Doshomachi Museum of Medicine is located in Doshomachi, Chuo Ward, Osaka, within the grounds of Sukunahikona Shrine. The museum introduces the long history of medicine and the pharmaceutical trade in Japan, with a particular focus on Doshomachi, an area that has been closely associated with the pharmaceutical industry for centuries.
Together with the nearby shrine, the museum provides a valuable opportunity to discover how medicine, commerce, religion, and local community life have developed alongside one another in the heart of Osaka.
The museum’s collection includes documents from medicine merchants of the Edo period, materials dating from the Meiji period onward, medicinal herbs, posters from the 1960s and 1970s, and promotional and premium products associated with the pharmaceutical industry.
The exhibitions were substantially renewed in April 2013, creating a more comprehensive introduction to the history and culture of medicine in Doshomachi.
The permanent exhibition introduces the world of traditional Japanese medicine through historical objects. Displays include medicine bags once used for the traditional “okigusuri” home medicine system, tools used by medicine merchants, registers recording members of pharmaceutical merchant associations, bidding boxes, abacuses, and other materials.
These objects help visitors understand how the pharmaceutical trade was organized before the development of modern pharmaceutical companies and contemporary medical distribution systems.
Themed displays introduce visitors to crude drugs, medicinal plants, and household medicines. They explain the ingredients used to make medicines and the development of remedies intended for everyday use in Japanese households.
The museum also introduces historical figures who had connections with Doshomachi. One example is playwright Kazuo Kikuta, who once worked for a medicine wholesaler. His experience there later influenced his writing, including his work Gashintare.
Stories such as these show that Doshomachi’s pharmaceutical heritage was not limited to business and medicine, but also formed part of the wider social and cultural life of Osaka.
Doshomachi’s reputation as “the town of medicine” dates back to the early Edo period. During the Kan’ei era, a merchant from Sakai named Konishi Kichiuemon established a medicine shop in the area.
The pharmaceutical trade expanded considerably over the following decades. In 1722, 124 medicine merchants received official recognition from the Tokugawa shogunate and were permitted to establish medicine prices and distribute medicines throughout Japan.
At the time, medicines included Chinese medicinal materials imported from overseas as well as Japanese medicinal ingredients. Determining the quality and authenticity of these materials required specialized knowledge.
Medicine merchants therefore played an important role in examining and managing medicinal ingredients, helping maintain the quality of medicines distributed throughout Japan. This system contributed to Doshomachi’s development as a major center of the pharmaceutical trade.
In 1822, when cholera spread through Osaka, medicine merchants in Doshomachi prepared a traditional remedy known as Kotou Sakki Ougan-en. After religious prayers were performed, the medicine was distributed free of charge to the public as a protective remedy against disease.
The remedy became associated with protection from epidemics, and this episode is traditionally connected with the origin of the papier-mache tiger that remains one of the best-known symbols of Doshomachi’s pharmaceutical heritage.
During the Meiji period, Western medicine began to spread throughout Japan. Medicine merchants in Doshomachi responded by studying Western medical knowledge and new approaches to pharmaceuticals.
These efforts contributed to the development of modern pharmaceutical education and industry in Osaka. The area’s long tradition of medicine-related commerce helped establish Doshomachi as a major center for pharmaceutical companies, a role it continues to play today.
The Doshomachi Museum of Medicine opened in October 1997. Since its establishment, it has served as a cultural facility dedicated to preserving and communicating the history and traditions of Doshomachi’s pharmaceutical industry.
Rather than presenting medicine solely from a scientific perspective, the museum explores the subject through historical documents, commercial practices, traditional remedies, local customs, and the people who supported the development of the industry.
The museum stands within the grounds of Sukunahikona Shrine, one of the most important places associated with Doshomachi’s pharmaceutical heritage.
Known locally as “Shinno-san of Doshomachi,” the shrine is traditionally associated with medicine, health, and prosperity in business. It is particularly popular among people working in the pharmaceutical industry and those praying for good health.
The principal deities are Sukunahikona-no-Mikoto and Shennong Yandi. Both are strongly associated with medicine and healing, making the shrine especially relevant to the history of Doshomachi’s pharmaceutical community.
The shrine is also visited by people praying for recovery from illness and, in recent years, for the health and longevity of their pets.
The shrine was founded in 1780 to pray for the safety and prosperity of the pharmaceutical trade. It was destroyed by fire during the 1837 uprising led by Oshio Heihachiro but was subsequently rebuilt.
The shrine buildings were reconstructed in 1910, and the shrine survived the devastating Osaka air raids of 1945. Its survival is an important part of the history of Doshomachi and the surrounding central Osaka district.
In 1980, restoration work was carried out to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the shrine’s establishment, including repairs to the main sanctuary and worship hall.
A Shikinen Grand Festival is now held once every ten years as part of the shrine’s continuing religious traditions.
The shrine’s main sanctuary, offering hall, and worship hall are registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan. Events associated with the Yakuso-ko pharmaceutical community have also been designated an Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Osaka City.
The Shinno Festival is held every year on November 22 and 23. It is the principal festival of Sukunahikona Shrine and is traditionally known as Osaka’s “Tome-matsuri,” or final major festival of the year.
During the festival, pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies throughout Doshomachi display festival lanterns, and the streets around the shrine become lively with worshippers and visitors.
The papier-mache tiger is one of the most recognizable symbols of the Shinno Festival. Its history is connected with the 1822 cholera epidemic and the traditional medicine distributed by Doshomachi’s medicine merchants.
Five-leaf bamboo branches are also decorated with prayer charms bearing wishes such as “family safety” and “freedom from illness.” These traditional charms continue to be sought by visitors during the festival.
The Doshomachi Museum of Medicine offers a unique way to explore a side of Osaka that is often overlooked by visitors. The city is famous for its food, entertainment, and merchant culture, but it also has a long and important history as a center of medicine and pharmaceuticals.
By exploring the museum’s historical documents and objects and then visiting Sukunahikona Shrine, travelers can see how the pharmaceutical trade developed from Edo-period medicine merchants into the modern pharmaceutical industry.
For anyone interested in Japanese medical history, traditional remedies, Osaka’s merchant culture, and the relationship between commerce and religion, the Doshomachi Museum of Medicine provides an intimate introduction to the heritage of one of Osaka’s most distinctive historic districts.