Abstract
The standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) of lung cancer and tuberculosis in males by area (city, town and village) in Japan during the periods 1969-78 and 1979-88 were calculated and illustrated by mapping of diseases. Changes in the SMRs for these two periods also were charted. Mortality from lung cancer increased in all areas during the two periods, but no remarkable increase in mortality was observed in metropolitan areas and industrialized districts in Japan. However, regional differences in mortality decreased in the latter period. Mortality from tuberculosis, on the other hand, decreased remarkably throughout Japan, but regional differences in mortality became more notable. No common rule was found in the pattern of changes in the SMRs. Correlation between the changing mortality rates for the two diseases - one is increasing and the other is decreasing - is under study.
