Scroll down for questions to guide your exploration of the flyer.

To view the flyer in detail and read the annotations, hover over the image (no need to click). Each annotation consists of a blue part (an English translation, or [in brackets] commentary) and a black part (a transcription of the text). To view the flyer without annotations, click on "Source File" in the image caption.

There is no particular order in which to view the flyer, but it is best to divide it into four sections and read them separately, moving from right to left. Be sure to read all annotations before answering the questions.

Note for the specialist reader: The glosses (furigana) in the transcriptions of the text boxes on the upper left and lower right sections refer to glosses printed on the flyer itself. The glosses in most of the other transcriptions were added by me to assist reading; they follow modern kana writing conventions. I consulted another print of this flyer archived at the National Museum of Japanese History to complete damaged or unreadable parts.

• Describe the images on the flyer. What kinds of scenes and processes are being displayed in the lower left and upper right segments? 
• How does the flyer represent parents and children? What can their conversations tell us about the assumptions made by its creators about people's attitudes toward vaccinations?
• How, why, and to what extent does the flyer emphasize the foreign origins of both smallpox and the cowpox vaccine? 
• Identify as many references to religion as you can find on this flyer. What might the authors have intended by connecting vaccination to these various religious traditions and ideas? 
• Look at language and writing style. What can you infer from these about the intended audience of the flyer? 
• In sum, how does the flyer try to persuade its readers? 

Return to Smallpox and Smallpox Vaccines in the Popular Imagination.