The objective of this paper is to analyze the Japanese household consumption patterns during 1990-2003, after the bubble economy burst, by estimating a Linear Approximate Almost Ideal Demand System (LAIDS) model. The author used the quarterly workers' household data compiled in Annual Report on the Family Income and Expenditure Survey. Empirical results show that the items such as “Food,” “Fuel, light and water charge,” “Medical care” and “Reading and recreation” were necessities, and “Housing,” “Furniture and household utensils,” “Clothes and footwear,” “Transportation and communication,” and “Education” were luxuries. While the luxury items strongly responded to own-price change, the necessity items showed weak response. A lot of necessity items were independent of other items, but luxury items such as “Clothes and footwear,” “Education,” “Reading and recreation” and “Other living expenditure,” were notably substitutional or complementary for other items. “Education” was substitutional not only with luxuries but also with some necessity items. It proves that Japanese household has struggled to maintain the high educational expenses until reducing the necessity in the long period of recession following the bubble economy burst, because “Education” is an important item of life cycle planning.

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The relationship between the body accumulation and excretion of β-carotene and lycopene was elucidated. A lycopene-free diet was fed to seven healthy women's university researchers and students, and the effect of ingesting β-carotene via carrot juice was evaluated. The serum β-carotene level was increased as a result of carrot juice ingestion, while the serum lycopene level was decreased as a result of lycopene restriction. It was assumed that the serum carotenoid level reflected daily life-styles and eating habits. A fecal analysis showed that the β-carotene level was increased as a result of carrot juice ingestion. This result suggests that residual β-carotene in the carrot juice that had not been absorbed in the small intestinal tract was excreted in the feces. The lycopene excretion level was increased under the same conditions. Judging from the fact that the dietary lycopene level had been restricted, it is proposed that carrot juice ingestion was related to the increased level of lycopene in the feces via an interactive effect between the ingestion of β-carotene and the excretion of lycopene.

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We analyzed the relationship between the dietary pattern and blood rheology in 34 vegetarian and 65 omnivorous middle-aged female volunteers. The vegetarian diet consisted mainly of unpolished rice, green vegetables, and tofu (bean curd), under a physician's guidance, and there were individual variations. The blood rheology was evaluated by measuring the passage time of whole blood with a microchannel array flow analyzer (MC-FAN). A cluster analysis was performed on the nutrient intake of each subject. Four clusters representing different dietary patterns could be readily identified. These were (a) a vegan diet, (b) vegetarian diet, containing only two omnivores, (c) eating moderately, all omnivores, (d) tendency to overeat, all omnivores. The intakes of Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, vitamins K and B₁, and folic acid by the vegetarian group were significantly more than those by the other three groups. BMI, body fat percentage, waist circumference, and diastolic pressure of the vegan and vegetarian groups were significantly lower than those of the omnivorous groups. The serum folic acid level for the vegan group was significantly higher than that for the two omnivorous groups, and the plasma quercetin level for the vegan and vegetarian groups was significantly higher than that in the two other groups. The blood rheological parameters for the vegan and vegetarian groups tended to be higher than those for the two omnivorous groups. These data suggest that the vegetarian diet stimulated the blood rheology, and subsequently decreased the risk of impairing the microcirculation.

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The author had a special kitchen knife made for children with a view to improving proficiency in group lessons of skill learning. When designing the knife, the author paid attention to its size and weight in view of children's hands and fingers as well as their grip force. To determine the effect of this knife on skill learning, I compared the degree of proficiency such as the cutting time as well as the number and thickness of cut pieces, using three different knives: a special kitchen knife designed by the author, a full-size kitchen knife available in the market, and a peeling knife which is similar to the ordinary kitchen knife for children in terms of size and weight. The comparison shows that children were able to cut objects thinner in a shorter time with the peeling knife as well as the special kitchen knife than with the full-size kitchen knife. Apart from the cutting results, the movement of cutting when dealing with objects of differing degrees of hardness was also analyzed to compare and review respective knife movement. The results of the kitchen knife movement analysis shows that the individual differences of non-cutting time for the kitchen knife for children, which is an idling time from the moment of finishing cutting one piece to the moment of moving on to the next, were less varied compared to the peeling knife. From this result, it may be concluded that the kitchen knife specifically designed for children is effective in learning kitchen knife skill, especially for group lessons, because individual difference is less likely to occur.

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The objective of the study is to analyze the problems with promoting local consumption of a specific local breed. As a result of the questionnaire survey of the local consumers who bought Japanese Shorthorn beef, which is one of the specific local breed, the consumers may be divided into two groups according to the styles of beef consumption. One is a group who prefer marbling beef (abbreviated to marbling beef group) and the other is a group who prefer domestic lean beef (abbreviated to domestic lean beef group). Comparing the two, the problems observed are: (1) regardless of whether the consumers are of one or the other group, the demand for Japanese Shorthorn beef is based not on their confidence in the way the cattle is raised but on their friendly feeling toward the producing districts, (2) the marbling beef group whose favorite cooking is centered to grilling and frying show dissatisfaction with the price of the Japanese Shorthorn beef, and (3) the domestic lean beef group who have various beef recipes do not seem to choose a fitting recipe for the beef they buy for consumption.

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