Virtual Mogami 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #3 Kissho-in Temple

     Kissho-in Temple was founded at the foot of the alluvial cone of Tachiya River in 737, when the 735–737 Japanese smallpox epidemic raged all over Japan, to pray for repelling the plague.

     It is thought that the prototype virus for smallpox was likely to have entered humans from camels.  In human bodies, the prototype virus underwent changes that led to the formation of the smallpox virus.  In China, smallpox was first documented in 495, when Qi and Northern Wei fought.  It entered Qi during the war.  After that, it became prevalent throughout mainland China in a short period of time.  It also went around in the Korean Peninsula in the first half of the 6th century.  In the 6th century, it was carried from China to Japan.  In Japan, the epidemic of 735–737 is believed to have killed as much as one-third of its population.  The epidemic reached Ideha Province in 737.  It also spread to Silla and became pandemic.

     By August, 735, there was a smallpox epidemic in northern Kyushu, and in response to the situation, the Kyushu Regional Government in Dazaifu requested the Imperial Court to exempt the peasants of its jurisdiction, Kyushu, from part of the tax and the local special products, for the current year on August 23rd.  The request was granted, but it means the peasants still had to carry their tax rice to the central capital.  That spread the smallpox to the central capital and then to the other provinces as the other peasants from the other provinces made their own round trips.  The Imperial Court's greediness caused the endemic epidemic.  Furthermore, in February, 736, Emperor Shomu (701-756) appointed an envoy to Silla, which is a kind of government-led trading.  In April, the mission headed by Abe Tsugumaro (?-737) departed from the central capital.  The mission headed for Silla via northern Kyushu, but they caught smallpox on their way.  One of their attendants, Iki Yakamaro (?-736), died of the smallpox in Iki before reaching Silla with his elegy left :

Thinking life is as usual,

I departed you.

Now, my heart should visit you.

     The mission brought smallpox to Silla.  Later, Tsugumaro also died of smallpox in Tsushima on his way back from Silla.  The Imperial Court's greediness made an endemic pandemic.

     The first epidemic of smallpox is supposed to have broken out in the mid-6th century.  By the beginning of the 8th century, the Imperial Court introduced an epidemic monitoring system modeled on China's, requiring that whenever an endemic occurred in a province, the provincial government should report it to the Imperial Court.  Due to the existence of this system, detailed records were kept even during the epidemic that occurred from 735 to 737.

     According to estimates made by William Wayne Farris, a scholar of Japanese history, making use of the official tax books preserved in the Shoso-in, the death toll from smallpox in Japan reached 25-35% of the total population at the time, and in some areas the death rate was much higher.  According to Faris's estimates, between 1 and 1.5 million people died from smallpox in Japan during this period.  According to Shinji Yoshikawa, another historian, 11 of the 33 central government high-ranking officers at the time died, and in addition, about 150 government middle-ranking officials died during the same period.  In the two years of 736 and 737, 57 low-ranking officials were promoted to middle-ranking, and As 8 to 10 low-ranking officials were promoted to the middle-ranking every year even in a normal year, the actual death toll caused by smallpox is estimated to be around 40-50 officials.  Faris' estimation also holds true for the ruling class.

     The central government issued an ordinance on June 26th, 737, which included 7 articles on Epidemic Treatment Methods and Prohibited Foods, etc..

1. This epidemic is called the red spot.  Symptoms are similar to malaria.  Rashes appear 3 to 4 days or 5 to 6 days after getting a fever.  Pimples appear for 3 to 4 days.  The patients' whole body is burning hot and they constantly want to drink cold water.  They should never be allowed to drink it.  Once the sores are gone, the fever subsides, but diarrhea occurs.  If not treated quickly, they will have blood in the stool.  Patients may have blood in stool in the early stage of the disease.  There are four types of concurrent symptoms: cough, vomiting, vomiting blood, and nosebleeds.  Diarrhea is the most urgent thing to treat.  You should know these things before you begin your treatment.

2. Wrap their belly and waist in cloth or wadded cotton to keep them warm.  Keep them warm.

3. Do not leave the patient lying on the ground; place the patient on a rug on the floor.

4. Give soups of rice gruel, porridge, fried rice, or millet, hot or cold, as they like.  Avoid raw fish, raw meat, raw fruits, and raw vegetables.  Be especially careful with unboiled water and ice.  When they have diarrhea, feed them lots of boiled garlic chives and green onions.  If they have bloody or milk-like stools, boil a mixture of starch and rice flour and have them drink it several times a day.  Also, use glutinous starch or rice starch dissolved in hot water.

5. If diarrhea does not stop, give them soups or porridges 5 or 6 times a day.  Be sure to use something that has been ground with a mortar.

6. Most people with this disease don't want to eat, but you have to force them to eat. Also, if you frequently put roasted sea vegetables or salt in their mouth, even if their mouth and tongue get rough, the results seem to be good.

7. Even after recovery, they should not eat raw fish, raw meat, raw fruits, or raw vegetables for 20 days, and also should refrain from drinking raw water, bathing in cold water, having sex, or walking in the wind and rain.  If they don't follow these precautions, they will definitely get sick and have diarrhea again.  This is called a recurrence or relapse, but if that happens, it will be too late to bring legendary Chinese prominent doctors like Yu Fu or Bian Que.  After 20 days, they can eat fish and meat.  Just roast them well before eating.  They can eat dried abalones, dried bonito, and dried meat.  However, they should avoid eating mackerels or horse mackerels even if they are dried.  Sweetfishes are also not good.  Dairy products, honey, and bean curd are good.

If you want to cure an epidemic, you should not use pills, powders, etc., and if their fever does not subside, have them drink a little ginseng hot water.

Since this April, the capital city and the capital territory have been suffocated by the epidemic, and the number of deaths continues to rise.  The people of various provinces should have been severely damaged.  Therefore, as mentioned above, we will communicate the precautions to each province in bullet points.

The text of this official note should be copied at your provincial government office upon arrival, and the text should be immediately sent to a neighboring province by an officer, and should not be delayed.  Also, the governor should go around the province under his jurisdiction and announce this to the people.  If there are people who do not have rice to make rice gruel or porridge, the governor should open a storehouse for the tax and feed it to the people, record the amount used and report it to the central government.

Furthermore, since this is an official document issued by the Grand Council of State, the official seal is stamped.  Put it in action on receiving the official letter.

     Kissho-in Temple has Senju-do Hall, namely Thousand-Armed Hall, which enshrines Thousand-Armed Sahasrabhuja.

Address: 509 Senjudo, Yamagata, 990-2172

Phone: 023-684-8026

Farris, William Wayne (1985). Population, Disease, and Land in Early Japan, 645-900. Harvard University Asia Center. pp. 65–66. ISBN 9780674690059