Whale meat on sale at Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo in 2008

Whale meat is the flesh of whales used for consumption by humans or other animals, and broadly includes other consumed parts as blubber, skin, and organs. It is prepared in various ways, and has historically been eaten in many parts of the world, including across Westrn Europe and Colonial America^[1], and not necessarily restricted to coastal communities, since flesh and blubber can be salt-cured.

Practice of human consumption persists today in Japan, Norway, Iceland, Faroe Islands, by Basques, the inuits and other indiginous peoples of the United States (including the Makah people of the Pacific Northwest), Canada, Greenland; the Chukchi people of Siberia, and Bequia in the Carribean Sea.

Human consumption of whale meat has been denounced by detractors on wildlife conservation, toxicity, and animal rights grounds (See Whaling controversy).

History[link]

In Europe, whale could once be hunted locally throughout the Middle Ages for their meat and oil^[2]. Aquatic beings considered "fish", whale was deemed suitable for eating during Lent^[2] and other "lean periods" under Catholicism^[3]. A more rational explanation was that the Church considered "hot meat" to raised the libido, etc. on holy days and were unfit, whereas parts submerged in water, such as whale or beaver tails were considered "cold meat"^[4].

Eating whalemeat did not end with the Middle Ages in Europe, but rather, whale stock in nearby oceans collapsed due to overexploitation, esp. the right whales around the Bay of Biscay^[5] (See History of whaling). Thus European whalers (esp. the Basques known for their expertise) had to seek out the New World to catch whales^[6]. The Dutch (Flemish) were also active in the whaling commerce during the Middle Ages^[7], and a number of records regarding the trafficking of whalemeat and taxation on them occur from historical Flanders (extending to cities like Arras or Calais in the departement of Pas de Calais).

French surgeon Ambroise Paré (d. 1590) wrote that "the flesh has no value, but the tongue is soft and delicious and therefore salted; likewise, the blubber, which is distributed across many provinces, and eaten with peas during Lent"^[2][8]. This blubber, known as craspois or lard de carême^[9] was food for the poorer strata on the continent. The whaling industry in North America may have supplied rendered fat, partly for consumption in Europe^[3].

In early America, Whalemen may have eaten blubber after rendering, which they termed "crackling" or "fritters", and were said to be crunchy like toast^[10], though these were certainly reused as fuel chips to boil down the fat^[11]. Colonial America also more commonly consumed the meat and other portions of the "blackfish" (or pilot whale)^[10].

Species hunted[link]

Minke whale is one of the most common species still hunted in substantial numbers.^{[citation needed]}. Baleen whales other than the minke are endangered, though they are taken in numbers by indigenous peoples who traditionally hunt them, and more lately, the whaling nations have resumed hunting larger baleen whales openly.

In 1998-1999, Harvard researchers published their DNA identifications of samples of whalemeat they obtained in the Japanese market, and found that mingled among the presumably legal meat (i.e. minke whale meat) were a sizeable proporiton of dolphin and porpoise meats, and instances of endangered species as fin whale and humpback whale (blue whale DNA was also detected in the study, but that researchers themselves have attributed it to crossbreeding with fin whales, and that view has since been strenthened)^[12].

In recent years Japan has resumed takings of North Pacific fin whale and sei whales in their so-called "research whaling". The fin whales are highly desired because they yield arguably the best quality of tail meat (onomi)^[13]. Japanese research vessels refers to the harvested whale meat as byproducts which have insindentally resulted from lethal study.

In Japan, the research whale meat were sold at officially published prices^[14], but since 2011 an auction bid system has been adopted^[15], and actual realized prices have not been posted.

The channels through which premium cuts as the tail meat of the fin whales remains opaque. A reportage by one of the Greenpeace Japan activists who intercepted whale meat package deliveries got no further than the sentiment by one restauranter that it would take Nagatachō (i.e. high government) connections^[16] to get it.

Regions[link]

In places such as Norway, Iceland, and Alaska, whale meat may be served without seasoning. However, it can also be cured or marinated, or made into jerky.^[17]

Greenland[link]

The consumption of whale meat by the Inuit people in Greenland is part of their culture. However, in recent times,^[when?] tourists have begun to consume the meat. A Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) investigation has documented the practice of commercial wholesalers commissioning subsistence whalers hunt to supply the demand by supermarkets. Whale products in Greenland are sold in 4-star hotels.^[18]

Japan[link]

The fluke (oba) which are thinly sliced and rinsed (sarashi kujira). Topped with ellow vinegar-miso sauce

Whales have been hunted for meat in Japan since before 800 AD. After World War II, due to damage to Japan's infrastructure, whale meat became an important source of protein.^[19][20][21].

In modern-day Japan, two cuts of whale meat are usually created: the belly meat and the tail meat, very crudely speaking. In the early 19th century, 70 different cuts were known.^[19]. People still call the belly and tail cuts by their special whalemeat names, and also, different parts of the body such as tongue have rather unique jargon names (see under #Japan below). The tail meat is not the same as the fluke (tail flipper), and they go by different names.

As aforestated, different cuts of whalemeat bear specialized names. The belly meat, in the striped bellowlike underbelly of baleen whales "from the lower jaw to the navel"}}^[22], is called unesu (ウネス（畝須）^?) and known for being made into whale bacon^[21][22].

The prized tail meat, called onomi (尾の身^?) or oniku (尾肉^?) are two strips of muscle that run from the dorsal to the base of the fluke. The tail meat is regarded as being marbled, and eaten as sashimi or tataki. Even Masanori Hata (aka Mutsugorō) a zoologist author and animal shelter operator has extolled the delicacy of the tailmeat, ^[23]. It can only be derived from larger baleen whales, and the fin whale's meat has been considered superior^[23][13]. When the ban on this species was in place and Japan supposedly complied, what was claimed to be genuine fin whale was still available, and legitimized as "grandfathered" goods, i.e., frozen stock from animals caught when still legal^[13]. In the past when blue whale hunting was still conducted by all nations, its tailfin was served in Japan^[21].

The other portions are labled lean, or "red meat" (akaniku, 赤肉^?) and command much lowered prices than the tail.

The fluke or tail flipper is referred to as either oba (尾羽^?)^[22] or obake (尾羽毛^?). These after being cured in salt are thinly sliced, scalded with hot water, and rinsed, is served as (sarashi kujira; pictured).

The tongue, called saezuri (さえずり^?) is often processed and used in high-end oden. The fried skin after the blubber is called koro^[22], and analgous to "fritter/crackling".

The Japanese article under 鯨肉 provides a more extensive list, which includes the intestines and other organs, and even sex organs.

• Harihari-nabe is a hot pot dish, consisting of whalemeat boiled with mizuna.
• Sashimi of Abura-sunoko is striped layers of meat made from the root of the flippers
• Udemono, consists of innards that have been boiled and sliced^[24]

Some other dishes are cubed and grilled blubber, cartilage salads, and whale skin stew.^[19]

As of 2006, in Japan, 5,560 tons of whale meat worth ¥5.5 billion is sold in every year.^[25] The Japanese market has declined in recent years, with prices falling to $12 per pound in 2004, down $3 per pound from 1999.^[26] Fluke meat can sell for over $200 per kilogram, over three times the price of belly meat.^[19]

Greenpeace has alleged that some of the meat on sale is illegally sourced^[27] and that more meat is caught than can be consumed by humans, with up to 20% of 2004's catch going unsold.^[27].

Native Alaskan communities[link]

For thousands of years, people native to the Alaskan Arctic have depended on whale meat. The meat is harvested from legal, non-commercial hunts that occur twice a year in the spring and autumn. The meat is stored and eaten throughout the winter.^[28]

Coastal Eskimos divided their catch into 10 sections. The fatty tail, considered to be the best part, went to the captain of the conquering vessel, while the less-desired sections were given to his crew and others that assisted with the kill.^[19]

The skin and blubber, known as muktuk, taken from the bowfin, beluga, or narwhal is also valued, and is eaten raw or cooked.

Faroe Islands[link]

Tvøst og spik: pilot whale meat (black) and blubber (middle) and dried fish (left) and potatoes, as served on the Faroe Islands

Whaling in the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic has been practiced since about the time of the first Norse settlements on the islands. Around 1000 Long-finned Pilot Whales (Globicephala melaena) are killed annually, mainly during the summer.^[29] The hunts, called "grindadráp" in Faroese, are organized on a community level.

Both the meat and blubber are stored and prepared in various ways, including Tvøst og spik. When fresh, the meat is often boiled. It can also be served as steak (grindabúffur). This dish comprises meat, blubber and potatoes, which is salted and then boiled for an hour. The meat can also be served in thin slivers with dried fish. Traditionally, whale meat was preserved by hanging salted pieces outdoors to be dried in the wind. This method is still used today, particularly in villages. Today, both meat and blubber are often stored in the freezer. Also there is the kaestur havlur "meat buried or marinated in whey"^[30].

In 2008, Faroe Islands Chief Medical Officer Høgni Debes Joensen and Pál Weihe of the Department of Public and Occupational Health recommended that pilot whales no longer be considered fit for human consumption due to the presence of DDT derivatives, PCBs and mercury in the meat.^[29] Their recommendation was based on research suggesting a correlation between mercury intake and the high rate of Parkinson's disease on the islands.^[31][32] As of 1 June 2011, the Faroese Food and Veterinary Authority has advised Faroe Islanders not to eat the kidney or liver of pilot whales, not to consume more than one serving per month, and, for women and girls, to refrain from eating blubber if they plan to have children and to refrain from whale meat entirely if they are breastfeeding, pregnant or planning to conceive in the next three months.^[33][34]

Toxicity[link]

Tests have revealed that in whale meat sold in the Faroe Islands and Japan, high levels of mercury and other toxins are present. A research study was conducted by Tetsuya Endo, Koichi Haraguchi and Masakatsu Sakata at the University of Hokkaido found high levels of mercury in the organs of whales, particularly the liver. They stated that "Acute intoxication could result from a single ingestion" of liver. The study found that liver samples for sale in Japan contained, on average, 370 micrograms of mercury per gram of meat, 900 times the government's limit. Levels detected in kidneys and lungs were approximately 100 times higher than the limit.^[35]

Environmental impact[link]

Recently killed whales on a beach in Faroe Islands.

Norwegian-based High North Alliance, has suggested that the carbon footprint resulting from eating whale meat is substantially lower than that of beef. Greenpeace has responded that "The survival of a species is more important than lower greenhouse gas emissions from eating it," ^[36] Many organizations, including Greenpeace, have criticised the whale trade for preying on endangered species. However, populations of some whale species are increasing.^{[37][38][39][40][41]}

Anti-whaling efforts[link]

Groups such as the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society have attempted to disrupt commercial whaling with varying degrees of success.^[42]

Trivia[link]

• In the 1960s, the breeding of cetaceans for human consumption in atolls used for nuclear testing was mooted but never carried out.^[43]

See also[link]

• Whaling
• Taboo food and drink
• Sustainable seafood

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Mutsuko Ohnishi (1995), "Mrs. Ohnishi's Whale Cuisine", Kodansha, ISBN 4-06-207579-2
• Shoemaker, Nancy; Cipriano, F. (Apr. 2005). "Whale Meat in American History". Environmental History (Forest History Society) 10 (2): 269-294. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3986115. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Whale meat

• BBC News report: Whale meat at annual festival
• Images of whale meat dishes

Japanese people
日本人

Lady Murasaki • Nobunaga • Ieyasu • Emperor Meiji Hirobumi • Akiko • Hideki • Akihito Samurai during Boshin War • contemporary family
Total population
About 130,000,000
Regions with significant populations
Japan   127 million
Significant overseas populations in:  Brazil 1,500,000 [17]  United States 1,204,205 [18]  China (PRC) 131,534 [19]      Hong Kong 21,297 [20]  Philippines 120,000 [21]  Canada 98,900 [22]  Peru 90,000 [23]  Australia 71,013 [24]  United Kingdom 63,017 [25]  Thailand 45,805 [26]  Germany 36,960 [27]  Argentina 34,000 [28]  France 30,947 [29]  South Korea 28,320 [30]  Singapore 23,000 [31]  Taiwan (ROC) 20,373 [32]  Micronesia 20,000 [33]  Mexico 20,000 [34]  Bolivia 14,000 [35]  New Zealand 13,447 [36]  Italy 12,156 [37]  Indonesia 11,263 [38]  Vietnam 9,468 [39]  Malaysia 9,142 [40]  Switzerland 8,499 [41]  New Caledonia 8,000 [42]  Spain 7,046 [43]  Netherlands 6,616 [44]  Belgium 6,519 [45]  Marshall Islands 6,000 [46]  Palau 5,000 [47]
Languages
Japanese
Religion
Shinto and Buddhism view talk edit

This article contains Japanese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of kanji and kana.

The Japanese people (日本人, Nihonjin, Nipponjin^?) are a nationality originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries are referred to as nikkeijin (日系人^?). The term ethnic Japanese may also be used in some contexts to refer to a locus of ethnic groups including the Yamato, Ainu and Ryukyuan people.

Culture[link]

Language[link]

The Japanese language is a Japonic language that is sometimes treated as a language isolate; it is also related to the Ryukyuan languages, and both are suggested to be part of the proposed Altaic language family. The Japanese language has a tripartite writing system using Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. Domestic Japanese people use primarily Japanese for daily interaction. The adult literacy rate in Japan exceeds 99%.^[6]

Religion[link]

Japanese religion has traditionally been syncretic in nature, combining elements of Buddhism and Shinto. Shinto, a polytheistic religion with no book of religious canon, is Japan's native religion. Shinto was one of the traditional grounds for the right to the throne of the Japanese imperial family, and was codified as the state religion in 1868 (State Shinto was abolished by the American occupation in 1945). Mahayana Buddhism came to Japan in the sixth century and evolved into many different sects. Today the largest form of Buddhism among Japanese people is the Jōdo Shinshū sect founded by Shinran.^{[citation needed]}

Most Japanese people (84% to 96%)^[7] profess to believe in both Shinto and Buddhism. The Japanese people's religion functions mostly as a foundation for mythology, traditions, and neighborhood activities, rather than as the single source of moral guidelines for one's life.^{[citation needed]}

Literature[link]

Bisque doll of Momotarō,
a character from Japanese literature and folklore.

Certain genres of writing originated in and are often associated with Japanese society. These include the haiku, tanka, and I Novel, although modern writers generally avoid these writing styles. Historically, many works have sought to capture or codify traditional Japanese cultural values and aesthetics. Some of the most famous of these include Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji (1021), about Heian court culture; Miyamoto Musashi's The Book of Five Rings (1645), concerning military strategy; Matsuo Bashō's Oku no Hosomichi (1691), a travelogue; and Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's essay "In Praise of Shadows" (1933), which contrasts Eastern and Western cultures.

Following the opening of Japan to the West in 1854, some works of this style were written in English by natives of Japan; they include Bushido: The Soul of Japan by Nitobe Inazo (1900), concerning samurai ethics, and The Book of Tea by Okakura Kakuzo (1906), which deals with the philosophical implications of the Japanese tea ceremony. Western observers have often attempted to evaluate Japanese society as well, to varying degrees of success; one of the most well-known and controversial works resulting from this is Ruth Benedict's The Chrysanthemum and the Sword (1946).

Twentieth-century Japanese writers recorded changes in Japanese society through their works. Some of the most notable authors included Natsume Sōseki, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, Osamu Dazai, Yasunari Kawabata, Fumiko Enchi, Yukio Mishima, and Ryotaro Shiba. In contemporary Japan, popular authors such as Ryu Murakami, Haruki Murakami, and Banana Yoshimoto are highly regarded.

Arts[link]

The print Red Fuji from Hokusai's series, Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.

Decorative arts in Japan date back to prehistoric times. Jōmon pottery includes examples with elaborate ornamentation. In the Yayoi period, artisans produced mirrors, spears, and ceremonial bells known as dōtaku. Later burial mounds, or kofun, preserve characteristic clay haniwa, as well as wall paintings.

Beginning in the Nara period, painting, calligraphy, and sculpture flourished under strong Confucian and Buddhist influences from China. Among the architectural achievements of this period are the Hōryū-ji and the Yakushi-ji, two Buddhist temples in Nara Prefecture. After the cessation of official relations with the Tang Dynasty in the ninth century, Japanese art and architecture gradually became less influenced by China. Extravagant art and clothing was commissioned by nobles to decorate their court life, and although the aristocracy was quite limited in size and power, many of these pieces are still extant. After the Todai-ji was attacked and burned during the Gempei War, a special office of restoration was founded, and the Todai-ji became an important artistic center. The leading masters of the time were Unkei and Kaikei.

Painting advanced in the Muromachi period in the form of ink and wash painting under the influence of Zen Buddhism as practiced by such masters as Sesshū Tōyō. Zen Buddhist tenets were also elaborated into the tea ceremony during the Sengoku period. During the Edo period, the polychrome painting screens of the Kano school were made influential thanks to their powerful patrons (including the Tokugawas). Popular artists created ukiyo-e, woodblock prints for sale to commoners in the flourishing cities. Pottery such as Imari ware was highly valued as far away as Europe.

In theater, Noh is a traditional, spare dramatic form that developed in tandem with kyōgen farce. In stark contrast to the restrained refinement of noh, kabuki, an "explosion of color," uses every possible stage trick for dramatic effect. Plays include sensational events such as suicides, and many such works were performed in both kabuki and bunraku puppet theaters.

Since the Meiji Restoration, Japan has absorbed elements of Western culture. Its modern decorative, practical, and performing arts works span a spectrum ranging from the traditions of Japan to purely Western modes. Products of popular culture, including J-pop, manga, and anime have found audiences around the world.

Theories of origins[link]

An Ainu man, circa 1930

Arai Hakuseki, who knew in the 18th century that there were stone tools in Japan, suggested that there was Shukushin in ancient Japan, and then Philipp Franz von Siebold claimed that indigenous Japanese was Ainu people.^[8] Iha Fuyū suggested that Japanese and Ryukyuan people have the same ethnic origin, based on his 1906 research of the Ryukyuan languages.^[9] In the Taishō period, Torii Ryūzō claimed that Yamato people used Yayoi pottery and Ainu used Jōmon pottery.^[8]

A photograph of a Japanese samurai taken by Felice Beato in 1867

A common origin of Japanese and Koreans has been proposed by a number of scholars since Arai Hakuseki first brought up the theory and Fujii Sadamoto, a pioneer of modern archeleogy in Japan, also treated the issue in 1781.^[10] But after the end of World War II, Kotondo Hasebe and Hisashi Suzuki claimed that the origin of Japanese people was not the newcomers in the Yayoi period (300 BCE – 300 CE) but the people in the Jōmon period.^[11]

However, Kazuro Hanihara announced a new racial admixture theory in 1984.^[11] Hanihara also announced the theory "dual structure model" in English in 1991.^[12] According to Hanihara, modern Japanese lineages began with Jōmon people, who moved into the Japanese archipelago during Paleolithic times from their homeland in southeast Asia. Hanihara believed that there was a second wave of immigrants, from northeast Asia to Japan from the Yayoi period. Following a population expansion in Neolithic times, these newcomers then found their way to the Japanese archipelago sometime during the Yayoi period. As a result, miscegenation was rife in the island regions of Kyūshū, Shikoku, and Honshū, but did not prevail in the outlying islands of Okinawa and Hokkaidō, and the Ryukyuan and Ainu people continued to dominate here. Mark J. Hudson claimed that the main ethnic image of Japanese people was biologically and linguistically formed from 400 BCE to 1,200 CE.^[11]

Masatoshi Nei opposed the "dual structure model" and alleged that the genetic distance data show that the Japanese people originated in northeast Asia, moving to Japan perhaps more than thirty thousand years ago.^[13]

On the other hand, research in October 2009 by the National Museum of Nature and Science et al. concluded that the Minatogawa Man, who was found in Okinawa and was regarded as evidence that Jōmon people came to Japan via the southern route, had a slender face unlike the Jōmon.^[14] Hiroto Takamiya of the Sapporo University suggested that the people of Kyushu immigrated to Okinawa between the 10th and 12th centuries CE.^[15]

A 2011 study by Sean Lee and Toshikazu Hasegawa estimated that a common origin of Japonic languages had originated around 2,182 years before present.^[16]

Origin of Jōmon and Yayoi[link]

Japan at the height of the last glaciation about 20,000 years ago

Currently, the most well-regarded theory is that present-day Japanese are descendants of both the indigenous Jōmon people and the immigrant Yayoi people. The origins of the Jōmon and Yayoi peoples have often been a subject of dispute, and the recent Japanese publisher^[17] has divided the potential routes of the people living on the Japanese archipelago as follows:

• Aboriginals that have been lived in Japan for more than 10,000 years. (Without geographic distinction, which means, the group of people lived in islands from Hokkaido to Okinawa may all be considered to be Aboriginals in this case.)
• Immigrants from the northern route (北方ルート in Japanese) include the people from Korean Peninsula, Mainland China, Sakhalin Island, Mongolia, and Siberia.
• Immigrants from the southern route (南方ルートin Japanese) include the people from Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia, and in some context, India.

However, a clear consensus has not been reached.^[18]

History[link]

Paleolithic era[link]

Archaeological evidence indicates that Stone Age people lived in the Japanese archipelago during the Paleolithic period between 39,000 and 21,000 years ago.^[19][20] Japan was then connected to mainland Asia by at least one land bridge, and nomadic hunter-gatherers crossed to Japan from East Asia, Siberia, and possibly Kamchatka. Flint tools and bony implements of this era have been excavated in Japan.^[21]

Jōmon people[link]

Shakōki-dogū (遮光器土偶) (1000–400 BC), "goggle-eyed type" figurine. Tokyo National Museum, Japan.

Some of the world's oldest known pottery pieces were developed by the Jōmon people in the Upper Paleolithic period, 14th millennium BC. The name, "Jōmon" (縄文 Jōmon), which means "cord-impressed pattern", comes from the characteristic markings found on the pottery. The Jōmon people were Mesolithic hunter-gatherers, though at least one middle to late Jōmon site (Minami Mizote (南溝手^?), ca. 1200–1000 BC) had a primitive rice-growing agriculture. They relied primarily on fish for protein. It is believed that the Jōmon had very likely migrated from North Asia or Central Asia and became the Ainu of today. Research suggests that the Ainu retain a certain degree of uniqueness in their genetic make-up, while having some affinities with other regional populations in Japan as well as the Nivkhs of the Russian Far East. Based on more than a dozen genetic markers on a variety of chromosomes and from archaeological data showing habitation of the Japanese archipelago dating back 30,000 years, it is argued that the Jōmon actually came from northeastern Asia and settled on the islands far earlier than some have proposed.^[22]

Yayoi people[link]

Around 400–300 BC, the Yayoi people began to enter the Japanese islands, intermingling with the Jōmon. The Yayoi brought wet-rice farming and advanced bronze and iron technology to Japan. Although the islands were already abundant with resources for hunting and dry-rice farming, Yayoi farmers created more productive wet-rice paddy field systems. This allowed the communities to support larger populations and spread over time, in turn becoming the basis for more advanced institutions and heralding the new civilization of the succeeding Kofun period.

The estimated population in the late Jōmon period was about one hundred thousand, compared to about three million by the Nara period. Taking the growth rates of hunting and agricultural societies into account, it is calculated that about one and half million immigrants moved to Japan in the period.

Genetics[link]

Y-chromosome DNA[link]

An early study of human Y-DNA variation published in 1999 included a sample of 118 Japanese males, among whom haplogroup DE-YAP(xE-SRY4064) was found to be predominant (47%). Other haplogroups detected in this sample include haplogroup K-M9(xN1c-Tat, M2a-SRY9138, P-DYS257) (46%), haplogroup C-RPS4Y₇₁₁ (5%), haplogroup P-DYS257(xQ1a3a1-DYS199, R1a1-SRY10831) (2%), and haplogroup BT-SRY10831(xC-RPS4Y₇₁₁, K-M9, DE-YAP) (1%).^[23]

The movements of human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups

A 2004, Y-DNA study by Tajima et al. reported that the Ainu mainly belong to haplogroup D (87.5%).^[24]

A 2005 study by Michael F. Hammer reports genetic similarities between the Japanese and several other Asian populations, which shows that the common Y-DNA haplogroups of Japanese are D-P37.1 (34.7%), O-P31 (31.7%), O-M122 (20.1%), C-M8 (5.4%), C-M217 (3.1%), NO (2.3%) and N (1.5%).^[25] The patrilines belonging to D-P37.1 are found in all Japanese groups, but are more frequently found in Ainu (75.0%) and Okinawa (55.6%) and are less frequently found in Shikoku (25.7%) and Kyushu (26.4%).^[25] Haplogroup O and C-M8 are not found in Ainu, and C-M217 is not found in Okinawa.^[25] Haplogroup N is detected in samples of central Japanese, but is not found in Ainu and Okinawa.^[25] This study, and others, report that Y-chromosome patrilines crossed from the Asian mainland into the Japanese archipelago, and continue to make up a large proportion of the Japanese male lineage.^[26] If focusing haplogroup O-P31 in those researches, the patrilines derived from its subclade O-SRY465 are frequently found in both Japanese (mean 32%,^[27] with frequency in various samples ranging from 26%^[28][29] to 36%^[30]) and Koreans (mean 30%,^[31] with frequency in various samples ranging from 19%^[28][32] to 40%^[30]). According to the research, these patrilines have undergone extensive genetic admixture with the Jōmon period populations previously established in Japan.^[25]

Hammer estimated in 2005 that D-P37.1 and C-M8 emerged around 19,400 and 14,500 years ago respectively and those patrilines are referred to as descendants of indigenous people in Jōmon period.^[25] According to a 2008 study by Shi et al., however, if focusing haplogroup D, Andamanese and Tibetan people diverged from the original haplogroup D around from 66,400 to 51,600 years ago, and the Japanese subclade emerged around 37,700 years ago.^[33] The study suggested that those patrilines belonging to haplogroup D are possibly the first modern human groups in East Asia based on the Out of Africa theory because their ancestor haplogroup DE is found in African people in Nigeria along with Tibetan in East Asia.^[33]

A 2007 study by Nonaka et al. reported that Japanese males in the Kantō region, which includes the Greater Tokyo Area and is the most densely populated region of Japan, mainly belong to haplogroup D2 (48%), haplogroup O2b (31%), haplogroup O3 (15%), or haplogroup C (4%).^[34]

A 2010 study by Matsukusa et al. about the peoples in the Sakishima Islands reported that a part of the peoples in Miyako Island and Ishigaki Island also show the marks of YAP+ (53% and 26% respectively), being clearly different from Taiwanese aborigines.^[35]

Mitochondrial DNA[link]

A 2002 study by Kivisild et al. reported that Japanese people descended from indigenous Jōmon people may belongs to human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup M's subclades—M7a and M7b2.^[36] The matrilines of haplogroup M7 are especially common among Ryukyuans, while the matrilines of haplogroup Y1 among Ainu have been interpreted to suggest Siberian immigration to Japan.^[36] Although the study reported that those M7 matrilines seem to emerge in up to 18,000 years ago, the study also pointed out that their settlements may have occurred over 30,000 years ago if there was a population bottleneck in Japan.^[36]

In another study, ancient DNA recovered from 16 Jomon skeletons excavated from Funadomari site, Hokkaido, Japan was analyzed to elucidate the genealogy of the early settlers of the Japanese archipelago. Both the control and coding regions of their mitochondrial DNA were analyzed in detail, and 14 mtDNAs could be securely assigned to relevant haplogroups. Haplogroups D1a, M7a, and N9b were observed in these individuals, and N9b was by far the most predominant. The fact that haplogroups N9b and M7a were observed in Hokkaido Jomons bore out the hypothesis that these haplogroups are the (pre-) Jomon contribution to the modern Japanese mtDNA pool.^[37] In another study of ancient DNA published by the same authors in 2011, both the control and coding regions of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) recovered from Jomon skeletons excavated from the northernmost island of Japan, Hokkaido, were analyzed in detail, and 54 mtDNAs were confidently assigned to relevant haplogroups. Haplogroups N9b, D4h2, G1b, and M7a were observed in these individuals, with N9b being the predominant one.^[38] A study published in 2004 shows the combined frequency of M7a and N9b to be at least 28% in Okinawans (7/50 M7a1, 6/50 M7a(xM7a1), 1/50 N9b), 17.6% in Ainus (8/51 M7a(xM7a1), 1/51 N9b), and 10% in mainstream Japanese.^[39]

After a 2004 study by Tanaka et al. showed that Japanese belongs to various human mitochondrial DNA haplogroups—A, B, C, D, F, G, M, N and Z, a 2008 study by Bilal et al. estimated that haplogroup D4a is related to longevity among Japanese people.^[40]

According to an analysis of the 1000 Genome Project's sample of Japanese from the Tokyo metropolitan area, the mtDNA haplogroups found among modern Japanese include D (42/118 = 35.6%, including 39/118 = 33.1% D4 and 3/118 = 2.5% D5), B (16/118 = 13.6%, including 11/118 = 9.3% B4 and 5/118 = 4.2% B5), M7 (12/118 = 10.2%), G (12/118 = 10.2%), N9 (10/118 = 8.5%), F (9/118 = 7.6%), A (8/118 = 6.8%), Z (4/118 = 3.4%), M9 (3/118 = 2.5%), and M8 (2/118 = 1.7%).^[41]

A 2008 study by Nohira et al. reported that Japanese and Koreans shared various haplotypes of haplogroup D4.^[42]

Single-nucleotide polymorphism[link]

A 1996 study by Yoshiyuki Okano (Japanese:岡野 滋行) et al. of the Department of Pediatrics, Osaka City University Medical School, said that Japanese people descend from a Northern Mongoloid population from the Baikal area and said the presence of PKU mutation R413P in Northern China as well as Japan showed the effect of the founder effect or genetic drift.^[43]

A 2008 study about genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) by Yamaguchi-Kabata et al. reported that the most significant difference between Ryukyuan and Japanese outside Okinawa is the different frequencies of the T allele of rs3827760 in the human EDAR gene.^[44]

A 2008 study about genome-wide SNPs of East Asians by Chao Tian et al. reported that Japanese, Koreans and Han Chinese are far from southeast Asians, and Japanese is related to Koreans who are related to Han Chinese, but Japanese is relatively far from Han Chinese if compared to Koreans.^[45] However in another large genome-wide association study of East Asian populations,^[46] the Japanese are closer to Han Chinese, but the Koreans are relatively far away from Han Chinese if compared to Japanese. This study also included Native Americans, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Europeans and Africans.

Another study done in 2010 about the peopling of Northeast Asia by Jongsun Jung et al. ^[46] found that, going by Identity By State (a more accurate indicator of genetic similarity and distance compared to Fixation Index) results, the Japanese are more related to the Vietnamese when compared to the Mongolians and Koreans. The Koreans and Mongolians were found to be the least genetically related to the Vietnamese. However further studies need to be conducted to infer about relationships between the Jomon Japanese and their genetic relationships to other East Asian ethnic groups to better understand the origins of the Japanese people.

Japanese colonialism[link]

Location of Imperial Japan

During the Japanese colonial period of 1895 to 1945, the phrase "Japanese people" was used to refer not only to residents of the Japanese archipelago, but also to people from colonies who held Japanese citizenship, such as Taiwanese people and Korean people. The official term used to refer to ethnic Japanese during this period was "inland people" (内地人, naichijin^?). Such linguistic distinctions facilitated forced assimilation of colonized ethnic identities into a single Imperial Japanese identity.^[47]

After the end of World War II, many Nivkh people and Orok people from southern Sakhalin, who held Japanese citizenship in Karafuto Prefecture, were forced to repatriate to Hokkaidō by the Soviet Union as a part of Japanese people. On the other hand, many Sakhalin Koreans who had held Japanese citizenship until the end of the war were left stateless by the Soviet occupation.^[48]

Japanese as a Japanese Citizen[link]

The article 10 of the Constitution of Japan defines the term Japanese based on the Japanese Nationality.^[49] Indeed, Japan accepts a steady flow of 15,000 new Japanese citizens by naturalization (帰化) per year.^[50] The concept of the ethnic groups by the Japanese statistics is different from the ethnicity census of North American or some Western European statistics. For example, the United Kingdom Census asks ethnic or racial background which composites the population of the United Kingdom, regardless of their nationalities.^[51] The Japanese Statistics Bureau, however, does not have this question. Since the Japanese population census asks the people's nationality rather than their ethnic background, naturalized Japanese citizens and Japanese nationals with multi-ethnic background are considered to be ethnically Japanese in the population census of Japan. Thus, in spite of the widespread belief that Japan is ethnically homogeneous, it is probably more accurate to describe it as a multiethnic society.^[52]

As a result, the word kei (系, can be translated roughly as lineage or origin) is used when the Japanese citizen describe their origin of ancestors other than the Japanese archipelago. For example, Tanya Ishii, a former Japanese member to the Japanese Diet referred herself as a "Russian Japanese" (ロシア系日本人, Roshiakeinihonjin^?), since she had Russian roots from her maternal lineage.

Japanese diaspora[link]

The Japantown Peace Plaza during the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival.

The term nikkeijin (日系人^?) is used to refer to Japanese people who emigrated from Japan and their descendants.

Emigration from Japan was recorded as early as the 12th century to the Philippines and Borneo,^[53] but did not become a mass phenomenon until the Meiji Era, when Japanese began to go to the Philippines, United States, Canada, Peru, Brazil, and Argentina. There was also significant emigration to the territories of the Empire of Japan during the colonial period; however, most such emigrants repatriated to Japan after the end of World War II in Asia.^[54]

According to the Association of Nikkei and Japanese Abroad, there are about 2.5 million nikkeijin living in their adopted countries. The largest of these foreign communities are in the Brazilian states of São Paulo and Paraná.^[55] There are also significant cohesive Japanese communities in the Philippines, East Malaysia, Peru, Argentina, and the U.S states of Hawaii, California, and Washington. There is also a small group of Japanese descendants living in Caribbean countries such as Cuba and the Dominican Republic, where hundreds of these immigrants were brought in by Rafael L. Trujillo in the 1930s.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

Japan portal

• Ethnic issues in Japan
• Foreign-born Japanese
• Japantown
• List of Japanese people
• Nihonjinron
• Demographics of Japan
  • Ainu people
  • Azumi (people), an ancient group of peoples who inhabited parts of northern Kyūshū
  • Burakumin
  • Dekasegi
  • Ryukyuan people
  • Yamato people
  • Emishi, a group of people who lived in the northeastern Tōhoku region of Japan.

References[link]