This content was created by Maren Ehlers.
Photograph of Doi Toshitada
1 media/Figure Doi Toshitada_thumb.jpg 2020-01-09T18:34:16-05:00 Maren Ehlers 18502c6775e5db37b999ee7b08c8c075867ca31d 35 4 Photograph of Doi Toshitada plain 2020-01-09T18:41:19-05:00 Ōno City Museum of History Maren Ehlers 18502c6775e5db37b999ee7b08c8c075867ca31dThis page is referenced by:
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The Territorial Approach to Vaccinations: Ōno Domain
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Maren Ehlers
Ōno's case gives insight into the political motivations of domain rulers for obtaining the smallpox vaccine and the role of governmental coercion. Ōno's lord Toshitada seems to have viewed vaccinations as part of a mercantilist agenda. This meant that he prioritized the fiscal needs of his domain and sought to spread the vaccine primarily within his territory, even as he took advantage of the border-crossing networks of his physicians in obtaining the vaccine.
Toshitada regarded all resources within his territory as a potential source of wealth, and this included the working bodies of subjects. In 1842 Toshitada launched a major domain reform with the goal of improving the domain’s budgetary situation. During the Tenpō famine in the 1830s, the domain had lost at least 4,900 lives (out of a population of approximately 29,000), and Toshitada apparently saw vaccinations as a way to boost the economy by increasing the number of working bodies [Fukui kenshi, Tsūshi-hen 4, 496]. One of the earliest domain edicts advertising the benefits of the vaccine began with the statement that in “Holland,” not a single life had been lost to smallpox since the commencement of the vaccinations, and the population was increasing every year. In 1858, the government claimed that in the past seven or eight years the domain population had increased by 2,000 thanks to vaccinations ["Shutō shōrei ni tsuki furegaki," 1851, in Fukui kenshi, Shiryō-hen 7, 458-459].
For Ōno's lord and his advisers, vaccinations were thus linked to territorial rule. On one hand, the mercantilist motive seems to have accelerated the spread of smallpox vaccination among the subjects of Ōno domain, given the strong interest the state took in their implementation. On the other hand, domain rule also hindered transmission because of of the domain territory's lack of coherence. To further explore the subject of territorial fragmentation, go to the pathway "Vaccinating the Nishikata Exclave." Or stay on this pathway to explore vaccinations in Ōno and the role of governmental coercion.
