On the Blood Group of Inhabi-tants of the Eastern Part of Upper Ina District, Nagano Prefecture

Abstract

Examination of A-B-0 blood groups was carried out in 3162 inhabitants of the district, including 6 communities. Of these 3 (Hudisawa, Miwa and Inasato) were highland mountainous places and 3 (Takatoo, Kanami and Nagahudi) were situated on more level basins.
The biochemical race index or blood group ratio as well as p-q-r, genic frequency ratio computed from the data of the blood groups differed from place to place, even from hamlet to hamlet, without conforming with the known average values for the Japanese race in general.
From previous investigations, an intense trend of inbreeding confined to each rural villages were repeatedly reported.
For the marked local differences in blood group characteristics of inhabitants, the authors proposed an explanation that the local data do not represent the racial characteristics of the ancestral race, whose sinall samples colonized and settled in each localities several centuries ago, some indeed in the prehistoric period, and these ancesters produced by repeated inbreeding of a high degree the offspring, the inhabitants of these mountainous district as they now are.
In regions, such as Japan, where trend of inbreeding is very high, local differences of blood group characteristics could not be used as supporting local differences of their racial origin.