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 small-area based health atlas about contemporary Japan using vital statistics from 1990-2014. Each map is supplemented with concise explanations written by leading epidemiologists and health geographers in Japan. The book discusses various cutting-edge methods in spatial epidemiology, Bayesian spatial smoothing for the reliable mapping of mortality indices, and advanced cartographic transformations using the concept of aerial cartograms. The atlas highlights geographical aspects of social gradients in health by comparing mortality maps with distribution of deprivation indices, and contains several key socioeconomic indicators for adequate socioeconomic background. This health atlas will be a useful resource 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. weiterlesen