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Paper short abstract

Imports of large mammals such as elephants or pantherinae attracted considerable attention in 18th- and 19th-century Japan. Their mere sight was believed to cure infectious diseases. Using the example of a kawaraban advertising a “tiger”, my presentation examines the backgrounds to this view.

Paper long abstract

In the 18th and 19th centuries, foreign animals increasingly reached Japan through trade relations with China and the Netherlands. Rare mammals in particular attracted great attention. Species such as dromedaries, elephants or tigers were presented as “show objects” (misemono) and fixed in art and literature. In popular belief, they were perceived as divine beings, and their mere sight was accredited with healing and protective effects against feared infectious diseases such as measles and smallpox.

Using the example of a popular broadsheet about a leopard that arrived at the new port in Yokohama in the seventh month of the year 1860 and was afterwards put on show in Ryōgoku, I would like to shed light on the backgrounds to this view. Utagawa Yoshitoyo (1830–66) and Kanagaki Robun (1829–94) provided images and texts relating to the creature, which the latter identified as a tiger. This source, too, contains references to the animal’s medicinal benefits alongside information about the rare species.

A combination of actor-network theory and human-animal studies guides my analysis. I regard the tiger / leopard as an active agent. The aim is to investigate how, within a network of actors, texts, objects and practices, the perception of a healing effect arising from the sight of the big cat evolved.

The sources examined in this presentation show that, contrary to the descriptions in the Chinese medical encyclopaedia Bencao gangmu (1596), the animal was used as a cure for measles and smallpox. Whereas the earlier work describes the healing properties of individual body parts and the remedies produced from them, popular medical views in 19th-century Japan focused on the effect of merely looking at the beast. The use of images of imported species as treatments and for the prevention of diseases testifies to the creativity and imagination of the population in dealing with epidemics at that time.