Water cures in Japan: The case of a health manual in the early nineteenth century

Abstract

This article examines a variety of practices that involve water cures in Japanese medical history. Focusing on a health manual, Byōka suchi (What a household with sick persons should know, published between 1832-1835), by Hirano Jūsei , this article describes how water cures were applied for many symptoms and include listening, washing, bathing in hot water, spitting, imbibing, soaking and immersion. Hirano's text about the application of water cures referenced both Japanese and Chinese classical literature, but also incorporated Western ideas of hydrotherapy. © 2009 Brill.