The problem was that until then herbalism in Japan had been based on a book called "Compendium of Materia Medica" written by Shizhen LI, which was introduced from China, and the theory was inapplicable to some animals, plants and minerals indigenous to Japan.
実はそれまでの本草学は中華人民共和国から伝わった李時珍の著書『本草綱目』を元に作られたもので日本固有の動植物、鉱物などに適した形をもっていなかった。