[Lessons from Field Studies].

During my academic career for more than 40 years, I was involved in 18 epidemiological field studies, partially or fully. Among these field studies, four (1. Medical services in remote rural areas in Okinawa, 2. Yusho episode, 3. JICA Onchocerciasis Control Project in Guatemala, and 4. Miyako cohort study in Fukuoka) are introduced in this paper, including the latest situation after the presentation. Through these field works experienced by the author, the following lessons were gained. 1. Strong human reliance between researchers and the targeted population is essential in carrying out epidemiological surveys successfully in the field. 2. Data obtained from the survey should be carefully examined and analyzed so that those data may reflect the real situation.