AThe Annals

Keisetsu Otsuka

1900 – 1980 · Japan · Traditional Chinese Medicine, Medicine

Revived Kampo in Japan and secured its place inside the national health insurance system.

Core concepts

  • Kampo as formula-pattern medicine (sho) rather than symptom matching
  • Return to the Shanghan Lun classical tradition
  • Standardised granulated extracts for hospital prescription

Key writings and teachings

  • Kampo Igaku (Kampo Medicine)
  • Kampo Shinryo Iten (Manual of Kampo Practice, with Yakazu and Shimizu)
  • Founding role in the Japan Society for Oriental Medicine

Influence on modern practice

Otsuka's revival led to Kampo formulas being approved by Japan's health ministry and reimbursed under national health insurance — roughly 148 formulas prescribable by licensed physicians, with Kampo taught in every Japanese medical school. It is the world's most fully integrated traditional-medicine system.

Key citations

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Evidence and applications

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How this work reaches present-day research, clinical protocols and everyday use — with each claim labelled by the strength of the evidence behind it.

Contribution traced forward

Kampo revived and placed inside Japan's national insurance system.

What modern research says

Clinical protocols

  • 148 Kampo formulas reimbursed under Japanese national health insurance
  • Kampo instruction required in all Japanese medical schools

Real-world uses

  • Routine prescription of Kampo by the large majority of Japanese physicians
  • GMP-standard herbal manufacturing exported globally

Talks and interviews

Continuity of ideas

Who shaped Keisetsu Otsuka, and who they shaped

Inherited from1

  • Zhang Zhongjing

    150 – 219 · Medicine

    Kampō's herbal practice is built on the Shanghan Lun's formula patterns.

Passed the work to

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Sources and references

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