Tales of Plague and Pestilence

How has disease impacted the evolution of Japan’s culture and society? Sakai Shizu, a leading researcher in Japanese medical history, chronicles the litany of illnesses that have plagued Japan over time, unearthing recorded incidents and literary anecdotes in a vivid exploration of its history and society. Tales of Plague and Pestilence delves into how afflictions from vengeful spirits and malign deities to smallpox, cholera, and influenza as well as syphilis, cancer, and diabetes have caused suffering and the varied efforts, whether informed by faith or medicine, to stave off and cure them. In doing so, it presents a compelling cultural history, shedding light on the pivotal role of disease and epidemic in shaping the political and societal dynamics of Japan past and present.

SAKAI Shizu
Born in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, in 1935, Sakai Shizu graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at Mie Prefectural University and completed postgraduate studies at the University of Tokyo with a major in the history of medicine. She is a professor emerita at Juntendō University, where she previously served as professor in the Faculty of Medicine. She is a former president of the Japanese Society for the History of Medicine. Her publications include Matsumoto Jun jiden, Nagayo Sensai jiden (The Autobiographies of Matsumoto Jun and Nagayo Sensai; coauthored with Ogawa Teizō; Tokyo: Heibonsha, 1980); Nihon no iryōshi (A Medical History of Japan; Tokyo: Tōkyō Shoseki, 1982); E de yomu Edo no yamai to yōjō (Disease and Treatment in the Edo Period Understood through Pictures; Tokyo: Kodansha, 2003); Surasura yomeru rangaku kotohajime (An Easy Introduction to Dutch Studies; Tokyo: Kodansha, 2004); and Kaitai shinsho (New Text on Anatomy; rev. ed.; Tokyo: Kodansha, 1998), a modern Japanese version of Sugita Genpaku’s translation of Ontleedkundige Tafelen.

*information as of time of publication

History

Publisher:
Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture

Hardcover
OPEN ACCESS / NOT FOR SALE
ISBN 9784866582566
210 mm x 148 mm / 224 pp. / March 2025

eBook
OPEN ACCESS / NOT FOR SALE
ISBN 9784866582573 (PDF)

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Noderivatives 4.0 International licence
(CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

CONTENTS
Translator’s Note
Preface
Part I Records of Disease
I. The Stories Told by Bones and Human Remains / II. Disease in Ancient Times / III. Epidemics and Emperors / IV. Empress Kōmyō and Medical Treatment / V. Diabetes and the Fujiwara Clan / VI. Vengeful Ghosts and Mononoke / VII. The Spread of Malaria / VIII. Our Long Relationship with Parasites
Part II Diseases That Reflect an Era
I. Cancer and National Unification / II. Eye Diseases Common in the Edo Period / III. The Cold as the “Cause of Myriad Diseases” / IV. Unfair Discrimination against Leprosy / V. The Beriberi Controversy / VI. The Terror of Cholera / VII. Smallpox and Vaccination / VIII. The Arrival of Syphilis / IX. The First Occupational Disorders / X. The Long History of Dysentery / XI. Deadly Measles
Part III The Changing Face of Disease
I. Cancer Patients in the Meiji Period / II. The Terrifying Death Sentence of Tuberculosis / III. Black Death and the Rats That Carried It / IV. Violence-Related Injuries / V. Vanished Diseases / VI. Newly Emerged Diseases / VII. Average Lifespan and Perspectives on Life and Death
Afterword
References
About the Author and Translator

平安時代の人々は病気に罹ると怨霊・物の怪の所為とそれにおびえ、加持祈祷を大々的に行った。また仏教の伝来、遣唐使の派遣は海外の伝染病をもたらした。そして疾病の蔓延は人々を苦しめ、政治を動かし、大きく変えもした。
寄生虫に冒され、結核やポリオも病んだ縄文・弥生の人々、贅沢病ともいえる糖尿病で苦しんだ藤原家一族、江戸時代猛威をふるったインフルエンザやコレラ。
その他、天然痘、麻疹、梅毒、眼病、脚気など、各病気と当時の人びとがいかに闘ってきたかを、歴史上の事件、有名な人物の逸話を交え、〈病〉という視点を軸に展開していきます。
日本武尊の死因・脚気の原因はいつ明らかにされたか？
もし武田信玄がガンで急死しなかったら？
具体的な謎解きをまじえ、読者の興味を引き付けながら、それらの病が日本の歴史に及ぼした影響をさぐってゆきます。

医学史研究の第一人者が語る病気の文化史であり病気の社会史です

酒井シヅ
１９３５年静岡県生まれ。三重県立大学医学部卒業。東京大学大学院修了。医史学専攻。順天堂大学医学部教授を経て、現在順天堂大学客員教授。著書に『松本順自伝・長与専斎自伝』『日本の医療史』『日本疾病史』、訳書に『解体新書』（学術文庫）、『科学と罠』などがある。