抄録
Evidences of modernization found in changes of physical features of contemporary Japanese are discussed with special reference to leg pro-portion and brachycephaly. Anthropometrical research conducted in 1966-72 on 17, 585 male and 17, 952 female Japanese aged 5 to 59 years revealed that the mean lower extremity length grows faster in relation to its adult value than stature, the adolescent growth spurt of the former preceding that of the latter by about one year. Growth of both items occurs earlier in girls than in boys. The largest ratio of lower extremity length/stature in girls was seen at age 12 with 0.527, while it was at 13 with 0.519 in a previous survey of 1957-61 and about 0.51 in subjects aged more than 25 years. Measurements of the skull dimensions of 1, 585 adult Japanese women in 1956-57 showed that the cephalic index, or ratio of head breadth to head length, was on the average 85.9, 84.5, 83.5, and 83.0 for age 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, and 50-59 years, respectively. This means that the brachycephalization is proceeding in time units of decades. As possible causes of these changes, assortative coatings associated with urbanization and improvements in general living conditions are mentioned and diseussed.
