This study compared the percentage of residents who died from disease at home in Hida district, Japan, between the years 1979-1981 and 1989-1991, and found it decreased from 46.9% during the earlier period to 32.6% during the latter. It differed significantly by age and underlying cause of death. Residents aged 85 and over were almost twice as likely to die at home as were all other subjects. Patients who died of malignant neoplasms showed the lowest proportion of death at home. A greater percentage of residents who lived far from hospitals or those who had the causal disease for a prolonged time died at home. The proportion for 1989-1991 was lower than that for 1979-1981 after adjustment for age, gender, cause of death, period of illness, and availability of hospital. It was speculated that the increase of hospital beds affected the proportion of death at home.