The absorption rate of cadmium (Cd) in the digestive organs is reported to be 0.5-8% in Friberg's textbook. This value was obtained from experimental studies. The object of the present study is to obtain the value from the Cd intake amount by ingestion, the Cd absorption amount by respiration and smoking, and the total Cd absorption amount calculated from the Cd accumulation amount in organs reported in articles including not only experimental but also epidemiologic studies conducted in Japan. The oral intake amounts of Cd in Japan were obtained from a published article to be 48 micrograms/day for males in the 1970s. The total Cd absorption amount that was calculated from the Cd accumulation amount in organs of 223 male subjects autopsied following sudden death was found to be 6.8 micrograms/day for male adults in the 1970s. The Cd exposure before the 1970s reflected the Cd absorption amount calculated from the Cd accumulation amount in the 1970s. The Cd absorption amount by respiration and smoking for males in the 1960s was 1.0 microgram/day, and the difference of 5.8 micrograms/day between the above two corresponds to the Cd absorption amount in digestive organs before the 1970s. The rice intake amount for Japanese in 1955-1965 was reported to be about 1.4 times as much as that in 1975. Therefore the Cd absorption rate in digestive organs was estimated to be about 10% from these values, assuming that most of the change in Cd intake from food is derived from the amount of rice eaten in Japan. This value is somewhat greater than the values published in the literature.