疱ほう瘡そう神がみ

noun

smallpox deity; smallpox demon

A folkloric deity or demon associated with smallpox. Historically, people prayed to this deity for protection from the disease or to appease it. The term can refer to both a malevolent spirit causing smallpox and a protective deity granting immunity.

• 江え戸ど時じ代だいには、疱ほう瘡そう神がみを祀まつる風ふう習しゅうがあった。

  During the Edo period, there was a custom of enshrining the smallpox deity.

• 疱ほう瘡そう神がみが流行はやると、人ひと々びとは赤あかいものを身みにつけて祈いのった。

  When smallpox was rampant, people wore red items and prayed to the smallpox deity.