Japan Self-Defense Forces Research Articles

Gallstone disease among Japanese men in relation to obesity, glucose intolerance, exercise, alcohol use, and smoking.

Risk factors for gallstones are not fully understood, especially in men. Obesity and other risk factors for gallstone disease were investigated in Japanese men based on gallbladder ultrasonography. Forty-one men with gallstones, 31 with postcholecystectomy state, and 2044 with a normal gallbladder were identified among 2228 men aged 49-55 years who received a retirement health examination at three hospitals of the Japan Self-Defense Forces between 1991 and 1992. Glucose tolerance was determined with a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test. Body mass index was not associated with gallstones, although it was significantly, positively related to postcholecystectomy. Waist to hip circumference ratio tended to be weakly associated with gallstones. Diabetes mellitus was associated only with postcholecystectomy. Smoking, alcohol intake, and physical activity were not measurably related to either gallstones or postcholecystectomy. The present study failed to substantiate an association of gallstone risk with either obesity or any other risk factor. Further observation is needed in view of the limited study power.

Obesity and Adenomatous Polyps of the Sigmoid Colon

The relation between obesity and adenomatous polyps of the sigmoid colon was investigated in male self‐defense officials who received a retirement health examination at three hospitals of the Self‐Defense Forces in Japan between January 1991 and December 1992. Body mass index (BMI) and waist‐hip circumference ratio (WHR) were used as indices of obesity. A total of 228 adenoma cases and 1484 controls with normal sigmoidoscopy were identified in 2228 men: cases having small adenomas (<5 mm in diameter) and those with large adenomas (5 mm or greater) numbered 115 and 102, respectively. Smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, rank, and hospital were controlled for by multiple logistic regression analysis. BMI and WHR were classified into four levels using the 30th, 60th, and 90th percentiles of each distribution in the control as cut‐off points. There was a significant two‐fold elevation in the overall adenoma risk among men at the highest BMI level (≥26.95) compared with those at the lowest level (<22.48), but the risk did not linearly increase: a similar increase was also noted for large adenomas. While WHR was only weakly related to the overall adenoma risk, the risk of large adenomas progressively increased with increasing levels of WHR: odds ratio (OR) 2.9 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.4–5.9) for the highest (≥0.958) versus lowest (<0.878) levels. BMI was not materially associated with adenoma risk after additional adjustment for WHR, but a positive association between WHR and large adenomas was independent of BMI: OR 3.4 (95%CI 1.5–7.6) for the highest versus lowest levels. These findings suggest that obesity is associated with an increased risk of colon adenomas, probably with adenoma growth.

Serum lipids and left-sided adenomas of the large bowel: an extended study of self-defense officials in Japan

In the on-going study of men retiring from the Self-Defense Forces in Japan, we previously reported that serum total cholesterol was not related to colorectal adenomas but that men with low levels of serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol had an elevated adenoma risk. We examined whether the previous observation was reproducible in a different set of data accrued subsequently in the study. Serum total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and triglycerides were compared between 138 cases of colorectal adenomas at the depth of 60 cm or less from the anus and 909 controls with normal sigmoidoscopy in the period from October 1988 to December 1990. There was virtually no relation between adenoma risk and any of the serum lipids studied with or without adjustment for smoking, alcohol use, and body mass index. In the analysis combining the earlier and present data, however, men with large adenomas (> or = 10 mm, n = 25) tended to have lower levels of total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol compared with controls (n = 1,612); adjusted mean differences were -0.21 mmol/l (P = 0.24) and -0.26 mmol/l (P = 0.13), respectively. These findings are inconclusive, but hypocholesterolemia may be associated with the growth of colorectal adenoma.

Japan in 1992: Just Another Aging Superpower?

A tumultuous year ended for Japan as 1992 drew to a close. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was able, with only mild exaggeration, to claim a victory in July elections to House of Councillors, but by fall party was engulfed in scandal and factional uproar. The Japanese economy fared even worse as most serious recession since oil shock of 1974 led to a collapse of stock market. A belated bailout plan brought only modest relief, coming amid concerns about viability of overexposed financial institutions and long-term structural changes in economy. In contrast, Tokyo's performance in foreign policy was relatively vigorous. In June Diet finally passed a law to allow Japan's Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to participate in United Nations peace-keeping operations (PKO), and by October Japanese troops were in Cambodia. Emperor Akihito became first Japanese emperor to visit China, and relations warmed with Korea, Taiwan, Australia, and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Nevertheless, Japan remained cautious outside of Asia and concerned about new Clinton administration in United States. While most Japanese commentators remained relatively sanguine about prospects for economic recovery and skeptical that fundamental political change was at hand, some foreign observers took a more dramatic view. The Japan financial editor of Economist (London) predicted that financial instability would lead to breakup of LDP. A new conservative party, which would be supported by salaried workers in cities, would bring about the lower tax rates, cheaper housing and longer leisure hours U.S. trade negotiators have long argued for, at cost of job-for-life

Gallstones, serum lipids, and glucose tolerance among male officials of Self-Defense Forces in Japan.

The relationships of gallstones and the postcholecystectomy state with serum total cholesterol, serum triglycerides, glucose tolerance, and obesity were examined in male officials of the Self-Defense Forces in northern Kyushu, Japan. The study population had rather low rates of gallstones (2%) and prior cholecystectomy (3%). A strong relationship between obesity and gallstones was confirmed. Glucose intolerance was associated with the risk of gallstones independent of obesity. No relation between gallstones and either serum total cholesterol or triglycerides after adjustment for obesity and glucose tolerance was evident. However, the serum concentration of total cholesterol among men having had a cholecystectomy was less than that of those without gallstones.

The role of the self-defense forces in Japan’s sea lane defense

The role of the self-defense forces in Japan’s sea lane defense

Okinawan Reversion in Retrospect

ANY PEOPLE in Okinawa wonder why they favored reversion IVI. now that the prices are higher under Japanese commented a member of Japan's House of Councillors, Kyan Shinei, after his re-election inJuly I974. There were always conflicting estimates of how strongly native Okinawans wanted to return to Japan, of how much they like the Japanese, or disliked the American military government which ruled them from I 945 to I 972. Disagreements of this type are best revealed in public opinion polls which are the basis of this article, but even they are not always clear. Anyone wishing to study the impact of reversion on Okinawan opinion should also consult Americans with long experience in the islands, Japanese officials and their Okinawan counterparts, and experts among the Okinawan academic and business communities. This article* is based mainly on the author's interviews in Tokyo and Naha in the summer of I974, and on poll data obtained over the years from the two main newspapers in Naha (the Okinawa Times and Ryukyu Shimpo). It deals first with the cultural self-perceptions and Okinawan expectations of Japan, then with the economic costs of return to Japanese control, and finally with the critical issue of American military bases and the presence of 5,500 Japan Self-Defense Forces (SDF) in Okinawa. It is too early to reach firm conclusions about the impact of the 27 years of American rule, although Professor Mikio Higa of the University of the Ryukyus has noted that according to a study of this problem the task is badly needed, and that his own institution was engaged only in piecemeal studies of the American period.' Part of the problem

Japan's Defense Options for the 1970's

or the past two decades US-Japanese relations have been subjected to stresses on a variety of economic and military matters.' The most serious and enduring of these stresses have centered on defense relationships. The current US-Japanese Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security dating from 1960 was vigorously opposed within Japan even prior to its conclusion. In the ten years since that time pressures for its revision or abrogation have continued unabated. Although the Treaty was. initially susceptible to revision in 1970, the pressures relaxed as a result of the Sato-Nixon Agreement of November 1969. This agreement provides that (1) control of US-Administered islands in the Ryukyus will revert to Japan in 1972 and (2) US bases in the Ryukyus will operate under restrictions identical to those imposed on US bases in Japan. This step probably means an initial short-term lessening of tension centering on US bases and nuclear weapons, but in the long run tensions will continue to exist and further adjustments may be necessary. Whatever Japan's defense policies may be during the next decade, these policies will mark a watershed in Japanese political history since 1945. The precise form and content of such policies are impossible to foresee, for they will be the result primarily of Japanese evaluation of a matrix of highly complex variables-and in some cases genuine imponderables. Certain broad options are available to Japan to provide for its defense. Prior to considering sample options it is well to proceed from a summary of the military power base which Japan takes into the decade of the 1970s. Important constitutional questions remain concerning Japan's maintenance of military forces, yet Japan has possessed rather sophisticated quasimilitary forces for nearly twenty years. These forces-ground, sea and airare collectively designated the Japan Self-Defense Forces (SDF). Operating under firm civilian control the SDF has the mission to prevent or repel aggression. The national defense policy is stated to include support of the United Nations, promotion of international cooperation and coping with