Shikintan Pills

Cure-all Shikintan Pills

The ninja knew all there was to know about poisons and medicines.

They extracted poison from aconites and poison-nut trees, which they used in battle and for espionage, and this knowledge they applied to medicines.

To put it another way, medicines could have poisonous effects depending on how they were used and in what quantities.

Medicines the ninja commonly peddled in order to gather information included painkillers and medicines for worms and diarrhea. “Shikintan” pills and “daranisuke” were typical of these.

Shikintan Pills

Shikintan were pills made of dried and powdered sanjiko, gallnuts, takado daikon and musk (musk glands from musk deer). Sanjiko comes from the scaly bulbs of Tulipa edulis, and it has an invigorating effect. Gallnuts are the leaves of sumach. They are high in tannin and are effective for vomiting and purging. Takado daikon, which has a diuretic effect, and musk, which was used for perfume and as a cough medicine, are thought to have been common household medicines for treating everything from stomachache to fatigue. Selling these therefore provided an ideal way for the ninja to visit places on a regular basis in order to scout out the area and gather information without arousing any suspicion.

Daranisuke

Daranisuke was made by boiling down the bark of the Chinese cork tree in water, and it had an antibacterial action effective against the colon, dysentery and cholera bacilli and against staphylococcus. It is a well-known cure for stomach complaints and can still be bought by tourists in the Ominesan area. The ninja used this medicine in a slightly unusual way; a quick lick after days on a mission would make the ninja feel fully refreshed.