ETHNOLOGY. The modern Japanese are a very mixed people. The largest factor in the produc tion of the Japanese is to be traced hack to the :Mongolian race of the adjacent continent, a view confirmed by the physical characteristics of a con siderable portion of the population at the present time. Some, indeed, group Japanese and Koreans together as being ancestrally very closely akin, by physical characters as well as by speech. But among the Japanese, as among the Koreans, and in certain parts of China. there are recognizable three physical types—an Aino type. chiefly char acteristic of Northern Japan: a Manchu-Korean, in the regions nearest Korea; and a :Malaya Mongolic, in the centre and east. The Korean Manchu type seems to go hack, like the primitive Chinese, to a Mongolian ancestry with a strain of proto-Caucasian blood. while the Ainos (see Aixo) are perhaps allied to the most primitive Caucasians: hut such opinions must he accepted with caution. The best authorities agree in dis tinguishing a 'fine' and a 'coarse' type among the modern .Japanese. The former is taller, more slenderly and gracefully built, longer faced and longer headed, with better-shaped nose. and. gen erally. less distinctively Mongolic in form and features. with lighter skin, etc. This is the dominant type of the aristocracy and upper classes. and is found in those parts of the Em pire nearest Korea, whence the original repre sentatives of this type probably immigrated into Japan. The 'finer' type may he considered to be the descendants of the Japanese immigrants from the continent, who conquered and intermingled with the original inhabitants, or winos. This `fine' type has now become the Japanese ideal. The 'coarse' type is characterized by shorter stat ure and thick-set body, broader skull and face, more prominent cheek-hones. somewhat oblique eyes. large lips, wide mouth, more powerful jaw, flattish nose and wide nostrils, darker skin, and generally more of the Mongolian in form and feature. Many of the women of the upper classes seem to belong more to the 'coarse' type, which may he accounted for by the process of conquest and the practice of polygamy. Both the 'fine' and the 'coarse' types are mixed, and in the north, from intermingling with the _linos, another mixed type has been and is still heing produced.
The population of Japan may thus be consid ered to consist of a prehistoric proto-Aino and later historic Aino element, upon which the Si biric ancestors of the Japanese proper imposed themselves by slow degrees until they ultimately became the dominant factor. There has been
added, perhaps at several different periods, a Malay or Polynesian element, which is noticeable in Central and Eastern Japan, where it is thought to have modified considerably both physical and social characters. Traces of ancient Negrito in fluence have been seen in .Japan by some authori ties, but others attach no importance to these alleged proofs of the former existence of a black race in Japan.
Physically the Japanese are not a strongly de veloped people, but they are capable of great exertion and endurance. A number of somatic peculiarities have been noted in the Japanese, such as the divided molar bone (os japonicum ), the low-, broad upper jaw, without canine fossa, and the so-called 'Japanese knee' (due to the practice of sitting so much). In their general physical conformation many of the Japanese males of the better classes have a decidedly femi nine, or even child-like, cast, a character thought by some authorities to belong more or less to the Mongolian race in general.
Intellectually the Japanese have shown a ca pacity equal to that of any other known people, and their native power is revealed by the fact that while their manners, customs, and certain institutions were modified in ancient times by Chinese culture, and in recent times by Euro pean and American civilization, the fundamental traits of their character have not been altered. The mental and moral characters of the Japa nese may be summed up as patience and per sistence, combined with cheerfulness, a certain versatility and quick-wittedness, enterprise and originality, together with unexcelled powers of imitation, as well as progressiveness, industry, artistic sense, humor, cleanliness. politeness, honor, bravery, kindness, calmness, and ability to conceal the emotions. From the Chinese and some other Mongolian peoples the Japanese differ in the freedom accorded to women from the re motest times down to the present day. their less altruistic ethical system, their high estimation of the warrior and their appreciation of war as a means of national advancement. their national virility. and their power to respond to and accept facts of modern social and historical evolution. The social and moral life of the .Japanese offers much that is interesting in the way of evolution. In sexual relations they range from polygamy and concubinage to monogamy.