Change of Self-recognition about the Accuracy of Data on Okinawa in the Mizushima Prefectural Life Table: Influence of His "Pre-publication of the 1921-25 Prefectural Life Table".

We examined the change in the self-recognition about the accuracy of data on Okinawa in the Mizushima Prefectural Life Table, and discussed:its relationship to the "Okinawa Is a Traditional Longevity Prefecture" theory. In the Prefectural Life Table made before WWII, Mizushima had suspended his judgment as to the reliability of infant mortality data in Okinawa. However, after the production of the "Proto-'1921-25' Life Table" in 1952-1954, Mizushima asserted that infant mortality data in Okinawa was incomplete and unreliable, and excluded Okinawa in his analysis in two times of the life table.

Specifying the Date when Mizushima Haruo Calculated His "Pre-publication of the 1921-25 Prefectural Life Table," Based on Circumstances of Publication and Changes of Methods.

We examined the first appearing papers of a series of the Mizushima Prefectural Life Table and checked its publication history and the transition of manufacturing methods as a first step in order to examine the theory that life expectancy in Okinawa has been long from a long time ago. However, the Prefectural Life Table of 1921-25 was first published in 1960, and its original form (as the "Pre-publication of the 1921-25 Prefectural Life Table") was estimated to have been started after WWII and completed in 1952-1954, based on the publication history and the transition of the manufacturing methods. In our next publication we will examine the change in the self-recognition about the accuracy of data from Okinawa in the Mizushima Prefectural Life Table, and discuss its relationship to the "Okinawa Is a Traditional Longevity Prefecture" theory.

[Estimation of the excess death associated with influenza pandemics and epidemics in Japan after world war II: relation with pandemics and the vaccination system].

Objectives: To estimate the excess death associated with influenza pandemics and epidemics in Japan after World War II, and to reexamine the relationship between the excess death and the vaccination system in Japan.

Methods: Using the Japanese national vital statistics data for 1952-2009, we specified months with influenza epidemics, monthly mortality rates and the seasonal index for 1952-74 and for 1975-2009. Then we calculated excess deaths of each month from the observed number of deaths and the 95% range of expected deaths.