Japanese Philosophy of Humors and Cuisine

[Yoshimitsu]

Greetings,

I am about to embark on a research project that explores what philosophy (if any) that the Japanese may have had:

• Regarding a theory of "humors" and
  Food intake as it pertains to a harmonious hara, body, etc.
  
• 
  
• 
  

Before I set forth on my journey, I thought I would see if anyone has any advise, references, or experiences related to my topics that they would be willing to share.

Domo,
Yoshi

[Noriko]

Actually, I was interested in this too, since there was a Laurel Challenge regarding humors and I was wondering what it was all about.
Anyway... I don't think Japanese culture has a concept of humours as the Europeans would have known it. What the Japanese did know about medicine and health, however, would have been what they learned from the Chinese during the early eras (Nara, early Heian etc.). Therefore, to do research on the ancient Chinese concepts of health and foods to maintain health would be where you'd want to start.
However, I read in Morris' "World of the Shining Prince", that basically, the medicines from China used would have been herbalism, acupuncture and moxa. I don't know what type of dietary practices would have been used.

[solveig]

Noble Cousin!

Greetings from Solveig!

akitsukiyoshimitsu said:

I am about to embark on a research project that explores what philosophy (if any) that the Japanese may have had Regarding a theory of "humors" and
Food intake as it pertains to a harmonious hara, body, etc.

As it turns out, Ishinpo is supposed to be the oldest extant book on Chinese medicine was written by a Japanese in kanbun. There are complete translations into modern Japanese, but very limited translations of individual books into English. For example, the section on sex has been published at least twice in English. There are indeed relevant sections on a variety of subjects. Now then, the Chinese appear to have had a five-fold elementary theory with five elements, five tastes, five organs, five cuisines, &c. Before tackling the Ishinpo itself, I recommend taking a look at Tosetsu Toyoigaku which is profusely illustrated and written in modern Japanese.

[Yoshimitsu]

Ohayo,

Domo, Noriko-dono and Solveig-dono. I appreciate your input.

At this stage of the project, I would have to agree that there does not appear to be a set of Japanese "Four Humours." At first glance, as you both suggest, anything in this vein looks like it would be of Chinese origin and attached to the "Five Elements," onmyodo, yin yang, etc. practices/concepts. This makes it more similar to (again, at first glance) to ayurvedic practices than the humours.

Solveig wrote: "Before tackling the Ishinpo itself, I recommend taking a look at Tosetsu Toyoigaku which is profusely illustrated and written in modern Japanese."

Domo - I will look into this title.

Yoshi

[yukigiri]

Yoshimitsu san,
try looking into the shito folk remidies and some of the practices of the shugenja, as for a formalised system of medicine traditionally the practices from china were seen as the best source of information after being brought to Japan from china by Buddhist monks, the system for balancing the "humors" would be the Godai and the flow of Ki (chi, Qi) throught the body other book that might be useful are ones about Kampo (Trad Chinese Med) which are seen as folk remidies and are still used in Japan today.
I hope this helps...

[Please Delete]

You know, another thought here is 'A Soup for the Qan': ISBN: 0-7103-0583-4 I recommend Inter-Library Loan unless you really want to have it as a permanent resource (it is $250). Anyway, it isn't Japanese, but it was written for the Yuan (Mongol) dynasty in China, and contains many recipes and explanations of what they are good for and why. While it is China, and not Japan, it may still prove useful to some extent.

[solveig]

Noble Cousin!

Greetings from Solveig! I you can read modern Japanese or classical Chinese, there is a copy of a Japanese edition of Ishinpo with modern Japanese translation in the libarary at University of Pittsburgh. I don't recall for sure whether this edition has the original Chinese, but it should as Japanese scholarship tends to include the original, a modern translationo, and notes in parallel text. Since Ishinpo was written by a Japanese physician, the "Chinese" may actually be Kanbun and not really Chinese.

Your Humble Servant
Solveig Throndardottir
Amateur Scholar