Why are the Japanese and Chinese medicines sold at Ikedaya Yasubei Shoten so popular now? To find out, we must first talk about the medicines used in the Edo period. Hangontan is a Japanese and Chinese medicine that was in circulation in the mid-Edo period. It works as a medicine to improve stomach upset, overeating, indigestion, and other symptoms often caused by poor eating habits, and to revitalize gastrointestinal function. Hangontan was very popular in the Edo period, but after the Meiji period, it went into decline as the government promoted Western medicine. Pharmaceutical companies in Toyama Prefecture, without exception, began to produce medicines based on Western medicine.
Source: http://www.hangontan.co.jp/
Ikedaya Yasubei Shoten is a store that revives traditional Japanese medicines that have been used by the Japanese since ancient times in a new form to suit the modern body. Even in such a timely manner, Ikedaya Yasubei Shoten continues to make traditional Japanese medicines such as Hangontan, stubbornly adhering to the three family precepts of "trust," "tradition," and "study." Ecchu Hangontan is made by effectively combining herbal medicines of animal and plant origin, and slowly restores the natural healing power of the modern body that has been disturbed by stress. Western medicines use antibiotics to eliminate pathogens and suppress inflammation, so they have an immediate effect, but they do not solve the underlying problems of the body. Therefore, the efficacy of Japanese and Chinese medicines, which take time to solve the underlying problems of the body, is being reconsidered.
Source: http://www.hangontan.co.jp/
Ikedaya Yasubei Shoten is one of the oldest wooden buildings in Toyama City. The interior of the store houses a herbal medicine warehouse and a space for sitting down to sell products, with an open atrium that extends to the second floor. The living space and the workshop are integrated, creating an atmosphere that is somehow nostalgic and familiar, like the Gassho-style houses of Gokayama.
Source: http://www.hangontan.co.jp/
The shop sells Japanese and Chinese medicines in retro packaging. They still look stylish even today. It might be fun to display just the packaging in your room.
Source: http://www.hangontan.co.jp/
On the second floor of Ikeda Yasubei Shoten, there is a restaurant called "Yakuto." It was once a pharmaceutical factory and has been renovated to serve medicinal cuisine to tourists. The restaurant serves healthy dishes for each season, such as dishes that cool the body in summer and dishes that warm the body in winter. Medicinal cuisine is known to improve physical condition, so it seems to be especially popular with women.
Source: http://www.hangontan.co.jp/
You can try your hand at making pills under the guidance of the staff at Ikeda Yasubei Shoten. Using a flat, heavy tool, you can turn the cut medicine into small pills by moving the board with just the right amount of pressure.
Kami-fusen (Paper Balloon)
When I was a child, there was always a white flyer and a paper balloon when I went to my grandparents' house. The white flyer was something my grandmother had saved for her grandson who liked to draw, and the paper balloon was a free gift. This "something" represents Toyama.
Medicine sellers from Toyama travel around the country twice a year, in spring and autumn, carrying wicker trunks on their backs. Paper balloons were given as a freebie with medicine. Nowadays, only paper balloons are seen, but in the past, freebies included medicine woodblock prints (Toyama's version of ukiyo-e), Kutani ware teacups, Wakasa lacquer chopsticks, fans, furoshiki wrapping cloths, and many other items.
When not in the selling season, medicine sellers also worked in pharmaceuticals, purchasing medicines from drug wholesalers and making medicines using a variety of tools. It was also the job of medicine sellers to make medicine packaging bags. In Toyama City, there are pharmacies and museums where you can see the tools and materials used by medicine sellers.
The medicine sellers built up the pharmaceutical industry, one of Toyama's leading industries. Furthermore, the medicine sellers involved in pharmaceuticals were powerful capitalists, investing not only in pharmaceutical companies but also in the establishment of electric power companies, financial institutions, and educational institutions, making a great contribution to the economic development of Toyama Prefecture. The paper balloons were a fun extra for children, but now they have become a way to learn and share the history of these over-the-counter medicines.