-Caveat Lector- >From Int'l Herald Tribune Paris, Saturday, April 3, 1999 A Dig Yields Clues To Japan's Origins Light on Jomon Era Instills Pride By Nicholas D. Kristof New York Times Service AOMORI, Japan - When he was a boy, Tomihiro Yoshizaki used to dig for arrowheads in some strange mounds of earth outside this city in northern Japan. Now those mounds have been excavated, resolving crucial mysteries about the ancient hunter-gatherers who lived here 5,000 years ago. Just one mystery remains: To what extent are Mr. Yoshizaki and other modern Japanese descended from those ancient people? The origins of the Japanese people remain a much-debated puzzle, but part of the puzzle is being pieced together here on the vast archeological site near Aomori, about 600 kilometers (375 miles) north of Tokyo. Local people like Mr. Yoshizaki, 45, had long known about the mounds and the artifacts. But they were investigated only in 1992, when surveyors preparing to build a baseball stadium uncovered evidence that this was once a village of the Jomon people, who lived in Japan from 10,000 B.C. to about 300 B.C. Now the site is perhaps the most important archeological dig in Japan, attracting a half-million tourists a year and shedding new light on prehistoric life here. Moreover, even after filling 40,000 boxes of material, archeologists say that they have at least 15 more years' work before they complete their investigations here. ''The city of Aomori had very little history,'' Mr. Yoshizaki mused. ''But now, all of a sudden, we have a great deal of history, and we're very proud of it.'' The excavations have aroused enormous interest in Japan, where archeology is a national craze. Japan spends more than $1 billion annually in public funds to excavate some 13,000 sites each year, archeology books become best sellers, and leading experts often appear on television. The issues are in some ways political, as well as archeological, because of the rivalries in East Asia. North Korea claims that it, not Africa, is where humans first appeared. South Koreans believe that it was their emigrants who brought civilization to Japan and that a Korean clan probably founded the Japanese imperial family. Chinese suggest that Xu Fu, an ancient Chinese envoy who was sent to Japan in the third century B.C., became the first Japanese emperor, Jimmu. These theories have not been a big hit in Japan. But the underlying competition may be one reason for the pride in new findings that the Jomon people, who lived in Japan even earlier, were more sophisticated than anybody had expected. Jomon sites have been found all over Japan, but the excavations here have been the most startling. The first discovery was of six enormous holes in the ground with the remains of wooden pillars one meter thick, evidently the base for some huge structure. ''This stunned people, and not only because it raised questions about how they cut and dragged the logs,'' said Yasuhiro Okada, an archeologist at the site. ''But also because it suggests a certain population and level of technology and social organization. This all showed much greater skills than we had assumed for these hunter-gatherers, and it was a stunning discovery for most Japanese.'' Further investigation showed that the site was a settled village with hundreds of inhabitants and separate cemeteries for children and adults, and that its people had dabbled in agriculture by planting chestnuts, millet and other domesticated plants. There apparently was trade, for the dig turned up jade from 650 kilometers to the south and obsidian from the northern island of Hokkaido. The traditional view had been that virtually all culture originated in Korea and China and then spread to Japan. But now some Japanese archeologists point to evidence that some innovations went the other way. They suggest that buckwheat farming, lacquerware-making and other innovations originated in Japan and then traveled to Korea and China. ''We know that we have learned many things from Korea and China,'' said Makoto Sahara, a historian and director-general of the National Museum of Japanese History. ''But not all things.'' There is a complication, though. While modern Japanese feel pride in Jomon achievements, analysis of skeletons suggests that the Jomon did not look like modern Japanese. Instead, they had features that made them look more like Caucasians, and they seem to have resembled the Ainu, an ethnic group that still lives in tiny numbers in northern Japan. In the museum here in Aomori, Japanese tourists wandered by exhibits about the Jomon and gazed affectionately at pictures of what their Jomon ancestors are believed to have looked like - even though the only one in the room who looked much like the pictures was an American. One theory has been that waves of immigrants from China and Korea quickly displaced the Jomon people and their culture around 300 B.C. They ushered in the Yayoi period, an era which emphasized rice paddy cultivation and whose people looked more like today's Japanese. In the last decade, a growing body of skeletal, DNA and linguistic analysis has suggested that modern Japanese are the product of both Jomon people and the Yayoi immigrants from China and Korea - and perhaps other population infusions as well. Satoshi Horai, a scholar, argues that modern Japanese are a mix of about 35 percent Jomon and 65 percent Yayoi. That would mean that Japanese are descended mostly from Chinese and Koreans but also have an important Jomon component. ''The recent DNA studies clearly indicate the close genetic relationship between the Japanese on the main islands and the Koreans in particular,'' said Keiichi Omoto, a leading scholar. Scholars note that despite the widespread perception that Japanese are homogeneous, there is considerable regional variation in appearance. Japanese in northern provinces tend to have rounder eyes, more body hair and wider faces, traits that may suggest a bit more Jomon heritage. A museum at the Aomori site offers a computer screen to advise visitors on the proportion of their blood that comes from the Jomon, based on their eyes, body hair and other characteristics. ''People in northern Japan can be 60 to 80 percent of Jomon origin, while those from western or southern Japan are 40 percent Jomon or less,'' said Mr. Okada. >From NEWS FROM KOREAN CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY OF DPRK(Democratic People's Republic of Korea) http://www.kcna.co.jp/ R.S. on contrasting views and stands of Germany and Japan toward past history Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA ) -- Rodong Sinmun today carries its commentator's article entitled "On Japan's irresponsibility, shamelessness and immorality" which shows the contrasting views and attitudes of Germany and Japan toward the past history. The article says: Both Germany and Japan are responsible for terrible disasters inflicted upon humankind. However, they are clean different from each other in their admission and views on this. The German government officially admitted its responsibilities for the past war and has apologized and compensated for what it did in the war. Germany admitted that its government and people should take responsibilities for the war started by Nazi Germany and prohibited practices of their denial by law. The German government has made dlrs. 60 to 80 billion compensations since the second world war ceased. As voices demanding compensation got louder, it announced in February that a "fund for commemoration, responsibility and future" aimed at compensating victims would be set up. Facts eloquently show that Germany is making sincere efforts to act as a full-fledged member nation of the international community by winning confidence from other peoples and promoting reconciliation, free of guilty conscience, on the basis of completely resolving its past. This stands out in sharp contrast to what Japan has done. Compared with such a sincere stand and attitude of Germany toward the past history, Japan's attitude and stance toward its past crimes are too irresponsible and shameless. Japan's responsibilities for calamities inflicted upon humankind cannot be said to be lighter than those of Germany. On the contrary, they are more serious. The Japanese imperialists committed unimaginably heinous crimes against the Asian peoples including those of China and other southeast Asian countries. Worse still, they illegally occupied Korea and enforced the colonial rule for nearly half a century. In this period, they forcibly drafted more than six million Korea n people, killed as many as one million, reduced nearly 200,000 women to sex slaves and destroyed or looted enormous resources and cultural assets from Korea . Indeed, their crimes were so monstrous and cruel in human history. More than half a century has passed since then. But, the Japanese authorities still refuse to admit the history of aqgression and crimes. Japan has negated its history woven with murder and plunder. Not content with this, it is making no scruple to justify and beautify this history. At the utmost, it uttered nothing but "owabi" in a bid to deceive and flout the world public. Such jugglery of words cannot substitute for the expression of apology for its past crimes. Nothing similar to Germany's views and admission of the past history can be found in Japan. Worse still, Japan lags far behind Germany in this aspect. Why is Japan so adamantly and shamelessly refusing to admit, apologize and compensate for the past crimes? It is not ascribable to its deep-seated evil habits but to its ill-gotten intention to repeat the past history of aggression and crimes. Japan has pushed ahead with preparations for reinvasion on a full scale, swearing revenge for its defeat in the war. At present, it is hellbent on gratifying its ambition with the strength it has cultivated for more than 50 years. Another cunning estimation of the Japanese authorities is that if they get along refusing to admit the past history woven with aggression and crimes and apologize and make up for them, its past will be buried in oblivion of history or fade from the memory of the people any time. No matter how many years may pass, the wrath of the Korea n and other Asian peoples against the Japanese imperialists can never be allayed. If it had followed the precedent of Germany even a little although its act was not on its own initiative, Japan would not have been criticised by international public for its irresponsibility, shamelessness and immorality that have reached their height. Japan must clearly know that any country which refuses to discharge its responsibility and moral obligation under international law cannot win international confidence nor have any qualification to exist on the earth. The only way for Japan to win international confidence and live in peace as others is to make proper compensation for its past. Such foolish people as the South Korean puppets might pardon Japan for its crimes for a small amount of money. But, the Korea n people will not pardon Japan for refusing to liquidate its past. The Korean people will certainly make Japan pay for the humiliation, misfortunes, sufferings and disasters imposed upon them by the Japanese imperialists generation after generation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ A<>E<>R The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority. -Thomas Huxley + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. 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