Uirō (Japanese medicine)

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Uirō is a traditional Japanese medicine from Odawara, Kanagawa. Its origins go back to 14th-century China. A doctor named Chen Yanyou from Taizhou, Zhejiang, moved to Japan when the Yuan Dynasty ended and the Ming Dynasty began. He practiced medicine in Hakata, using the title Chin Gairō. He later became a Buddhist monk named Sokei and died in Hakata.

Chen Yanyou’s son, Sōki, moved to Kyoto and brought a powerful medicine recipe called Reihōtan (霊宝丹). It was praised for many diseases and was given the name “Tōchinkō” by the emperor because of its fragrance. It was also called Uirō, from a Zhejiang pronunciation of his father’s government title Wailang. Sōki served guests with special cakes called Uirō cakes.

Sōki’s son Jōyu was highly respected. Jōyu’s son Soden, and then Soden’s eldest son Sadaharu, were so esteemed that Sadaharu’s son was given the family name Uno by the shogun Yoshimasa. Uno Sadaharu moved to Odawara in 1504 at the invitation of Hojo Soun, and Chin Gairō’s descendants have made Uirō medicine there ever since.

Today, Uirō medicine was once available in Kyoto and Odawara into the Genroku era (late 1600s). Uirō cakes appeared in Odawara during the Meiji era (late 1800s).

The medicine comes as small silvery pills, packaged in three plastic bags that together hold about 428 pills. It is used for stomachache, headache, dizziness, and other common ailments. Its ingredients include ginseng, musk, borneol, and cinnamon bark.

Uirō has two famous literary mentions. “Uirō Salesman” is a well-known Kabuki scene from the Soga Brothers’ Revenge, where a merchant touts Uirō’s merits. In Jippensha Ikku’s travel tale Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige, Yaji and Kita buy Uirō at Odawara Station thinking it’s a cake, only to discover it’s medicine.