Kampo was brought to Taiwan by Dr. Hong-yen Hsu (1917-1991), a native of Taiwan who had studied pharmaceutical science in Japan and became impressed by the Japanese approach to herbal medicine. He also took an interest in the technology that had been developed by Nagakura. On return from Japan, he established the Sun Ten Pharmaceutical Works in Taiwan and began producing Kampo medicines in 1963. Hsu also became director at the Food and Drug Control Division of the National Health Administration. He promoted the scientific study of Kampo by establishing the Brion Research Institute, where several researchers under his direction evaluated the safety and pharmacological actions of the formulas, their individual herb ingredients, and their active components. These researchers also studied the botanical origins of the medicinal materials sold in the Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japanese markets. Hsu brought the writings of Kampo practitioners to Taiwan, where their methodology was widely adopted at a time when there was virtually no direct communication with the practitioners in mainland China.

The introduction of Kampo to America was also through the work of Dr. Hong-yen Hsu, who emigrated to the U.S. from Taiwan. He set up two organizations in 1975: Oriental Healing Arts Institute (OHAI), to publish translations of Chinese medicine books, and Brion Herbs Corporation, to distribute Kampo medicines and similarly prepared Chinese herb formulas produced by Sun Ten. OHAI published a bimonthly journal (Bulletin of the Oriental Healing Arts Institute; later transformed into a quarterly journal, the International Journal of Oriental Medicine). Many of the journal articles were authored by Japanese doctors, including famous Kampo physicians, such as Keisetsu Otsuka and Domei Yakazu (Oriental Healing Arts provided translation and editorial services).

OHAI also published numerous books about Chinese medicine that were primarily based on the practice of Kampo, such as How to Treat Yourself with Chinese Herbs, Chinese Herbal Medicine and Therapy, and Commonly Used Chinese Herb Formulas with Illustrations. The books presented the formulas used by Kampo practitioners and listed the Kampo indications for their use, which often differed, at least in the specific details, from the indications found in books from mainland China (over time, more information from China was incorporated into the OHAI publications). OHAI published several books that were specifically about clinical experience in Japan by Japanese authors, such as: the clinical guide Natural Healing with Chinese Herbs by Otsuka, Yakazu, and Totoro Shimizu; the collection of case reports in Thirty Years of Kampo by Otsuka; and the book Combined Use of Oriental and Western Medicine by Toyohiko Kikutani. Additionally, OHAI published a translation of the Shanghan Lun that was annotated by Otsuka.

The Sun Ten herb formulas distributed by Brion Herbs Corporation were the same ones used in Taiwan and Japan. In fact, the Sun Ten factory was the only Taiwanese company, out of more than a dozen making similar products, that supplied Japan, having met the very strict import requirements that had been designed to protect Japanese industries. Later, Sun Ten established a factory in the U.S. to produce the formulas. It is the only major manufacturer of Kampo medicines in the U.S. The manufacturing is directed by one of Hong-yen Hsu's sons, Chau-shin Hsu, who also contributed articles and coauthored books published by OHAI. Several other Taiwanese manufacturers of Kampo style remedies now offer their products in the U.S., notably Kaiser Pharmaceuticals and Min Tong, following up on the lead taken by Sun Ten. In addition, Japanese and Korean firms have entered the market (South Korea also utilizes Kampo-style preparations). Translated books about Kampo and herb formulas are distributed to Europe, Canada, Australia, and other areas of the world.

The manufactured herb formulas have become popular in the West because of the convenience and quality of the dried extracts, along with further developments such as encapsulation and tabulating, as well as the availability of single herb extracts that can be used to make new formulas. The Kampo-style preparations are a source of formulas commonly used both in China and Japan (e.g., Rehmannia Six Formula; Liuwei Dihuang Wan), while the single herbs are a means of providing individualized prescriptions without having patients go through the process of preparing decoctions. The unique Kampo approach to diagnosis embodied in abdominal diagnosis is not used much in America, but the indications for use and understanding of herb formulas that have developed in Japan have enriched the understanding of Chinese medicine for practitioners here. As a means of broadening interest in the Kampo formulas, some efforts have been made at integrating them into the academic format preferred in China. For example, OHAI published A Comprehensive Guide to Chinese Herbal Medicine, by Zelin Chan and Meifang Chen (physicians from Shanghai), in which most of the formulas listed in the book are from the Kampo system, but formula modifications according to signs and symptoms, typical of what is done in China, are also described.

Ultimately, Kampo in the West is becoming integrated into a broader system capturing the features of Japanese, Taiwanese, and mainland Chinese approaches to traditional Chinese medicine with the intention of combining effectively with modern (Western) medicine. The experience of medical doctors in Japan working with traditional herb formulas offers one model of how the tradition can be utilized as a valuable part of modern medicine.