The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) holds a collection of 400 health-themed woodblock prints from 19th-century Japan, all illustrated in the ukiyo-e manner. The collection feature adverts for drugs, cosmetics and pharmacies, advice on the treatment of measles, cholera and other contagious diseases, how to care for a child care, what do look for during pregnancy, and the right way to get Buddhist or Shinto deities to intervene to ensure a cure.
Many of the prints date to the mid- to late 1800s, when Japan was opening to the West after almost two hundred and fifty years of self-imposed isolation. There’s a section on how to avoid contracting illnesses from foreigners.
Shōni-yaku-ō Kindoru-san (Kinder-puwder) King of children’s drug- – a drug advertisement by Morikawa, Chikashige ,1880
Celebrity sold. As in the image above, kabuki actors were used to sell medicines. The actors above are Ichikawa Danjuro (IX), in the role of the court lady Kunai no tsubone, and Onoe Kikugoro (V) as the warrior Takada Sannosuke . The drugs company has sponsored the show playing at the Shintomiza theater.
Hashika tai ji Conquesting measles by Utagawa, Yoshifuji – c. 1840
Fubu no on o shiru zu – Realize one’s parental love by Utagawa, Yoshitora, 1880
Kinrai ryūkō kabuki uwasa Kenbutsu no hara
Internal bodily functions dramatized by popular kabuki actors
Kiōgan and Kaitsūgan: famous formula from the West by Zuihiko, c. 1870
Ōtsue bushi- Ōtsue song on measles
Many of the amulets and magical practices used in Japan in connection with smallpox are red – just like in Jewish mysticism, the color is believed to offer protection from evil. According to the Shōni hitsuyō yōikugusa, published in 1798 by Kazuki Gyūan, “children suffering from smallpox should wear red garments, and all those caring for the sick should also wear red, as if the rash reddened, they would recover safely.”
Hōsō taiji no zu – Defeating smallpox – by Shungyō
Hashika no mamori – Charm against measles by Utagawa, Yoshitsuya, 1862
Defeating cholera by Kimura, Takejiro, 1886
Hashika majinai no uta – Poetic charm against measles by Utagawa, Yoshikatsu, 1862
Tsukisarae kokoku; Kaitetsu-gan, Kaitetsu-sui – monthly cleansing – c. 1830
Kitsuke kudashi dokutori-gan Dokutori – pill for cleansing by Hayashi, Motoharu, c. 1900
Nobose hikisage gozōen Gozōen for reducing dizziness, 1860s
Title- Kyō maruyama okaruyaki – Lightly baked confection by Kyō maruyama
Hikan yakuōen – drug for spleen and liver, 1895
Tokyo Bakurōchō Hirao-shi sei Cosmetic products of Hirao in Bakuro-cho, 1881
Fukunai dokusō-gan – Internal poison cleansing pills (if taken for a month, cleans various poison sicknesses such as syphilis and gonorrhea)
Mimochi on’na natsu no tawamure – Gotō juttai no zu Pregnant women playing in summer heat – 5 heads with 10 bodies by Utagawa, Kunitoshi, 1881
Kainin no kokoroe – Information on pregnancy by Hamano, Teisuke, 1880
Shinō kōshō gozō no nazorae – Suffering, death, and effective life: metaphorical classifying organs according to 4 levels of social status, shinō kōs hō (samurai, farmer, artisan, merchant) by Rodonsai, Nozoki Shōshiki
Tainai jukkai no zu Ten realms within the body – Utagawa, Kuniteru III, c. 1885
![Ōtsu-e shosa no uchi – Daikoku, Fukuroku From themes of Otsu paintings – Daikoku and Fukuroku [household gods] Description: Daikoku on a ladder, shaving the top of Fukuroku's head Creator/Contributor: Utagawa, Toyokuni III, 1786-1865, Artist Date: 1857](https://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Title-Otsu-e-shosa-no-uchi-–-.jpeg)
Ōtsu-e shosa no uchi – Daikoku, Fukuroku – From themes of Otsu paintings – Daikoku and Fukuroku [household gods]
Description: Daikoku on a ladder, shaving the top of Fukuroku’s head by Utagawa, Toyokuni III, 1857
Hachijō-jima no chinju, shō ichii Tametomo Daimyōjin raiyu – Legend of Tametomo, great bright god, guardian of Hachijō island by Utagawa, Kunimaro I, 1860s
Simple view of main Shinyō Tōzan Hall by Utagawa, Kuniyoshi, 1798-1861, Artist c. 1860
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