Abstract
Variations in the Japanese foot shapes were investigated using principal component analysis based on 21 somatometric measurement items on right foot from 152 male and 152 female subjects. Four shape factors were extracted which were common to both sexes: 1) position of foot axis, 2) ball flex angle, 3) breadth of ball, and 4) dorsal arch height. Four different indices which represent each shape factor were devised for cluster analysis in order to categorize the foot shapes. The results revealed, for both males and females, seven clusters which comprised of more than three subjects. The "standard group" which was the biggest cluster contained 42% male and 35% female subjects. Thirty one percent of male subjects had wide foot, and 37% of female subjects had high dorsal arch. Female feet had greater variations than male feet. Because the foot shapes of modern Japanese are deformed by footwear, a research on a population which does not have a custom of shoe-wearing is needed to investigate what kind of variations in foot shape naturally occur.
