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The article examines the influence of folk superstition on crude birth rate of the Japanese populations in Japan, California and Hawaii as of 1966. The superstition that is examined in this study is the belief that females born in the Year of Hinoe-Uma based on the zodiac almanac, have undesirable characteristics and that must be avoided for marriage. The strength of the belief has been documented in the crude birth rate in Japan for 1966, in which the rate fell to 13.7 per thousand population in comparison to 17 and 18 per thousand population in 1955. Similarities and differences in the birth trend of Japanese baby girl in California and Hawaii with those in Japan are observed for 1966. Findings showed that rates in California and Hawaii decreased due to the superstition of Hinoe-Uma.

To investigate the association of westernized food habits and concentrations of serum lipids in the Japanese, we studied 1200 healthy Japanese living in Hiroshima prefecture and 1483 ethnic Japanese from Hiroshima prefecture living in the Hawaii Islands and Los Angeles. The nutritional assessments were made by the same dietitians. No major difference was observed in the total energy intake between the Japanese and the Japanese-Americans in both males and females. However, the intake of animal fat and simple carbohydrates (especially fructose) were markedly greater, and that of complex carbohydrates lower, in the Japanese-Americans compared with the Japanese. The mean serum cholesterol (CH), LDL-CH and serum triglyceride (TG) levels were significantly higher in the Japanese-Americans in both sexes. The mean HDL-CH concentration was similar between the two groups in males, but it was approximately 7 mg/dl higher in Japanese-American females. Using the 75 percentile values of CH and TG in the Japanese in Hiroshima, the frequency of WHO types IIa and IIb hyperlipidemia was about twice as high in the Japanese-Americans. These results suggest that westernized food habits in the Japanese include qualitative changes in animal fat, simple carbohydrate and complex carbohydrate diet rather than an increase in the total energy intake. These changes are associated with marked increases in the concentrations of serum CH and TG and increased prevalence of types IIa and IIb hyperlipidemia.