The author is deeply indebted to Professor Kazuro HANIHARA of the Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Science, The University of Tokyo, for cultivating my interest in palaeopathology and physical anthropology and for his continuous support and many helpful suggestions.

The author's research in gross bone pathology includes ancient human skeletal remains from several prominent institutions, and the author wishes to express his gratitude to the following prominent people associated with those institutions: Professor Akio YAMAUCHI of the Department of Anatomy III, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Tokyo; Dr. Bin YAMAGUCHI and Dr. Hajime SAKURA of the Department of Anthropology, National Science Museum, Tokyo; Emeritus Professor Shigeru MORITA, Professor Mitoshi TOKUDOME, and Associate Professor Susumu KATO of the Department of Anatomy, Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo; and Professor Iwataro MORIMOTO of the Department of Anatomy II, St. Marianna University School of Medicine, for their kind permission to investigate the valuable human skeletal remains of the Edo period.

The author is also very grateful to Emeritus Professor Hisashi SUZUKI, The University of Tokyo and National Science Museum, Tokyo, for allowing me to use his illustration of the case of cranial syphilis. His pioneering studies in palaeopathology in Japan have been a source of great inspiration for me.

The author also wishes to thank Professor Kohei MITSUIIASHI of the Department of Anatomy II, Sapporo Medical College, for his encouragement and support.

Special thanks are due to Mr. Yoshisuke HIRAMOTO, Curator of the Department of Anatomy II, St. Marianna University School of Medicine, for giving me the principal information on the Hitostu-bashi site and on the temples in the Fukagawa area during the Edo period; to Mrs. Reiko SUZUKI for her assistance in the roentgenological examinations of the skeletons in the present study; and to Mr. Kiyotaka KOIZUMI and Mr. Gen SUWA of the Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Science, The University of Tokyo for their kind assistances in taking photographs and roentgenograms.