 2021. In the Tohoku region, the cultivation of medicinal plants expanded after the Kyoho era of the Edo period. Several medicinal plants in this region have been successfully cultivated and distributed as local specialty products and are being preserved (e.g., Panax ginseng in Aizu, Carthamus tinctorius in Dewa). In some other areas, cultivation has just begun. In each cultivation area, a contractual relationship was established in which local governments, cultivation experts, farmers, Kampo-related associations, and pharmaceutical companies collaborated to continue and expand the cultivation business. To generate revenue, they have been trying to find sales channels not only for crude drugs but also for foods, cosmetics, textiles, and processed products. Although many issues remain to be solved in the distribution of medicinal plants as the source of crude drugs, this survey clarified the ingenuity of medicinal plant cultivation in various areas of the Tohoku region. The results of the investigation are available as videos on the website for members of the Japan Society for Oriental Medicine.
ABSTRACT
The consumption and sales of Kampo products, as well as the crude drugs that make up the products, have been increasing recently. However, the Kampo industry has been exhibiting a long-term decline due to the rise in price of imported crude drugs and reduction in standard prices of crude drugs by the Japanese National Health Insurance scheme. As the production of crude drug in Japan has been decreasing for the past thirty years, efforts have been made to improve the situation. Although the production of Aizu Ginseng decreased from 153 metric tons to 8 metric tons in Fukushima, university research institutes have initiated research on expansion of the farm field for Ginseng and reduction in a cultivation term. In Nara, farmers, pharmaceutical and food manufacturers, and university research institutes, aiming to develop new products using Yamato Angelica root, organized a joint council and have been working together to establish integrated systems from cultivation to sales. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and Japan Kampo Medicines Manufacturers Association have held local meetings with farmers and pharmaceutical companies in different areas throughout Japan over the past three years from fiscal year 2013. In order to reduce national healthcare costs by Kampo medicine, it is necessary to upgrade the health care system where not only Kampo extract products but also medicinal plants as raw materials including decoctions can be used. Discussions on measures to cover the costs of domestic production of crude drugs should be required.