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Shinjinrui: who are they and why did they become who they are? Japanese in their 20s and early 20s differ so much from preceding generations that they are called - [...]

Seasonal variation of mean birth weight (MBW), mean gestational period (MGP), and MBW at 40 weeks of gestation ([MBW.sub.40]) in the 15 different prefectures of Japan were analyzed using vital statistics from 1974 to 1983. MBW generally shows a bi-modal pattern with two peaks in spring and autumn and two troughs in summer and winter. Seasonality exhibits a general geographic trend: The autumn peak loses its height and the spring peak increases its amplitude as one moves from north to south. This trend suggests that environmental factors are associated with the creation of seasonality in MBW. For MGP the pattern is relatively unimodal with a deep trough in winter; however, a late summer small dip is observed in most cases. According to an analysis of coincidence between the two time series (MBW and MGP) and correlation analysis, the seasonal variation in birth weight basically depends on the gestational period. For [MBW.sub.40], which represents the fetal growth rate, the seasonality shows a pattern similar to that of MBW. A statistically significant coincidence and a correlation are observed between the time series of MBW and [MBW.sub.40]. These results suggest that the two processes of fetal growth (gestational period and fetal growth rate) are associated with the creation of seasonality in MBW., The existence of seasonality of birth weight in humans has been reported by several researchers around the world (Selvin and Janerich 1971; Roberts 1976; Bantje and Niemeyer 1984; Matsuda et [...]

The number of households of a small village in northeastern Japan increased 1.5-fold in the 110 years from 1760 to 1870. The mean household size also rose from about five to six persons during the same period. These developments were closely related to the socio-economic conditions of the village. The changes, however, did not occur in a homogeneous fashion across different socio-economic classes. There were clear differences in these trends, particularly between landed peasant and landless peasant households. This article also examines the changes in household structure, using the Hammel and Laslett's typology, and confirms the basic developmental cycle. There existed some notable differences between different socio-economic classes in terms of the types of household transition and also of the likelihood of the transition., Studies in Japanese historical demography for the last three decades have greatly broadened our understanding of peasants' demographic behavior during the Tokugawa period (1600-1868) (e.g., Hayami 1968, 1973, 1988, 1992; [...]

This article examines the adoption practices of South-Tama peasants in late nineteenth-century Japan on the basis of an 1870 household register (2,057 households). We find that the institution of adoption was the major heirship strategy for these households. The probability of adoption varied by the differential number of surviving siblings, and by economic status, thereby creating social mobility among them. Adoption was an important way to redistribute sons, benefitting households with and without sons and preventing household extinction., INTRODUCTION Adoption is a long-standing system of fictional kinship. Although its purpose and emphasis varies across time and space, adoption has played a major part in the traditional law of [...]

Seasonal variations of mean birth weight from January 1974 to December 1983 and of mean gestational period from January 1979 to December 1983 in Japan are analyzed by time-series analysis. This analysis decomposes the variation in a series into trend, seasonal variation, other cyclic changes, and a remaining irregular fluctuation. The results of the present analysis support the existence of a seasonal rhythm of mean birth weight and mean gestational period in Japan with statistical significance (p |is less than~ 0.001). Seasonal patterns of mean birth weight show two peaks in May and October-November and two troughs in June-September and December. Mean gestational periods shows two peaks in October and February-March and a deep trough in winter and a much smaller one in June-September. Two time series demonstrated a coincidence in monthly variations with statistical significance. These results indicate that a part of seasonality in birth weight could be explained by the seasonal variations in mean gestational period., The existence of the seasonal rhythm of birth weight has been reported by several researchers (Selvin and Janerich 1971; Roberts 1976; Bantje and Niemeyer 1984). However, it is difficult to [...]

This article examines the performative enactment of a Brazilian nationalist identity among Japanese-Brazilian return migrants in Japan as a form of autonomous ethnic resistance against Japanese assimilative pressures. By appropriating [...]

Department of Sociology, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, U.S.A. International Journal of Comparative Sociology Vol.34 (1993) pp. 244-259 A recent study by Mamuro Iga relies upon psychological and attitudinal survey [...]

From the end of World War II until recently, the pace and magnitude of the Japanese mortality decline were unprecedented in human history. Records in the years immediately after the [...]

For many researchers and policy-makers trying to figure out how societies will take care of the ever-increasing numbers of the old and very old in their midst, Japan has seemed [...]

The rapid aging of Japan's population has important implications for saving, investment and economic growth.(1) Moreover, it creates additional pressure for public spending and calls into question the sustainability of [...]

Adjusting to an Aging Population Japan and the United States have something in common other than their desire to be Number One in the world: their aging populations. As people [...]