Kim Hoi-Eun
Department of History, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-4236, USA.
Med Hist. 2013 Apr;57(2):249-68. doi: 10.1017/mdh.2012.105.
Seirogan, a popular anti-diarrhoeal pill, is arguably one of the most successful pharmaceutical products of modern Japan. What is less known is that the Japanese army initially developed Seirogan during the Russo-Japanese War as the ‘Conquer-Russia-Pill’, which was later marketed to the public by private manufacturers. Previous scholars have emphasised the top–down governmental method of mobilising private sectors to manipulate public opinion for the cause of external imperialist expansion and domestic stability during wartime Japan. But the matrix that the Conquer-Russia-Pill allows us to glimpse is an inverted power relation among the state, commercial sectors, and imperial citizens. While the Japanese government remained indifferent if not hostile to jingoistic pharmaceutical manufacturers who could easily disrupt international relations, pharmaceutical companies quickly recognised and exploited the opportunities that the Conquer-Russia-Pill and its symbolism provided under the banner of the empire. In turn, Japanese consumers reacted to commercial sermons carefully anchored in patriotic and militaristic discourses and images by opening their wallets. In other words, the popularity of the Conquer-Russia-Pill was a culmination of the convergence of a governmental initiative to enhance military capabilities, the commercial ingenuity of pharmaceutical manufacturers, and a consumer response to patriotic exhortations.
正露丸是一种广受欢迎的止泻药，可以说是现代日本最成功的药品之一。鲜为人知的是，日本军队最初在日俄战争期间研发了正露丸，当时名为“征露丸”，后来由私营制造商推向市场。以往学者强调了战时日本政府自上而下动员私营部门操纵舆论以推动对外帝国主义扩张和国内稳定的方式。但征露丸让我们得以瞥见的是国家、商业部门和帝国公民之间一种倒置的权力关系。尽管日本政府对那些可能轻易破坏国际关系的极端民族主义制药商即便不是怀有敌意也漠不关心，但制药公司很快认识到并利用了征露丸及其象征意义在帝国旗帜下所提供的机会。反过来，日本消费者通过掏腰包对精心锚定在爱国和军国主义话语及形象中的商业宣传做出了反应。换句话说，征露丸的流行是增强军事能力的政府举措、制药商的商业智慧以及消费者对爱国劝诫的回应这三者汇聚的结果。
