Homogeneous Japanese race?
Some exciting news for people who are fond of thinking in terms of hair thickness and ear wax texture.
The Japanese can be genetically classified into two categories–people native to the Ryukyu Islands in Okinawa Prefecture and people native to other parts of Japan–researchers from the Institute of Physical and Chemical Science (Riken), who analyzed the genes and genetic structure of about 7,000 people, have discovered.
Riken’s findings, which were meant to shed more light on the origins of Japanese, were published in the online edition of a U.S. science magazine on Friday.
The biggest genetic difference in these two groups were found to be hair thickness and ear wax texture. People who originated from areas outside of the Ryukyu Islands tend to have much harder hair and drier ear wax and were discovered to be genetically closer to Chinese people.
What does this do to the “homogeneous Japanese race” theory?!?
Japanese are about as homogeneous as Chinese which in turn are about as homogeneous as Americans. In other words, not at all. These “homogeneous race” theories were made up by nationalists such as Sun Yat-Sen in order to consolidate their power and win wars. I always find these theories to be hilariously childish.
September 28th, 2008 at 1:22 pmwell,I don’t profess to know too much about earwax or nasal hair or (bashfully) pubic hair for that matter, but what I do think I know a little bit about is this - as Arden and I set off on our all-points-of-the-compass travels I once asked her at an airport;
Why is that thirty-ish Asian gel going bald-ish thin on the crown of her head?
Reply: Because she is from China - (any more stupid questions Husband?)
..after that I started to pay attention to the back of Asian Womens Heads..in a sort of fetish manner..and I reckon I can even pick which part of China they come from…sort of like a Bill Oddie type bird spotting outing…
remora
September 28th, 2008 at 3:42 pmThis definitely needs cross-posting to the old Mimi Soji topic.
September 28th, 2008 at 5:23 pmCheck out JAPUNDIT’s extensive archive of inner ear hygiene utensils here.
September 28th, 2008 at 11:20 pm