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  • A Japanese physician in full costume. Halftone.
  • 15th century Chinese scholar-physician, Japanese woodcut
  • A Japanese physician reading a book. Lithograph by Hanhart after C. Wirgman.
  • A Japanese physician applying moxa (a substance produced from leaves of various wormwoods) as a cautery: igniting it on the skin of a patient's back. Wood engraving.
  • Prunus mume Siebold & Zucc. Rosaceae Chinese Plum, Japanese Apricot. Distribution: Eastern Asia. The fruit is used to flavour alcohol and used as a digestive to improve appetite. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Acer japonicum Thunb. Sapindaceae. Japanese maple. Small tree. Distribution: Japan, North Korea. Can be tapped in early spring for its sugar-rich sap although it is not as abundant as in Acer saccharum. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Illicium anisatum L. Illiciaceae Japanese Star Anise. Distribution Japan. This was also called Illicium religiosum and the fruits are toxic. Effects of taking Illicium anisatum tea include epilepsy, vomiting, shakiness and rapid eye movements (US Food and Drug Administration report, 2003). Lindley (1838) and Bentley (1861) thought that I. anisatum was used in cooking, but they were describing the uses of I. verum which is used as a spice in Asia. Illicium anisatum syn. religiosum is 'used to make incense in Japanese and Chinese temples and was called Skimi by Kaempfer. This derives from the Japanese word 'shi-kimi'. The seed pods of both species contain shikimic acid (the name being derived from the Japanese) from which Tamiflu, the antiviral drug was synthesised. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Illicium verum Hook.f. Illiciaceae Chinese Star Anise Distribution: China. Illicium anisatum Japanese Star Anise. Distribution Japan. Illicium verum is used as a spice in Asian cooking and for Star Anise tea. The distilled oil is added to cough mixture used by children. Introduced to Europe in 1588 (Pharmacographia Indica, 1890). Illicium anisatum syn. religiosum, has been confused with it (Lindley, 1838, Bentley 1861) but is poisonous and was used to make incense in Japanese and Chinese temples. It was called Skimi by Kaempfer. The seed pods of both species contain shikimic acid (the name being derived from the Japanese word for the plant - shi-kimi) from which Tamiflu, the antiviral drug was synthesised. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Skimmia japonica Thunb. Rutaceae 'Rubella' Distribution: China, Japan and E. Asia. The genus name is derived from the Japanese word shikimi (Stearn, 1994). All parts of the plant are poisonous, containing skimmianin. It is said to cause vomiting and, if eaten in large quantities, cardiac arrest. (Duke, 1985) Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Fatsia japonica (Thunb.) Decne. & Planch. Araliaceae False castor oil plant. Distribution: Japan, South Korea. Not even in the same family as the castor oil plant, Ricinus communis. An ornamental plant, Fatsia from the Japanese word for 'eight' hachi referring to the eight-lobed leaf. The sap can cause dermatitis. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Athyrium niponicum (Mett.) Hance var. pictum (Maxwell) Fraser-Jenk. Woodsiaceae. Japanese Painted fern. Hardy fern. Distribution: Japan. Young fronds are boiled and eaten in Japan. However after the discovery of thaiminases in certain ferns Pteridum aquilum (bracken), Marsilea drummondii and Cheilanthes sieberi cautions are given regarding the risk of thiaminase in all ferns. It can be mostly removed by boiling, but otherwise causes vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency and beriberi in a matter of weeks. Eating Bracken fern also causes cancer, as do the spores, but I could find no report of other ferns being toxic. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • A Japanese doctor taking the pulse of a patient. Halftone after a photograph by Messrs. Kajima & Suwo.
  • Russo-Japanese War: a man being treated on a table in an open-air Japanese field hospital, others watch. Halftone after M. Cowper, after a photograph, 1904.
  • Acu-moxa chart: points of the throat and neck, Japanese
  • Acu-moxa chart: points of the shoulders, Japanese woodcut
  • Acu-moxa chart: points of the head and face, Japanese woodcut
  • Primula sieboldii 'Long Acre hybrids'
  • Acu-moxa chart: Points of the side of the torso
  • Acu-moxa chart: Renmai (the Director Vessel), Japanese
  • Acu-moxa chart: Liver channel in the lower limbs, Japanese
  • Acu-moxa chart: Kidney channel of foot shaoyin in the legs
  • Acu-moxa chart: Liver channel in the thorax and abdomen
  • Acu-moxa chart: points of the thorax and abdomen, Japanese
  • Acu-moxa chart: Gall bladder channel in the head and nec
  • Body measurements: palm measurement method, Japanese woodcut
  • Acu-moxa chart: Heart Envelope channel of hand jueyin
  • Acu-moxa chart: Small intestine channel of hand taiyang
  • Anatomical illustration: Lumbar and pelvic bones, Japanese
  • Anatomical illustrtaion: lumbar and pelvic bones, side view
  • Acu-moxa chart: Liver channel of foot jueyin in the head