Reference; https://mbp-japan.com/tokyo/seino-1987/column/5107924/
Modified and translated by CFJA
We have thought of a couple of reasons why terms for moxibustion therapy did not exist:
1) In Traditional Japanese Medicine (including acumoxa therapy), due to the existence of the family of the medical practitioners, the techniques were transmitted only to the apprentices of the family of the medical practitioner.
2) In Traditional Japanese Medicine (including acumoxa therapy), due to its traditional customs of passing down from the parent to only one child, oral transmission was common.
In Japan, it has been a tradition for the son of the family of the medical practitioner to inherit the medical practice. When there is no male heir, the daughter would marry the most capable male apprentice to ensure the continuation of the medical lineage. This traditional custom is not found in China. This is the reason why traditional medical practices originating from China have been inherited in Japan. Additionally, passing down through oral transmission to prevent the theft of medical techniques might also be the reason why terms were not created.
Here is another reason:
3) During the Meiji period, Okumura Sansaku 奥村三策 – a teacher of acupuncture and massage at the Government School for the Blind and Mute 官立訓盲唖院 – played a significant role in the institutionalization of acumoxa therapy. However, due to his blindness, research on moxibustion therapy was challenging.
The Government School for the Blind and Mute 官立訓盲唖院 is now known as the National University Corporation Tsukuba University of Technology. It is now operated by the government to provide vocational education for individuals with visual and auditory impairments. Since the early period of the 44th year of the Meiji period, predecessors actively worked on creating textbooks, however, the content of moxibustion therapy seems to have remained unchanged since then.
※2 Traditional Japanese Medicine includes various therapies such as acupuncture, moxibustion, herbal, judo bonesetting, anma massage, and exercise therapy. During the Edo period, judo bonesetting therapy 柔道整復治療 was referred to as seikotsu 整骨/sekkotsu 接骨 therapy. Before that, seikotsu 整骨/sekkotsu 接骨 therapy and anma massage therapy were together referred to as anma按摩 therapy. During the Edo period, acupuncture and herbal therapies administering internal medicine treatments were known as hondo 本道. This was considered the mainstream as it was in the center of the medical practice. The term “kanpo 漢方” arise during the Meiji period as Western medicine became predominant. The recognition of herbal therapy as kanpo medicine among Japanese citizens began around the 40th year of the Showa period when it started to be covered by insurance. Many mistakenly acknowledge kanpo medical practice as kanpo medicine alone, however, the sequence of therapies described in Chinese medical texts is as follows: “first acupuncture therapy, second moxibustion therapy, third herbal therapy.” Kanpo 漢方, the Traditional Japanese Medicine, includes acumoxa therapy, herbal therapy (kanpo medicine), judo bonesetting therapy, anma massage therapy, lifestyle guidance, and exercise therapy.
Dr. Seino recognized the importance of lifestyle guidance and exercise therapy, naming it yosei therapy 養正治療, and emphasizes the necessity of integrating it with all other therapies, working towards systematizing this medical practice.
7 years ago, when Dr. Seino held a seminar abroad, he noticed the lack of terms for explaining moxibustion therapy. This is a problem, even before the matter of translation. Dr. Seino himself was astonished. He learned moxibustion therapy in university, later, practiced it for more than 30 years in Japan, took many apprentices and never had any trouble. Why? Because it is crystal clear from observation. However, when realizing the difficulty in teaching, he noticed the fact that he was unable to transmit the technique that he had been practicing.
Since then, he has been working towards creating terms for moxibustion therapy. Around 2018, most of the terms had been established. During a social gathering of the Japan Society for the History of Medicine 日本医史学会, Dr. Seino was discussing terminology with Dr. Hitoshi Nagano 長野仁 – a professor at the Morinomiya University of Medical Sciences 森ノ宮医療大学, also Dr. Seino’s junior at the department of acupuncture and moxibustion in the Meiji University of Acupuncture and Moxibustion 明治鍼灸大学 (Currently, Meiji University of Integrative Medicine 明治国際医療大学). Dr. Nagano said, “Please introduce it somewhere.” In the spring of 2019, Dr. Seino submitted it to the Japanese Journal of Acupuncture and Manual Therapies 医道の日本 (Jp. ido no nihon) which started in 1938, however, it was discontinued in July 2020 and was never published. Two years have passed since then. It has been well received by participants when using terms in seminars as it makes it easier to visualize the techniques. Currently, Dr. Seino is considering ways to disclose it to the public.
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