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Podcast: New Books in Medicine
Episode: Timothy M. Yang, "A Medicated Empire: The Pharmaceutical Industry and Modern Japan" (Cornell UP, 2021)
Description: Timothy Yangâs A Medicated Empire: The Pharmaceutical Industry and Modern Japan (Cornell 2021) is a case study of Hoshi Pharmaceutical, a Japanese drug company that exemplified the push for a modern âculture of self-medication.â The history of Hoshi is tightly intertwined with state promotion of Western biomedicine beginning in the late nineteenth century, but also reveals tensions between pharmaceutical manufacturersâ self-promotion âas a humanitarian endeavor for greater social goodâ and their profit motive. As the title suggests, A Medicated Empire also expands our understanding of the production and consumption of drugsâlicit and illicitâin the Japanese empire, exploring topics including how...