Welcome to May’s Uncanny Japan. In this episode I talk about the God of Smallpox (housougami/疱瘡神). Come listen to the beliefs in this fearsome god and how dogs and the color red kept him at bay.
In the above picture you can see a child sick with smallpox and all the talismans placed around him for protection. Notice all the red and the taisha, too.
The above photo is of an aka-e (red picture) of a taisha (sea bream car).
Above is the samurai Tametomo scaring away the God of Smallpox.
Credits
The intro/outro music of Uncanny Japan is a song by Christiaan Virant (“Yi Gui” from Ting Shuo). The whole album is just gorgeous as it everything else by FM3.
