Increased induced abortion rate in 1966, an aspect of a Japanese folk superstition

Adecrease of about 463 000 live births occurred in Japan in 1966, constituting a sharp departure from the linear trend before and after. This was partly caused by contraception and partly by induced abortion. The induced abortion rate, 43.1 per 1000 births in the year (a total of 65 000), was significantly higher than the 30.6 expected (46.200 total) from the regression trend computed from the years 1963 to 1969. No epidemics were reported in 1966 which might have caused the increase in abortion. It is more likely to be due to observance of Hinoe-Uma (Elder Fire-Horse), which comes round every sixty years by zodiac almanac. This event represents a superstition observed only by the Japanese, in whcih it is a bad omen for female babies to be born in the year. 1966 was the most recent year of Hinoe-Uma.