Polytamin Tonic advertising postcard, c. 1920. “A tonic to enrich the blood, and promote strength and vitality.” Polytamin was a patented elixir imported from China to Japan by Takeda Chobei Shoten (today’s Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.).
See also:
“Dr. Sheldon’s Magnetic Liniment”, Kyobashi Restaurant, Kyobashi, Tokyo, c. 1905.
Bijin & Elixir, c. 1910.
Polytamin was a popular Japanese patent medicine sold during the late Taishō and early Shōwa periods, roughly between the 1920s and the outbreak of World War II.
The tonic was produced in China, imported and distributed in Japan by Takeda Chōbei Shōten of Osaka, the pharmaceutical trading house that would later become Takeda Pharmaceutical Company in 1943.
Marketed as a juyō kyōsōzai [nutritional tonic remedy], Polytamin was promoted as a restorative elixir that “builds blood and restores vitality,” claiming to relieve fatigue, poor appetites, and general weakness in both adults and children. Its formula, like many patent medicines of the era, was a blend of iron compounds, vitamins, and botanical extracts designed to appeal to growing public interest in modern Western-style health science that began to evolve during Japan’s rapid industrialization.
Bright and elegant visuals aligned Polytamin with new notions of beauty, health, and prosperity.