A Constitutional and Anthropological Study of Inhabitans of Iwashiro Atami District, Fukushima Prefecture.

Abstract

A biometric study was conducted in the central district of Fukushima Prefecture, in April 1955 for the purpose of finding out anthropological chracteristics of inhabitants of the Iwashirô-Atami district. Six villages, relatively isolated from blood mixthre with other communities, were chosen and 572 adult males were studied with reference to the anthropological measurement of the trunk, limbs, head and face. On the basis of 25 items obtained from the direct measurement and subsequent computation, detailed analyses were made in comparison with other districts where similar survey results were available.
In summary, it was found that the inhabitants of IwashirO-Atami district showed close resemblance to inhabitants of Kaga and Tôkai provinces. It may be interesting to note in this connection, that local traditions of the district often claim the origin of its inhabitants as an ancient political immigration of a race which was closely associated with Hokuriku and Taal. provinces. Most outstanding was the fact that the length-width index of the head of this district, 8 086, i. e. the long head type was maintained for a few thousand years, notwithstanding the intercourse and blood mixture with other communities.
The present study, it is hoped, will contribute to the formation of a general picture of the genesis of the Japanese race as a whole.