大麻: Taima and Ooasa

The Japanese people have historically been a nation of “sound.” Within the single kanji, “大麻 (Taima / Ooasa)”, lies embedded the entire history of cannabis in Japan. Thus, in this first article, I will establish the foundational understanding of 大麻 in Japan, because nearly all contemporary Japanese are confused and hold misconceptions about it. Without clarifying this, understanding the relationship between 大麻 and the Japanese people is impossible.

Firstly, 大麻 is currently pronounced “Taima,” but this designation was established relatively recently, dating back only to 1948 after Japan’s defeat in World War II, specifically at the enactment of the Cannabis Control Law by the occupying GHQ forces. At this time, the Japanese government was forced to accept the American regulation equating “marijuana” with narcotics. GHQ declared that “Indian cannabis plants (Cannabis indica) and Japanese cannabis plants were identical,” which marked the beginning of today’s ongoing confusion.

Japan’s relationship with 大麻 extends back more than 10,000 years to the Jomon period. Its uses spanned the entirety of lifestyle and became a central element of Japanese culture. 大麻 was extensively used in Shinto practices and everyday materials. To protect domestic 大麻 producers, the Japanese government repeatedly negotiated with GHQ, ultimately resulting in the enactment of the Cannabis Control Law in July 1948. This law established a licensing system for 大麻 cultivation controlled by prefectural governors. At the same time, however, 大麻 was also included in the Narcotics Control Law, completely prohibiting medical and academic research.

At this juncture, despite both being the same plant, the Japanese government was compelled to distinguish between 大麻 recognized as an American-style controlled narcotic and the 大麻 embedded in traditional Japanese culture. This distinction arose because spreading the traditional reading “Ooasa” as an illegal drug would provoke backlash from Japanese people, who had a long cultural history with 大麻. Consequently, the government deliberately chose the administrative term “Taima”  for 大麻 classified as an illegal drug by GHQ. Here lies the root cause of today’s confusion—the artificial distinction between “Taima” and “Ooasa.” In Japanese, the same kanji can have two readings: the Sino-Japanese “on-yomi” and native Japanese “kun-yomi.” “Taima” is the on-yomi reading, while “Ooasa” is the kun-yomi. Therefore, the current use of “Taima” since the postwar period is, in reality, an artificial legal terminology born out of necessity to clearly demarcate different legal contexts.

However, the origin of the pronunciation “Taima” can actually be traced back to the Meiji era, when the Meiji government aimed to propagate State Shinto through the system known as “Jingu Taima” (神宮大麻). Jingu Taima are sacred amulets or paper talismans distributed from Ise Grand Shrine since medieval times. During the Meiji period, in pursuit of nationwide imperial worship, the Meiji government positioned Ise Shrine (Inner Shrine), dedicated to the imperial ancestral deity Amaterasu Omikami, at the apex of the Shinto system, establishing a unified system of worship. Prior to this, Japanese people had diverse local faiths and generally did not worship the deity of Ise Shrine, unrelated to their own local origins. To create a unified imperial-worshipping Japanese identity, the government widely distributed Jingu Taima nationwide from Ise Shrine—a practice that continues today.

Further complicating the situation was GHQ’s insistence that “Indian cannabis plants and Japanese cannabis plants are identical.” But what exactly are these “Japanese cannabis plants” and “Indian cannabis plants”?

After 215 years of national isolation, during the Meiji era, Western pharmaceutical knowledge entered Japan from countries like the Netherlands, Germany, and Britain, resulting in documented imports and distribution of cannabis-based medicines such as “cannabis tincture” and “Indian cannabis extracts.” Indeed, the first Japanese pharmaceutical reference, the Japanese Pharmacopoeia published in 1886, listed “Indian cannabis” explicitly as “Cannabis indica, Cannabis sativa Linn.”, noting its pharmacological anesthetic (analgesic and sleep-inducing) effects.

During this period, Japan imported medical products derived from Indian cannabis, rather than cultivating the Indian cannabis plant itself. As these products were used medically, the Japanese government formalized their status as pharmaceuticals in 1887 under the “Pharmaceutical Sales and Physician Regulation,” legalizing licensed importation, sales, and prescriptions of “Indian cannabis.”

When cannabis was regulated under the International Opium Convention (Geneva Convention) in 1925, Japan aligned with international practices by restricting the import and usage of Indian cannabis but notably exempted traditional domestic 大麻 plants from these regulations. Practically, Japan showed compliance with the US-led international regulation regarding imported Indian cannabis, while simultaneously excluding traditional Japanese 大麻 plants from regulation. Therefore, when GHQ later stated post-war that “Indian cannabis and Japanese cannabis (大麻) were identical,” this was perceived as an assault and destruction of traditional Japanese culture, provoking strong opposition.

Today, international standards typically distinguish marijuana (recently referred to as cannabis) and hemp based on the THC concentration (generally THC 2.0%) established by the US, but postwar Japan abruptly regulated 大麻 and banned research. This halted research into original strains of traditional “Japanese 大麻 plants” previously cultivated. Furthermore, GHQ launched extensive anti-大麻 propaganda in Japanese society, leading to nationwide destruction and burning of 大麻 fields. Tragically, Japan consequently lost its ancient native 大麻 strains. Currently, the legally cultivated “Tochigishiro” in Tochigi Prefecture is a postwar cultivar specifically bred to maintain a very low THC concentration (around 0.2%) to avoid legal penalties.

Thus, in a short span, Japanese people forgot a relationship extending more than 10,000 years and were conditioned to view 大麻 as dangerous, distancing themselves from it to this day. Today, few Japanese realize the historical depth of 大麻’s role in their past.

The GHQ-driven destruction of Japan’s 大麻 culture over the past 77 years has effectively resulted in near extinction. Furthermore, this prohibition created yet another significant misunderstanding that has profoundly impacted contemporary Japan. This misunderstanding asserts that “Indian cannabis plants” have abundant THC, while historically, “Japanese cannabis plants” have always had virtually no THC, leading to a new binary classification:

● “Indian cannabis plant / Cannabis indica / Taima” = Cannabis / Marijuana

● “Japanese cannabis plant / Cannabis sativa / Ooasa / asa” = Hemp

This simplistic yet inaccurate categorization has spread widely and remains the primary source of distortion of historical facts today. Indeed, it is this binary misunderstanding that has created the mysterious confusion surrounding the terms “Taima” and “Ooasa,” despite sharing the same kanji “大麻”.

Recognizing this, and after reflecting on Japan’s more than 10,000-year 大麻 culture, one crucial insight remains: historically, Japan never adhered to such a dualistic perspective. Rather, 大麻 itself encompassed and represented everything holistically.

So, did Japan’s original 大麻 plants—the world’s oldest 大麻 archaeological specimens—truly contain almost no THC?

In the next article, we will delve deeply into this very question.

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