Ryukyushobun and smallpox : Social factors of the smallpox epidemic in Okinawa at the turn from kingdom to prefecture (1886-1887)

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  • 「琉球処分」と天然痘 : 沖縄の近世・近代転換期における病と社会
  • リュウキュウ　ショブン　ト　テンネントウ　オキナワ　ノ　キンセイ　キンダイ　テンカンキ　ニ　オケル　ビョウ　ト　シャカイ

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Smallpox disease is said to be the most widespread infectious disease in the history of human race. With a high risk of passing the disease from the early incubation period on, around 20% of the infected die, however, in comparison with other epidemics it can easily be manipulated: once infected with smallpox it is highly likely to be immune against it, and for a long time a controlled infection with one of the weaker variants of smallpox was used as a "smallpox vaccination". In 1980, the World Health Organization (WHO) exterminated the disease. In Okinawa as well, from the era of the Kingdom of the Ryûkyûs, there are descriptions of the smallpox spread, and in 1886, seven years after the annexation by Japan and the establishment of Okinawa prefecture in 1879, the "largest spreading in the history of pox and epidemiology" (henceforth: the great epidemic) took place. Problems connected to thegreat epidemic such as the influx of new residents from Kagoshima and the not-yet immunized residents in Okinawa have been highlighted from a history of medicine point of view, but its social impacts have not been taken into account. The spreading of smallpox should not only be considered as a problem of the interaction between the virus and the human body (medical aspect), it is important to also look into the social background accompanying the spreading. This paper will look at the great epidemic in Okinawa from the turn of the Kingdom of the Ryûkyûs to Okinawa prefecture by concentrating on political tendencies towards medical treatment and hygiene, the social circumstances in Okinawa, the "lack of physicians (capable of Western medicine)" as a problem from the very beginning of establishment of the prefecture, and the mistrust and anxiety of Okinawans against Japanese physicians and the consequential inadequate vaccinations.

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