In late 2009, drastic budget cuts were recommended by a new cabinet-level government advisory unit. As part of these budget cuts, the Second Working Group of the Government Revitalization Unit moved to exclude Kampo medicines (traditional Japanese medicines) from reimbursement under the National Health Insurance program on Nov.11. A petition opposing the reform was initiated by Kampo physicians and patients on Nov.20. Three weeks later, 924,808 signatures had been collected and submitted to the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, and cancellation of the reform was announced on Dec.25. A total of 95,362 signatures were gathered on the web (http://kampo.umin.jp/). I report here an outline of signature-collecting campaign on the internet.

In late 2009, drastic budget cuts were recommended by a new cabinet-level government advisory unit. As part of these budget cuts, the Second Working Group of the Government Revitalization Unit moved to exclude Kampo medicines (traditional Japanese medicines) from reimbursement under the National Health Insurance program on Nov.11. A petition opposing the reform was initiated by Kampo physicians and patients on Nov.20. Three weeks later, 924,808 signatures had been collected and submitted to the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, and cancellation of the reform was announced on Dec.25. A total of 95,362 signatures were gathered on the web (http://kampo.umin.jp/). I report here an outline of signature-collecting campaign on the internet.