Jintan (Japanese medicine)
{{Short description|Japanese medicine and candy}}
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File:Jintan from Tokyo December 2014.jpg
Jintan ({{lang|ja|仁丹}}) is the trademarked name of a popular Japanese medicine/candy, developed by Morishita Hiroshi (1869–1943), and sold from the early twentieth century to today. Originally marketed as a cure-all for a number of ailments, Jintan is today thought of as a breath freshener and a candy.
History
Morishita Hiroshi was the eldest son of a priest at the Nunakuma-Shrine ({{lang|ja|沼名前神社}}, Numakuma jinja) in Fukuyama, Hiroshima.
After his father died, Morishita went to Osaka, and started to develop pharmaceutical products.
He was also a pioneer of Japanese advertising.Morishita Jintan 100nen kinenshi
The silver coated pellet-like pills were advertised from 1904 through the end of World War II in 1945.
Meaning of Name
The name Jintan combines the Confucian term jin ({{lang|ja|仁}}, humaneness, benevolence), with the Daoist term tan ({{lang|ja|丹}}, cinnabar, pills containing cinnabar, pills (the Elixir of life)) evoking the notion of longevity and health.
Composition
Jintan has about 16 ingredients including cinnamon, mint, cumin, clove, and Fructus Amomi.{{cn|date=December 2024}}
The pills contain or contained the metal silver. A 1987 case report in the Hiroshima journal of medical sciences documented a woman who had taken 500 Jintan pills a day for nineteen years and subsequently developed a blue tint to her skin, a condition known as argyria.Shimamoto, Y & Shimamoto, Hiroyuki. (1987). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/19508207_Systemic_argyria_secondary_to_breath_freshener_'Jintan_Silver_PillsR' Systemic argyria secondary to breath freshener 'Jintan Silver Pills®']. Hiroshima journal of medical sciences, Hiroshima University. 36. 245-7.
Packaging
During the Russo-Japanese War the packaging was re-designed as a Meiji period soldier in court dress with bicorne.
Literature
- Sōgō hokenyaku Jintan kara sōgō hoken sangyō JINTAN e – Morishita Jintan 100nen kinenshi. Osaka: Jintan, 1995.
- Machida Shinobu: Jintan ha naze nigai? Meiji-Taishōki no yakuhin kōkoku- zuhanshū. Tokyo, Borantia jōhō-nettowaaku, 1997.
External links
- {{Commonscatinline|Jintan (Japanese medicine)}}
- [http://www.jintan.co.jp/ Jintan website]
- [http://www.jintan.co.jp/museum/index.html Jintan Museum]