Kampo Medicine

What Kampo is

Kampo is Japan's traditional herbal medicine system. A 2020 review calls it a unique Japanese system derived from traditional Chinese herbal medicine. [1] The word itself literally means "method from the Han period" of ancient China, which points to its origin. [2] In Japan it sits inside mainstream health care: patients can receive Western and Kampo medical care at the same time in the same medical institution. [1]

This page is an overview. Five companion guides cover the history of Kampo, Kampo concepts such as sho, formulas and extract granules, insurance and regulation and daikenchuto research. This site gives information only, not medical advice.

Origins in brief

One review dates the first introduction of Chinese herbal medicine to Japan at 552 AD. [1] Kampo's specific Japanese character took shape during the Edo period, from 1600 onward, as Japan's seclusion widened the gap with Chinese theory. [2] After the Meiji Restoration of 1868 the government adopted the German system of medical education and excluded Kampo as pre-modern, and Kampo did not regain official attention until around 1970. [1] The full story is in History of Kampo.

How Kampo differs from Traditional Chinese Medicine

Kampo has Chinese roots but is its own Japanese tradition, so this site treats it separately from Traditional Chinese Medicine. A 2011 review says TCM emphasizes Yin and Yang and the five elements, while Japanese Kampo favors diagnostic methods that relate symptoms directly to the therapy. [2] Kampo does still use Yin-You (yin-yang) among its basic concepts, according to a 2020 review. [1] Within each tradition there have been many schools, and disputes among them are common. [3] A side-by-side view is in Kampo, Hanbang and Chinese medicine compared.

How it is practiced today

Japan lists 148 Kampo prescriptions for national insurance funding, and extract preparations make up up to 95 percent of the Japanese Kampo market. [2] A 2023 review reports that more than 80 percent of Japanese physicians prescribe traditional medicine, especially in primary care. [4] Even so, in 2009 insurance claims, Kampo drugs were prescribed for only 1.34 percent of all patients. [5] Details are in formulas and extract granules.

Core ideas, as traditional frameworks

A Kampo diagnosis, called sho, is a traditional framework built from history taking, abdominal palpation, tongue inspection and pulse diagnosis. [2] Sho and related ideas such as ki, ketsu and sui are not tested biomedical mechanisms. The 2020 review also cautions that it is risky to use Kampo or Chinese formulas outside the context of Kampo's own diagnostic paradigm. [1] This site gives no self-diagnosis tools. See Kampo concepts.

What research shows

A 2011 review included 135 studies of Kampo formulas: about half used a standard control and 28 a placebo control. [2] Two thirds of them enrolled fewer than 100 people and the overall methodological quality appeared low, and none used Kampo diagnosis as the basis for treatment. [2]

1. Kampo trials overall (to 2009)

   Insufficient evidence for most uses

   Many small trials of low overall quality. [2]

2. Daikenchuto after abdominal cancer surgery

   Promising but limited

   A 2025 meta-analysis of 11 randomized trials found a modest improvement in time to first flatus. [6]

3. Pain

   Insufficient evidence from the sources read

   A 2020 narrative review describes Kampo use for several pain conditions; it does not grade the evidence. [1]

4. Sho and qi-type concepts

   Traditional use only

   Not tested as biomedical mechanisms.

Results for one formula do not carry over to another. Read daikenchuto trials and historical use vs clinical evidence.

Buying outside Japan

In the United States the FDA regulates dietary supplements under a different set of rules than drugs, and has authority to act against an adulterated or misbranded supplement after it reaches the market. [9] A 2026 report on one US distributor found its top five Kampo formulations differ from those most prescribed in Japan. [10] Do not assume an imported product matches a Japanese prescription formula.

Who should seek conventional care first

See a clinician first for sudden, severe or worsening symptoms, pregnancy, liver or kidney disease, and for children. Do not stop a prescribed medicine because of any herbal product. NCCIH advises telling all your health care providers about the approaches you use. [11]

Related pages

Compare Traditional Korean Medicine, read about Chinese herbal medicine and return to Traditional Healing Systems.