Wakamoto (わかもと) Pharmaceuticals poster

Wakamoto (わかもと) Pharmaceuticals poster

Print


1930s
18 in x 24.75 in (Overall dimensions) lithograph
Lyon Collection - a related woodblock print from the 1850s Wakamoto Pharmaceuticals was established in 1929.

At a Bloomberg Business site they give a short description of this company:

"Wakamoto Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. manufactures and sells ethical and non-prescription drugs in Japan. It offers Strong Wakamoto, a gastrointestinal drug for digestion, controlling intestinal function, and nutritional supply. The company was formerly known as Society for Nutrition and Raising Children Co., Ltd. and changed its name to Wakamoto Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. in July 1943. Wakamoto Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. was founded in 1929 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan."

Reuters notes that today they also produce drugs to treat glaucoma and ocular hypertension.

But their production may not always have been so 'ethical' as they are often described because they seem to have been firmly established in Manchuria which was conquered and occupied by the Japanese in the 1930s and 1940s.

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One Japanese website notes that this poster is laid out like a game of suguroku (双六) where each of the separate areas function to tell us how the stomach and digestive system work.