To reccnstruct the food and nutrient intake pattern of the long-lived villagers in Okinawa during the Taisho and early Showa eras, a field survey was conducted in Janagusuku, Ohgimi village from November 1990 to September 1991, by means of participant observation and interviews with 39 elderly inhabitants. The major energy-supplying foods of the villagers usually consisted of sweet potato for breakfast and lunch, and porridge made of rice or cycad for supper. In the feasts for traditional annual events and other purposes which were held 20 times a year, rice, pork, fish, tofu and vegetables were consumed. The bulk of their food energy came from sweet potato and, to a lesser extent, rice. Households possessing no or small-sized paddy fields ate cycad more frequently than other households. Assuming that energy requirements were satisfied with only sweet potato and rice, per day sweet potato and rice intakes of a model household (husband, wife and three children) were estimated at 6.3-9.3 kg and 150-300 g according to different intensity levels of daily activity; protein intake per day per adult male was estimated at 21.5-32.4 g. The amounts of rice, pork and tofu which were consumed at the feasts were estimated as, respectively, 110, 209-348 and 220 g per day per model household, implying that protein intake per day per adult male was 15.8-21.7 g. It is thus concluded that food consumption in the feasts markedly contributed to the villagers protein intake, which was close to the safe level recommended by FAO/WHO/UNU.
