The Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy (JSDT) has annually conducted a nationwide statistical survey of all dialysis facilities in Japan. The Society conducted this survey of 3625 dialysis facilities at the end of 2002, and responses were received from 3612 facilities (99.61%). Based on the survey investigation results tabulated at the end of 2002, the population of dialysis patients in Japan was 229,538. The gross mortality rate was 9.2% for the year extending from the end of 2001 to the end of 2002. The mean age of patients beginning dialysis was 64.7 years. The mean age of the overall dialysis population in the study year was 62.2 years. In the patients who began dialysis in 2002, the number of patients with diabetic nephropathy as the primary disease increased to 39.1% of patients. 6.5% of 40-64-year-old dialysis patients had taken out long-term-care insurance, but 31% of 65-year-old or older dialysis patients had taken out this insurance. 65.7% of the three-times-weekly facility hemodialysis patients underwent daytime dialysis, while 11.9% of patients underwent evening dialysis.