From at least 1976 until his exposure by the media in November 2000, amateur archaeologist Shinichi Fujimura planted artifacts at over 180 Paleolithic ‘sites’ in Miyagi Prefecture and other parts of eastern Japan. As a result of this hoax, the existence of an Early Paleolithic stretching back more than half a million years became widely accepted in Japan. Fujimura perpetrated one of the biggest archaeological hoaxes of the 20th century and his actions have important implications for the way archaeological research is conducted in Japan and beyond. This article explores the sociopolitical background to the hoax and argues that the emphasis on archaeology as ‘people’s history’ in postwar Japan was one important factor in the favorable evaluations given to Fujimura’s discoveries. It is suggested that the lessons of the Fujimura hoax support the need for a stronger and more reflexive relationship between archaeology and anthropology in Japan.

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A study on 111 pre-menarcheal (PMG) and 123 menarcheal (MG) Bengalee Hindu girls was undertaken to compare differences in their anthropometric and body composition characteristics. The mean ages of the PMG (12.5 years, SD = 1.2) and MG (12.6, SD = 1.1) subjects were similar. Anthropometric measurements included height, weight, triceps, and calf skinfolds. Two derived indices (body mass index [BMI] and sum of skinfolds) and four body composition measures, percent body fat (PBF), fat mass (FM), fat free mass (FFM), and fat mass index (FMI) were also studied. The mean, 25th, 50th, and 70th percentile values of age at menarche were 12.0, 11.1, 12.0 and 12.9 years, respectively. Results showed that MG had significantly (P < 0.001) higher mean values for all anthropometric and body composition variables. The difference in mean height, weight, and BMI were 10.5 cm, 11.0 kg, and 3.0 kg/m², respectively. The differences between the two groups in mean PBF, FM, FFM, and FMI were 7.7%, 5.1 kg, 5.9 kg, and 2.0 kg/m², respectively. The percent difference (after attainment of menarche) in mean FM and mean FFM were 50.5% and 19.9%, respectively. Multivariate regression analyses revealed that attainment of menarcheal status had significant impact on all four measures of body composition (PBF: P < 0.0001; FM: P < 0.0001; FFM: P < 0.0001; FMI: P < 0.001) independent of BMI. Using BMI as a covariate, results of ANOVA revealed that the mean values of PBF, FM, FFM, and FMI were significantly higher among MG compared with the PMG subjects, even after adjustment for BMI. In conclusion, this study clearly indicated that there existed significant differences in body composition, irrespective of BMI, between MG and PMG Bengalee Hindus. It also demonstrated that relative difference in mean FM was significantly greater, compared to the relative difference in mean FFM, after the attainment of menarche.

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The Homo erectus calvaria from Hexian, Anhui province, China is an important component of the fossil sample from East Asia. This specimen is the most complete Chinese H. erectus cranium found outside Zhoukoudian. Previous work has shown that the fossil crania from Zhoukoudian exhibit a unique metric pattern not seen in specimens from Africa or Indonesia. Multivariate statistics that assess the statistical significance of distances have not been used to compare the Hexian cranium to other relevant fossils, and this has hampered our appreciation of the pattern and magnitude of variation in the Chinese fossil record. This study involves the use of Mahalanobis distances to examine the variation present in a large sample of Homo erectus crania. Two separate examinations utilizing up to 7 measurements on 15 crania were performed to maximize the number of available specimens. Random expectation statistics were then used to test for significance between these fossils. Our results highlight clear metric dissimilarities between the Hexian calvaria and the fossils from Zhoukoudian. These metric patterns also separate Hexian from Zhoukoudian V, a skull with which it shares some more modern non-metric features. Our results indicate a greater degree of variation in the human fossil sample from China than has previously been recognized.

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Human and non-human remains recovered in the early 1960s from the Negata site at Hamakita, central Japan were dated by radiocarbon accelerator mass spectrometry. These results and revised fluorine dating yielded consistent dates of about 14.0 ¹⁴C ka BP for the Hamakita Upper Layer human bones, and the most probable age estimate of around 17.9 ¹⁴C ka BP for the Hamakita Lower Layer human bone. These dates confirm the provisional assignment of the Hamakita hominids to the late Pleistocene and make them the first securely dated specimens in the inventory of the ‘Palaeolithic hominid’ fossils of Honshu island (mainland Japan) that predate the Mesolithic–Neolithic Jomon period.

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We describe the growth pattern of a sample of Japanese descendants born in São Paulo, Brazil. Cross-sectional data from 1297 subjects were obtained in eight middle- and upper middle-class schools. Weight and height of children of Japanese ancestry were compared both to populations of similar socio-economic status, namely the well-off European descendants born in São Paulo and the United States, and to populations of similar genetic background from Japan and urban China. Adult size is smaller in Brazilians of Japanese ancestry than in the samples of European ancestry. We show that the Brazilian-born Japanese descendants do not display any growth deficits during the preadolescent period but fall short of the US growth standard afterwards, suggesting that the adolescent growth spurt is responsible for their smaller body size at adulthood. The observed height deficit is more pronounced than the weight deficit in both boys and girls. On the other hand, when comparisons include only populations of Asian origin, the Japanese descendants from São Paulo are shown to be similar in height and weight to the better-off children living in Japan, and significantly larger than the urban Chinese children of relatively lower socio-economic status.

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Radiocarbon ages were determined for 25 samples of human skeletal remains previously assigned or attributable to the Yayoi period (tentatively considered ca. 500 BC to 300 AD) of the Kanto district, Japan. Suzuki (1969) and others, predominantly on cranial morphology, recognized that the Kanto Yayoi series contains three morphological groups: the native Jomon, transitional, and Kofun types. Morphological variation of the Kanto Yayoi people was considered to be chronologically based and formed the basis of Suzuki’s transformation hypothesis of the origin of the Japanese, which assumed limited influence, in eastern Japan, from continental immigrants. The ¹⁴C dates of the present study, determined for fragmentary postcranial elements of the same general assemblage, showed that these ‘Yayoi’ series, in part, contain skeletal remains of different ages, including those attributable to the Jomon and Kofun periods. All specimens from the Sano site that were examined were found to most likely derive from the Jomon period, while the dated Ourayama and Iwatsubo remains are best interpreted to be of Yayoi age. The Awajinsha and Bishamon samples were found to be of mixed chronological compositions. The implications of these results are discussed.

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Using standard methods, we describe the morphometric characteristics of Indian- and Chinese-derived rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) reared at the Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University. The most significant morphometric difference found between the two populations was in tail length, which was ca. 45% and 35% of crown–rump length in the Indian- and Chinese-derived rhesuses, respectively. There were no major differences between the two populations in terms of the other parameters of body size/proportion, although the Chinese-derived rhesuses tended to be larger than the Indian-derived rhesuses by 2–5% and there were some differences in the proportions of extremities. This morphometric similarity can be interpreted from either phylogenetic (recent divergence) or adaptive (similarities in habitat) perspectives.

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The discovery of a rich and diverse vertebrate fauna in the Middle Miocene Muruyur Formation (ca. 14.5 Ma), Tugen Hills, Kenya, provides a rare view of the structure of the catarrhine fauna from this time period. Up to 2002, more than 140 catarrhine specimens have been collected from three sites (Kipsaraman, Keturo, and Cheparawa) represented by 199 teeth. At least six taxa are present, five ‘apes’ (hominoids sensu lato) and one cercopithecoid. Three of the taxa are new species. The Kipsaraman catarrhine fauna has some similarities to those of Maboko (ca. 15 Ma) and Fort Ternan (ca. 13.7 Ma), western Kenya, but it differs markedly from the Nachola (ca. 16 Ma) one, not only in the relative abundance of hominoids versus cercopithecoids, but also in the taxa represented. At Maboko and Kipsaraman, the most abundant catarrhine fossils are cercopithecoids, whereas these are rare at Nachola and unknown at Fort Ternan. At Kipsaraman, Maboko, and Fort Ternan, small ‘ape’ fossils are common, whereas they are absent from Nachola. Nyanzapithecus or a similar genus is present, but rare at all four sites. Kenyapithecus is present at Maboko, Fort Ternan, and Kipsaraman, but is absent from Nachola, its place being taken by Nacholapithecus which is abundant at the site. The catarrhine faunas from these Middle Miocene localities indicate that environmental conditions within East Africa were highly variable between 16 and 13.7 Ma.

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Genotyping the urinary JC virus (JCV) DNA is a useful means to gain new insights into the origin of ethnic groups. We recently detected thirteen JCV isolates from the Ainu, an indigenous population living on Japan’s northernmost island (Hokkaido). Based on phylogenetic analysis, these isolates were classified into five genotypes: two (MX and MY-x) were first identified in the Ainu, two (EU-a/Arc and EU-c) are prevalent in northeastern Siberians and an Arctic tribe, and one (MY-b) is widespread among Hondo Japanese, i.e. contemporary Japanese excluding the Ainu. Although these findings have several potential implications for the development of the modern Ainu, further studies are required to reach a definite conclusion. In this report, an isolate in a forensic subject whose ethnic origin was Ainu belonged to the MX genotype and two isolates recently identified in South Koreans and grouped as Native American isolates belonged to the MY-x genotype. The present findings suggest that the MX genotype of JCV is unique to the Ainu, whereas MY-x is spread among some Northeast Asian populations.

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