Five-year birth cohort analyses of the death rate for the cancers of the digestive system was performed, specifically for the cancer of the esophagus, the stomach, the colon, the rectum and the pancreas by sex. Further more, study was made by dividing Japanese prefectures into blocks to find out the future trend and regional characteristics of cancer death. The following is a summary of our finding.
1) Cancer of the esophagus: A phenomenon was recognized that the death rate decreased as the year of birth became later both in men and in women. This phenomenon started at the ages from 55 to 65 in men and the ages from 30 to 45 in women. No regional difference was noted.
2) Cancer of the stomach: A phenomenon was recognized that the death rate decreased as the year of birth became later both in men and in women or national level.
3) Cancer of the colon: The death rate in each age cohort increased or stayed flat, as the year of birth became later, for men in the Hokkaido area and for women in the Tokai and Chugoku-Shikoku areas. The counter-clockwise rotation of the death-rate curve on the graph was acknowledged in other areas and at national level both in men and in women. The age that became the core of the rotation was the highest in the Hokuriku-Tosan area both in men and in women, but it was the same in men and in women in many other areas.
4) Cancer of the rectum: The death rate in each age group increased or stayed flat, as the year of birth became later, in men in the Hokkaido area. The counter-clockwise rotation of the death-rate curve on the graph was recognized in the areas other than Hokkaido and at national level and there was no difference area-wise in the age that became the core of the rotation.
5) Cancer of the pancreas: The death rate in each age group increased or stayedflat, as the year of birth became latter, in men in the Hokuriku-Tosan area and in women in the Tohoku area. The Counter-clockwise rotation of the death rate curve on the graph was acknowledged in both men and women in other areas.

    This study sought to clarify the perceptions and meanings of chronic knee joint pain, as well as the factors that affect them, among elderly people living in rural areas in order to obtain suggestions for improved nursing care. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 elderly people living in rural areas with a history of chronic knee joint pain for at least 1 year. The interview data were then qualitatively and inductively analyzed. Participants were recruited from the Federation of Senior Citizens' Clubs and outpatient internal medicine clinics. The perceptions of knee joint pain of elderly people living in rural areas were found to have features of perceptions measured according to the need for medical care, perceptions in relation to daily life, and perceptions of oneself as a person with knee joint pain. To these elderly people, knee joint pain meant “something that raises awareness of one's remaining time in life,” “something that can't be helped in life”, and “proof that one has worked hard in life.” Perceptions and meanings of knee joint pain were influenced by “not being impeded in behavior related to excretion” and other areas of life. It is important that nursing professionals support elder ly people so that they are capable of proper self-care and ensure that elderly people are “not impeded in behavior related to excretion.” In addition to providing support for symptoms of knee joint pain and behavior, nurses need to proactively ask elderly people to talk about their experiences of having knee joint pain, and determine and provide the nursing care considered necessary at that stage while considering individual elderly persons' perceptions and meanings of knee joint pain.