Akademik

Hoso-shin
   The kami of smallpox. This deity, associated with the gods of boundaries (sae no kami) spreads smallpox rather than offering protection against it, and it was traditionally chased away by placing an effigy at the boundary of the village. Smallpox is no longer the threat it used to be in Japan and the deity is associated with contagious diseases in general.

A Popular Dictionary of Shinto. .