The origin of the Japanese has been in dispute for a long time. Racially, they are quite distinct from Koreans and other neighboring ethnic groups, especially in the shape of the skull (some of you Euros try on a Japanese hat, then try Korean and Chinese, and you'll see what I mean).

The Ainu predate the present-day dominant culture and were probably pushed up north from their original positions all over the four main islands by modern ethnic Japanese.

I've heard at least two theories on the origins of the unique group that occupies most of the archipelago today.

1) They are a mixture of mainland Asians and Ainu. Is that what Monsta was talking about? Who knows.

2) They are invaders from the South Pacific, either Polynesians or from the Philippines. I think I have even heard they could have been from Formosa (present-day Taiwan).

One way anthropologists and historians study origins is through language. Unfortunately, Japanese has no surviving close relatives. The closest is Korean, which shares some grammatical structures. It is far from Chinese, with which it shares almost nothing except the adopted script and borrowed vocabulary.

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Knowing the Tao saves you thousands of dollars in psychiatric bills and credit card debt.