FRACTAL ANALYSIS FOR AKAMURA MOUNDED TOMB AND LOCATION ESTIMATE OF YAMATAI COUNTRY

In 2018, the ancient tomb was discovered in Tagawa, Fukuoka. The sizes of the tomb were measured by UAV. The length is 443 m, the diameter is 152 m, and the height is 33 m: the second biggest mound in Japan. Chinese history book, Sanguozhi (Chen, 280) reads Yamatai country occupied 27 countries in Japan in the 3rd century by the queen Himiko. The location of Yamatai was 840 km south from Soul with 70000 families, and the size of Himiko’s tomb was 150 m diameters. The locations of Yamatai country and Himiko’s tomb are still unknown. From Sanguozhi, the optimum location was estimated with the direction, the distance and family numbers. Family numbers were estimated from the river watershed areas. Kyushu islands have 28 big rivers, corresponding to 28 countries described in Sanguozhi. Each river corresponded to each country, and their family number was estimated by 2.5% of the watershed area with family number / 10 a. Finally, the Chikugo river watershed was a candidate of Yamatai country. Moreover, two kinds of tombs became candidates of Himiko’s tomb.

Eradication of Schistosomiasis in Japan

According to the WHO, at least 220.8 million people needed preventive drug treatment for schistosomiasis in 2017. In addition to the major strategy of mass drug administration, other control measures are necessary. Japan previously had endemic areas of schistosomiasis, but it was eradicated. The purpose of this chapter is to introduce new information about the successful case in the Chikugo river basin in Kyûshû to the researchers and policy-makers who discuss the most suitable measures in the disease-endemic areas in developing countries. To collect historical evidence, literature was reviewed. To corroborate that with more focused oral history, interviews with local people were performed. Qualitative data was analyzed by creating a fishbone diagram. New knowledge was acquired on such issues as education methods and active community participation. Furthermore, there was a correspondence with the key elements of the global strategic framework of Integrated Vector Management recommended by the WHO. Some measures could be adapted to the conditions in the current disease-endemic areas.

Quantifying Disaster Casualties Centered on Flooding in the Chikugo River Middle Basin in the Past 400 Years to Determine the Historical Context of the July 2017 Northern Kyushu Torrential Rainfall

In this study, we collated the number of deaths caused by disasters that took place in the Chikugo River middle basin on the island of Kyushu, Japan, from the 1600s to 2017. The compilation of quantitative statistics of floods in Japan began in the modern era, while the statuses of previous disasters are described by vague indices and are thus difficult to quantify. In this study, we geographically restricted our investigation to the Chikugo River middle basin. We quantified the scale of each disaster by using the number of deaths recorded in historical documents. We then compared the disasters that took place in the area since the 1600s to identify the potential disaster risks harbored by our study area. During the period examined, the great famine from 1732 to 1733 was the greatest disaster and caused the most deaths. However, this is the only recorded famine for which fatalities were documented. Meanwhile, floods occurred frequently through this period, 26 of which resulted in fatalities: they had a total death toll of 292. Thus, famines occur infrequently but cause severe damage, whereas floods occur frequently but cause relatively minor damage. During the approximately 400 years examined, there were four floods with death tolls exceeding 30 people. Three of these occurred after 1868, when the modern era of Japan began. Meanwhile, there have been almost no small-scale floods during and after the modern era. By quantitatively assessing the disasters’ scales, we were able to establish that the 2017 northern Kyushu torrential rainfall was the fourth gravest water-related disaster, in terms of its death, toll since the 1600s. If only the north bank of the Chikugo River middle basin is considered, it was the greatest flood disaster to occur in this period.