Smallpox biography

Japanese mythological figure

Smallpox demon (Japanese: 疱瘡神, Hōsōkami) or smallpox devil is a demon which was believed to be responsible for causing smallpox in medieval Japan. In those days, people tried to appease the smallpox demon by assuaging his anger, or they tried to attack the demon since they had no other effective treatment for smallpox.

History

In Japanese, the word hōsōshin or hōsōgami (疱瘡神 (ほうそうしん, ほうそうがみ）) translates literally to "smallpox god". According to the Shoku Nihongi, smallpox was introduced into Japan in 735 into the Fukuoka Prefecture from Korea. In those days, smallpox had been considered to be the result of onryō, which was a mythological spirit from Japanese folklore who is able to return to the physical world in order to seek vengeance.^[1] Smallpox-related kami include Sumiyoshi sanjin.^[2] In a book published in the Kansei years (1789–1801), there were lines that wrote that smallpox devi