Search Results (3)

This study focuses on Aomori, a prefecture situated in the northern part of the Japanese main island Honshu. Riding on the popularity of time-slip-themed entertainment, Aomori began to brand itself as a place where people can experience a time-travel journey to the Jomon, the Japanese prehistoric era. Through this study, we investigated the practice of Aomori to incorporate fantasy in its heritage tourism. Mixed-method research was used to retrieve and analyze information about Aomori and its Jomon-themed time-slip tourism, including desk research and word frequency analysis. While selling fantasy in tourism is a not-so-new topic, the Aomori case shed light on the alternative strategy that regional areas can consider. The prefecture showed us the prospect to combine fantasy and the local culture to attract younger tourists and dedicated pop-culture fans to visit the local attractions. It also demonstrated the potential of thematic fantasy in heritage tourism, especially archaeotourism, often perceived as boring by the younger generation. Additionally, the Aomori case indicated the importance of tourism infrastructure, creative marketing, and innovation in heritage tourism. It further signifies the importance of speeding up digital transformation for the future of heritage tourism. Full article

This paper presents a specific examination of the introduction of grain cultivation and the processes of development in the Japanese Archipelago. In fact, no definitive archaeological evidence has been found that Jomon hunter–gatherers cultivated grain in the Japanese Archipelago; the earliest potential evidence of grain is a stamp mark of rice on the surface of a final late-Jomon, in about 11th century BC, pottery found at the Itaya 3 site in Shimane Prefecture. Current evidence indicates that the first grain cultivation was started by Jomon people who adopted irrigated wet rice cultivation that had arrived from the Korean Peninsula to northern parts of Kyushu, and gradually spread eastward thereafter. This study specifically examines four regions, including northern Kyushu, Kinki, southern Kanto, and northern Tohoku, in order to investigate the processes of grain cultivation initiation and spread. First, the years during which wet rice cultivation started in each region are estimated based on carbon-14 dating of earthenware types used during that period. Secondly, the timing of the spread of wet rice cultivation has been estimated based on carbon-14 dating of earthenware. Subsequently, differences in the periods between the initiation and dissemination of wet rice cultivation were estimated. Results suggest that dissemination took place over approximately 250 years in northern Kyushu, where wet rice cultivation first started. The time required for adoption decreased gradually as the trend moved eastward. It was estimated to have taken approximately 150 years in Kinki and 20–30 years in southern Kanto, taking place at about the same time. A factor, significantly contributing to such differences in timing and development processes among regions, was likely the relationship between the first farmers who introduced wet rice farming and the indigenous hunter–gatherers who lived there. Full article

A genome wide association study reported that the T allele of rs2294008 in a cancer-related gene, PSCA, is a risk allele for diffuse-type gastric cancer. This allele has the highest frequency (0.63) in Japanese in Tokyo (JPT) among 26 populations in the 1000 Genomes Project database. F_ST ≈ 0.26 at this single nucleotide polymorphism is one of the highest between JPT and the genetically close Han Chinese in Beijing (CHB). To understand the evolutionary history of the alleles in PSCA, we addressed: (i) whether the C non-risk allele at rs2294008 is under positive selection, and (ii) why the mainland Japanese population has a higher T allele frequency than other populations. We found that haplotypes harboring the C allele are composed of two subhaplotypes. We detected that positive selection on both subhaplotypes has occurred in the East Asian lineage. However, the selection on one of the subhaplotypes in JPT seems to have been relaxed or ceased after divergence from the continental population; this may have caused the elevation of T allele frequency. Based on simulations under the dual structure model (a specific demography for the Japanese) and phylogenetic analysis with ancient DNA, the T allele at rs2294008 might have had high frequency in the Jomon people (one of the ancestral populations of the modern Japanese); this may explain the high T allele frequency in the extant Japanese. Full article