A study of somatotype in the general Japanese population from children through to the elderly has never been executed. No study of somatotype relating to the life history and ecological conditions where the subjects live and work is available in the literature. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there is a specific character of body shape among groups of inhabitants who have engaged in their profession for a long period of time, i.e. in the elderly. Three groups were selected according to profession: a farming group, rice farmers in particular; an inshore fishery group; and a group of subjects in varied occupations in a large urban area. The subjects ranged in age from their 50s to their 90s; the subject number consisted of 51 males and 42 females in a farming village, 53 males and 48 females in a fishing village, and 55 males and 66 females in the center of Tokyo. 10 anthropometric measurements were obtained, and somatotypes were determined according to the Heath-Carter method in each location, as well as in each age group and each sex. The results were as follows. 1) As for body size, no difference was detected between the farmers and fishermen/women, whereas the subjects in Tokyo were greater in size than the subjects of the other 2 groups. This difference is possibly due not only to daily energy consumption and dietary habits, but also to the regional extent for spouse selection. 2) As for somatotype, a clear difference correlating to region and/or profession was detected. Endomorphy was most frequently encountered in Tokyo in either sex, whereas in the farming and fishing villages the mesomorphic element was prevalent. Moreover, because in the females in the fishing village the mesomorphic element was the most prevalent, the sex difference with regard to somatotype was very small in this village.

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Many researchers have examined regional differences in physical characteristics of Jomon people based on their cranial and dental traits, and on their estimated statures. Those studies have shown that regional differences among Jomon people were smaller than temporal differences between Jomon and modern Japanese, and anthropologists have recognized that physical traits of Jomon people were generally homogeneous among all regions of Japan Islands. In this study, the author compared inter-regional variations of the respective limb bone metrics of Jomon and modern Japanese in six provinces of Japan Islands. The results of univariate analyses were: 1) Regarding maximum lengths, regional variations among Jomon people were larger than those among modern Japanese; 2) Most diaphyseal cross-section indices in Jomon showed significant regional differences, but no significant differences exist among modern Japanese. Mahalanobis' generalized distances (D²) among individual regions in both groups based on limb bone measurements indicate that inter-regional D²s among Jomon were generally larger than those among modern Japanese and that the plotted area in two-dimensional expression of Jomon was also broader than that of modern Japanese. Similar analyses based on cranial metrics showed that the average D²s of Jomon and modern Japanese in males were nearly equivalent; in females, inter-regional variations of Jomon were greater than those of modern Japanese. These findings suggest that backgrounds for limb-bone and skull formation respectively differed. It is therefore necessary to reexamine regional variations of Jomon people using other anatomical features and genetic polymorphisms.

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A dwarf skeleton of a four-year-old child was excavated from an early modern burial pit at Youda Minamippara site in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Although the overall skeleton is not completely preserved, the detailed observation of the skeleton enables us to diagnose possible diseases the individual may have carried. The extremely short limbed bones suggest that the child suffered from a disorder of longitudinal growth caused by certain disturbance in cartilage formation. The vertebrae are small overall with lowness of the dens of the axis and anterior wedging of the L1, 2. No malmorphology was found in the preserved facial cranium. Based on these morphologies and the age at death, we concluded that the growth abnormalities in this child were a result not of achondroplasia, but of Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita (SEDC). SEDC is a relatively uncommon disease, and only one other ancient skeletal remain has been diagnosed with SEDC. Furthermore, this is the first case of an ancient dwarf skeletal remain reported in Japan. Additionally, the case provides valuable paleopathological information on the differences between SEDC and achondroplasia.

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This study measured the medieval crania from the Kanto District in Japan and compared the measurements with those of the preceding studies for the purpose of clarifying the morphological variation within several medieval populations in the Kanto District and between populations from the Kanto and northern Kyushu-Yamaguchi Districts. The materials utilized in this study consist of human skeletal remains from the Yuigahama-minami (individual burials), Chusei-Shudan-Bochi, Gokurakuji sites in the Kamakura city, the Kanto District and from the Kajibashi and Marunouchi sites in the Tokyo metropolis, the Kanto District. Statistical comparisons are made with data available in the literature on population samples of the Yuigahama-minami (multiple burials) and Zaimokuza sites in the Kamakura city, the Kanto District and of the Yoshimohama in the Shimonoseki city, the northern Kyushu-Yamaguchi District. The result is that all the medieval populations have more dolichocephalic, chamaeprosopic, and alveolar-protrusive crania than the samples of other periods. The intra-regional comparisons of the medieval crania indicate that the samples of the Kanto District cannot be regarded as homogeneous: the specific features of the medieval period Japanese are pronounced especially in the Gokurakuji and Zaimokuza samples. The inter-regional comparisons of the medieval crania indicate that all the medieval populations from the Kanto District have more dolichocephalic, chamaeprosopic, and alveolar-protrusive crania than the population from the northern Kyushu-Yamaguchi District.

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In order to examine the inter-generation differences in face size, 6 cephalic measurements were taken for 65 young adult females (mean age 22.3 yrs.) and their mothers (N = 55, mean age 51.1 yrs.) and 35 young adult males (mean age 25.0 yrs.) and their fathers (N = 29, mean age 56.5 yrs.). Significant inter-generation differences were observed in bigonial breadth in both sexes and head length and self-reported stature in females. Results of stepwise discriminant analyses indicated that bigonial breadth was the most important dimension in discriminating the 2 generation groups. Younger generation had absolutely and relatively narrower bigonial breadth, and smaller face size. The possible causes of the inter-generation difference in bigonial breadth may be the secular change in the facial skeleton, continuing growth of mandible, and/or the aging effects of soft tissues.

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