(4) Historical discussion of "health view," "public health view," and "vaccine view."
(Figure 11)
a. People practiced rituals and prayers (shamanism) exclusively against disease during the Paleolithic period. Animism and shamanism were prevalent, including Shintoism, the national religion of Japan. Forming the core of the Japanese people's worldview is animism.
ｂ. People of the Jomon, Yayoi, and Kofun periods believed that illness and death were ordained by nature and that the gods brought about health. A "line carved gravel" with an image of a goddess carved on the surface of a stone large enough to be held in hand has been discovered in "Iwakage Ruins." Which was from an early Jomon site in Ehime Prefecture and is thought to represent a prayer to the energy possessed by women in an age without medical care. In the Torihama shell mound in Wakasa Town, Fukui Prefecture, a pier was built by driving piles into the lake, and it is believed that people used the dock to relieve themselves. It is called a jetty faucet toilet. It shows the high awareness of public hygiene among the Japanese people.
ｃ. During the Asuka and Nara periods, Among the nobility, special gymnastics and breathing techniques derived from Buddhist thought, and the idea of longevity spread among the upper classes. The people of the upper classes introduced the knowledge of Chinese herbal medicine and pharmacology, and their interest in health grew.
View of health: As exchanges with China began, the idea that illness had some cause and that medicine (treatment) and drugs were necessary to cure it began to spread. Gradually, a "medical view" began to form.
ｄ. During the Heian period (794-1185), work proceeded to reorganize Chinese medicine, which had been transmitted from China as a "secret tradition," to remake it to suit the lifestyle of the Japanese people. On the other hand, it was believed that "epidemics were possessions of people who had died with grudges left in this world. It was the origin of the Kyoto Gion Festival, which was held to pray for the disappearance of the plague.
e. During the Kamakura, Muromachi, and Sengoku periods, a view of health that "a way of life that follows the teachings of Buddhism and allows oneself to go with the flow of nature and a gentle and peaceful way of life is good" spread.
In addition, the production of rice increased, and the custom of eating three meals a day took root among ordinary people. Furthermore, introducing a variety of vegetables from the southern countries greatly improved nutrition.
Some monks and warriors became doctors, and medicine and religion were separated, giving birth to the professional physician.
f. There were recurrent epidemics of smallpox, measles, and measles colds during the Edo period. Emperors were no exception, and Emperor Higashiyama (reigned 1687-1709) died of smallpox. And there is a record that Shogun Tsunayoshi Tokugawa also died of smallpox.
The Shogunate established the Koishikawa Youjyousho (Koishikawa Cure Center) and published books on emergency medicine for home use to spread medical knowledge.
In the early 1800s, information on the smallpox vaccine by Jenner of England came to Japan, and Ogata Koan devoted himself to disseminating the smallpox vaccine and established the "'Joto-kan' (literally, vaccination house).
g. During the Meiji period, the first hospital specializing in infectious diseases was established to deal with cholera. The Ministry of the Interior ordered the renovation of restrooms and the ｃｌｅａｎｉｎｇ of sewers and garbage dumps. They enforced public hygiene thoroughly. (Public Hygiene) .
h. In Taisho, Showa, Heisei, and now (2022), Japan used to be a leading country in vaccines. Still, a series of lawsuits and liability cases involving adverse reactions to vaccines have led the public to distrust vaccines, and the government and pharmaceutical companies have become reluctant to develop vaccines. (Vaccine view). Currently, a new type of coronavirus is spreading worldwide. Now, Japan is promoting the use of imported vaccines to contain the outbreak.
Sub-Conclusion.
As can be seen from this timeline of infectious diseases (Figure 11), infectious diseases have always been prevalent in each period, sometimes causing regimes to fall or collapse, and infectious diseases have the power to change an era. And you can see that contagious diseases have a strong influence on the back and background of history.
The Japanese have practiced "prayer" (shamanism) and "spells" to cope with infectious diseases that are such a threat to humanity. Shintoism has been around since ancient times. And they constructed the Great Buddha from Buddhist teachings and gave birth to the Kyoto Gion Festival to pray for the eradication of the plague. They thought that t these have been performed to alleviate and eliminate people's "feelings of anxiety" and "sense of crisis.
Also, as seen in the "flushing toilets used from the pier" inferred from Jomon-era remains, We think the Japanese have been a hygienic and clean-loving people. The custom of taking off
their shoes at the entrance is one example. In this Corona disaster, almost everyone wears a mask and is encouraged to wash their hands. Some researchers think that Japanese people have a high sense of cleanliness and public hygiene awareness. They thought it might be one of the factors (Factor X) that kept infection at a lower level than in other countries, even during the global pandemic of the new coronavirus.
Recognizing the effectiveness of vaccination against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)may dispel Japanese distrust of vaccines. And the HPV vaccine for the prevention of cervical cancer, for which adverse reactions have been a problem in recent years, is expected to become an "actively recommended" vaccine for the first time in eight years. (Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's Adverse Reaction Subcommittee approved November 12, 2021) (FNN Prime Online)
