Many who suffered or had a family member suffer from smallpox in the past prayed to these stone pagodas to ease the suffering from smallpox as much as possible, but when smallpox decreased radically with the spread of vaccination, such customs became obsolete as well.
かつて疱瘡にかかった者やその家族の多くは、少しでも疱瘡の苦しみを軽くしてもらおうと、これらの石塔に祈りをささげていたが、種痘の普及により天然痘が激減すると、それにともないこうした風習も廃れていった。