What is the yakubyogami?
The yakubyogami is a god or yokai said to spread epidemics, that is, infectious diseases. In an age before modern medicine, people believed that outbreaks of disease happened because an invisible god of pestilence went from house to house scattering illness. Today the word “yakubyogami” is also used for a person who brings misfortune or trouble to those around them.
Customs for driving away the god of pestilence
People tried to protect themselves from disease by driving away the god of pestilence or by entertaining it to keep it in good humor. Kyoto’s Gion Festival, too, began as a festival to calm epidemics. In the legend of Somin Shorai, the descendants of Somin Shorai, who warmly welcomed a traveling god, are protected from plague; this led to customs such as passing through a chinowa ring of grass and charms reading “descendant of Somin Shorai.”
The smallpox god and the color red
The hosogami, the god who brought smallpox, was thought to hate (or like) the color red, so red toys and pictures were used to ward off smallpox. The “akabeko,” a red cow toy from the Aizu region of Fukushima Prefecture, is also known as a lucky charm against epidemics. Other famous yokai for warding off epidemics include Amabie and the hakutaku.
