Sukehito Fukane compiled Honzowamyo, the oldest Japanese dictionary of medicines still in existence.
This encyclopedia was written in the year 918 by Fukane Sukehito in the Heian period (794-1185) and describes wasabi as a medicinal plant which at the time was known as wild ginger. Wasabi cultivation in Japan has continued for over a thousand years.
Sukehito Fukane served Emperor Daigo as a court physician and Gon no ihakase (assistant professor of medicine), during 901 to 923.
Sukehito Fukane modelled Honzowamyo after “Xinxiu Bencao” compiled in Tang-dynasty China, and includes names of medicines, which were found in other Chinese medical books and translated into Japanese, and information about whether the medicines (medical plants) were produced in Japan and where they were produced.