Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
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Chikujountanto is a Kampo herb formula from Japan. Its name means Bamboo Shavings and Gallbladder-Warming Decoction. In Kampo it counts as a single drug, even though it holds about 14 herbs.
Doctors in Japan give it for a cough that drags on after flu or a cold. It suits people whose cough comes with a mild fever, thick phlegm, poor sleep and a worn-out feeling.
Here is the short verdict on proof. The formula has long, steady use in Japan, but good human trials are thin. Long use is not the same as proof that it works, and this document says so once here rather than in every section.
No one has proven how it works in people. What follows is how Kampo doctors explain it, plus early lab work.
In Kampo terms, the formula is said to clear "heat" and "phlegm" that linger after a fever, and to settle a restless mind so sleep returns. That is a traditional model, not a tested mechanism.
Lab work on single herbs in the mix hints at anti-swelling and cough-easing actions. Licorice and Scutellaria (ogon) calm inflamed tissue in test tubes. Whether any of that happens at the dose a person swallows is not known.
Most people take it as a dried granule powder in a sachet. Japanese makers such as Tsumura and Kracie sell it this way, and it dissolves in hot water.
It also comes as tablets or capsules for people who dislike the taste. A few practitioners still boil the raw herbs into a tea (decoction).
In Japan it is a prescription medicine covered by national insurance. Outside Japan it is usually sold as a supplement, and quality is less closely checked.
The formula comes from the Chinese text Wanbing Huichun (1587), then became a staple of Japanese Kampo. It is a reworking of an older "warm the gallbladder" recipe.
Japanese doctors have used it for centuries for coughs that outlast the fever that started them. It remains a common hospital prescription in Japan today.
See a doctor the same day if you cough up blood, your breathing gets harder, or your fever goes above 38.5C or lasts more than three days.
Stop the formula and get medical help if your ankles or face swell, your blood pressure climbs, or your muscles feel weak, sore or crampy. These can be signs that licorice has dropped your potassium too low.
Get urgent help if your skin or eyes turn yellow, your urine goes dark, your heart races or skips, or you get a new dry cough with breathlessness. Also see a doctor if your cough has not improved after two weeks.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
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