Roughly speaking, Japan’s historical relationship to China is similar to that of the West and ancient Rome and Greece: the Middle Kingdom has always served as a model for culture, literature and science, and the average Japanese person has quite a lot of respect for China, short-term squabbles over certain islands notwithstanding. The Japanese are great fans of the traditional Chinese herbal medicine called Kampo (“Chinese way”), and many products, from energy drinks and hangover remedies to Yomeishu (a kind of medicinal form of sake loaded with Chinese herbs) advertise themselves as making use of the magical power of Kampo medicine to make you healthy. Lately there’s been more interest in traditional Kampo medicines by companies in the U.S. and Europe — the trendy energy drink you had this morning probably had some Kampo herbs in it — which has had the unfortunate effect of pushing prices for Chinese medicines up by 300% or more in recent years.
Traditional Kampo medicines from China are growing in popularity.
