The late Professor AKIRA MATSUMURA has left a protocol on the people of Okinaha-Hontô measured himself during the progress of his anthropological and archaeological investigations in spring of 1919.This material is set forth in this paper.
The mean values of maximum length and breadth of head, auricular head height, length-breadth, length-height and breadth-height indices of head, bizy-gomatic breadth, morphological height, morphological facial index, nasal height and breadth, nasal index and stature are shawn in tables 1-18.The following results may be drawn from these.
The people of Okinaha-Hontô has moderate head length and breadth, while his auricular height is high.His head type, therefore, is high mesocephal and hypsicephal.Face is moderate broad but low, namely euryprosop.Nose is low and narrow.Concerning to the body-built, his stature is low, upper limb short and shoulder is rather broad.Half of them have oblique eye and two thirds have Mongolian eye folds.
Comparing these physical traits among the Japanese, the people of Okinaha-Hotô is characteristics to low nasal height.and low tature, and these differences are not seem to shaw that he is different people from the Japanese.
Also comparing among each islanders of Ryûkyû, we may distinguish four types of physical character and group the islands as follows: Sakisima Islands (most southern islands), Okinaha Islands (Okinawa-Hontô, Kume-Sima etc.), Amami Islands (Toku-no-Sima, O-Sima, Kikai-ga-Sima etc.) and Kumake Islands (Tane-ga-Sima, Yaku-Sima etc.).
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