The Atlas of Health Inequalities in Japan

This new health atlas of Japan presents a series of maps about the health of the contemporary Japanese population, i.e. detailed maps of health indicators in small areas using cartograms. This is the first comprehensive small-area based health atlas about contemporary Japan using vital statistics from 1995-2014. Each map is supplemented with concise explanations written by leading epidemiologists and health geographers in Japan. The book employs various cutting-edge methods in spatial epidemiology, Bayesian spatial smoothing for the reliable mapping of mortality indices,  advanced cartographic transformations using the concept of aerial cartograms, and summary statistics of socioeconomic health inequalities. The atlas highlights geographical aspects of social gradients in health by comparing mortality maps with distribution of deprivation index during the recent long-lasting economic stagnation period of Japan known as the lost decades. This health atlas will be a usefulresource for international comparisons between Japan and other advanced countries in terms of health and related socioeconomic disparities between regions. It will be of interest to public health practitioners, administrators, researchers and students working on health geography and public health.

Dr. Tomoki Nakaya is a Professor of Environmental Geography in the Department of Frontier Science for Advanced Environment at Tohoku University, Japan. Dr. Nakaya has authored about 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals, over 40 book chapters, and co-edited 3 volumes. His research interests include statistical modelling and GIS in human geography, spatial epidemiology, and health GIS.