Today, the Japanese are among the most respected people worldwide. They are rich in culture, have a booming economy and in the recent years, they have become technologically advance that customers from all over buy Japanese gadgets from cars to laptops and other “trinkets” if they may be called that. It is also noteworthy that no other people group in the world are as nationalistic and as loyal to their country as the Japanese. Whether it is the result of their closed door policy, I do not know but these people are proud to be who they are and they stand tall for being Japanese. They have a very good reason for feeling this way about their country.
A curious question is where did Japanese people originate from? We know who they are now and the kind of people they have become but isn’t it interesting to know their beginnings and how they came to be? What shaped them to be the respected and thriving society that they are today? Here are some of the theories of their origin.
A study that was conducted back in 1991 claimed that Japanese people are descendants of immigrants from the Jomon period during the Paleolithic times from somewhere in Southeast Asia. Another wave of immigrants then followed during the Yayoi period which was around 300 BCE to 300 CE. Their intermarriages resulted to the rise of the Japanese people as we know then today. This is called the Dual Structure Model.
As in any theory, there are always counter theories and the Dual Structure Model that attempts to answer where did Japanese people originate from was not spared. Masatoshi Nei claims that the Japanese have their origins in northeast Asia around thirty thousand years ago. This was supported by studies conducted in 1979 and claimed that the Yamato people are related to the Chinese people based on archaeological pieces of evidence in their customs and traditions. Others claim that they are related to Mongolians because of their blood type.
Today, the most well-regarded theory on Japanese origin is that they are descendants of the Jomon people who are indigenous and an immigrant group known as the Yayoi people. Up to this day, however, this is still being challenged and disputed.
Where did Japanese people originate from? There are a good number of theories. One thing is certain though. They are a respectable people group who is worth emulating by people worldwide.
