Vaccinations took place at the intersection of a number of levels: a) the biological processes surrounding the cowpox virus' life cycle, b) the actions and collaborations of medical professionals, c) larger social and political structures, and d) the physical geography of the land. Space operated differently on each of these levels, and to navigate these differences, vaccinators created intangible, sometimes ephemeral, social networks. They also relied on tangible material entities: the bodies of children, glass containers, written records, and the built environments of clinics. All of these tangible entities both constituted spaces and existed in space. They could be static or mobile, influenced in the direction and speed of their movements by geographic and social factors. 

Japanese vaccinators worked within the structures of their time, but they also needed to cross the boundaries of territory and status as they tried to perpetuate . But after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Japan’s governmental and social structure underwent great changes. The new regime abolished domain rule and gradually dissolved self-governing associations among subjects. On the one hand, these measures centralized governmental authority and produced a greater commitment to Western medicine and public health. On the other hand, they dismantled precisely the social and political bodies that had so far supported vaccinations. How vaccinations developed under these circumstances is beyond the scope of this module. But the consolidation of vaccinations and of public health in general continued to be a slow, localized process, and the spatial layers of local society continued to matter.

This module has highlighted only a few of the many paths taken by the vaccine, even within the confines of Echizen province. Sabae domain and the town of Fuchū, for example, had active communities of vaccinators who also treated subjects from other territories. By including these and other cases, we will understand even better how bodies and territories in this province channeled the flow of the vaccine and were shaped by the vaccine in return.