Stephen Bezruchka ^1*, Tsukasa Namekata ², Maria Gilson Sistrom ³

¹ University of Washington
² Pacific Rim Disease Prevention Center
³ Oregon Health & Sciences University School of Nursing

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: sabez{at}u.washington.edu.

	Abstract

The health situation in Japan after World War II was extremely poor. However, in less than 35 years the country’s life expectancy was the highest in the world. Japan’s continuing health gains are linked to policies established at the end of World War II by the Allied occupation force that established a democratic government. The Confucian principles that existed in Japan long before the occupation but were preempted during the war years were reestablished after the war, facilitating subsequent health improvements. Japan’s good health status today is not primarily the result of individual health behaviors or the country’s health care system; rather, it is the result of the continuing economic equality that is the legacy of dismantling the prewar hierarchy.

Key Words: Global Health, Health Policy, Socioeconomic Factors, Mortality