MORTALITY AMONG JAPANESE SINGLES - A REINVESTIGATION

This analysis uses prefecture-level data on deaths by cause and marria ge type in Japan to test hypotheses which relate the 'arranged marriag e' system to cause-specific mortality patterns among single Japanese m en and women. The results from this analysis, combined with earlier fi ndings, confirm the importance of the mate selection process in produc ing atypically high and rapidly declining mortality rates among Japane se singles, and suggest that the presence of tuberculosis, along with several other diseases, was an important component of the screening pr ocess for potential spouses. The findings also highlight the difficult ies of identifying marriage selection mechanisms in industrialized soc ieties from cause of death data.