Bodies and Structures 2.0: Deep-Mapping Modern East Asian History

Mandatory Vaccinations

After the retransmission of 1850, Ōno’s vaccinators were determined not to let the vaccine go extinct a second time. In the 5th month (?), Tsuchida Ryūwan, Hayashi Unkei, and Nakamura Taisuke built a vaccination clinic in the Ichibanmachi neighborhood in the castle town, using money granted for that purpose by the lord. Until that point they had conducted vaccinations at their homes, taking turns on a monthly basis [Ryuuin Kiji?]. Little is known about the internal workings of that clinic, but it did create a home base for the vaccination program and facilitated visits at least for children in the castle town and its immediate vicinity.

Yet the number of volunteers remained low, and towards the end of 1851 the supply was once again on the verge of extinction. The domain government reacted by issuing another edict to advertise Motodo’s case and announce a survey of all unvaccinated children in the domain. As the edict stated, “[t]he lord’s intention is to prevent extinction by making it so that in case the vaccine seems to be going extinct, the three doctors can summon people by name and administer the treatment.” The edict also reassured poor parents that the lord had ordered the physicians to vaccinate their children free of charge [“Shutō shōrei ni tsuki furegaki,” 1851, in Fukui kenshi, Shiryō-hen 7, 458–59].

In subsequent years, the domain increasingly relied on coercion to mobilize sufficient numbers of children. In 1852, after a consultation with his doctors, Toshitada decided to make vaccinations compulsory for castle town residents. Doctors were to vaccinate all eligible children from every block association (chō) in the town, and chō officials were asked to facilitate the process by applying pressure on reluctant parents [MT goyōdome 1852.4.28; Shoyōdome (Nojiri) 1852, fourth month, YH 1001 and 1002, 734–35]. By 1855, parents of unvaccinated children were being punished with house arrest if their offspring was found out to have contracted the disease, and chō officials faced punishment if parents within their block neglected to report for vaccinations. The government also disciplined town children who vandalized the sign in front of the vaccination clinic [MT goyōdome 1855.4.11, 8.8, YH 1067 and 1070, 782–83; 1856.9.16, 10.21, YH 1091 and 1095, 792–93; Iwaji, Ōno-han no yōgaku, 69].

marginalized people. both inclusion and exclusion.
pointed out that there were beggars in town who were suffering from smallpox, and ordered the town's community of beggar bosses to expel them as they would ... [Ōno shishi, Yōdome-hen, 1860, 11/6, p. 867]


Outcastes
Entry ban on beggars suffering from smallpox

This page has paths: