Japan's ethnic composition is relatively simple, but it can't be simply called a "single nation state". So this is because there are Ainu people and Ryukyu people with unique national characteristics in addition to the well-known "Yamato nation" on the Japanese archipelago. (1) The Yamato people, also known as "harmonious people", are the main body of the Japanese nation, accounting for more than 98% of the total population. Yamato nationality belongs to the East Asian type of Mongolian race, which is characterized by short head, yellow skin, black hair, less body hair and less beard. Earwax is dry. There are folds called "Mongolian folds" in the eyelids. Most people's blood type is type A, others are type O, type B and type AB in turn. Daiwa people used to be shorter. It is said that China's history books call them "Japanese", which is related to this. In recent years, the average height of Yamato people has increased significantly. According to statistics, the average height of his men is about 170 cm, which is above the world average. (2) Ainu Ainu people, formerly known as "Xia Yiren", belong to Qiandao ethnic group. Physically, Ainu people have the basic characteristics of Mongolian race, and slightly have some characteristics of equatorial race: black and yellow skin color. Thick body hair, long legs and wide waist, big head and high cheekbones. They not only have their own language-Ainu people, but also have unique literature and unique music and dance. Ainu people believe in a religion with strong shamanism, and often hold religious ceremonies such as "bear sacrifice" and "whale sacrifice", which is closely related to their self-sufficient life with fishing, hunting and gathering as the main means of survival since ancient times. In modern times, the above-mentioned national characteristics of Ainu people are not much, and they are gradually assimilating with others.

However, the emergence of assimilation does not mean the disappearance of Ainu people. According to statistics, there are still about 25,000 Ainu people living in Danzhen and Nikko, Hokkaido.

(3) Ryukyu people

At present, there are about 6.5438+0.2 million Ryukyu people, most of whom live in the Ryukyu Islands where Okinawa Prefecture is located in Japan. Although the Ryukyu people belong to the Mongolian race as well as the Yamato nationality, they are slightly shorter, thicker eyebrows and higher cheekbones than the Yamato nationality. In ancient times, Ryukyu people lived in groups based on tribes. /kloc-in the 4th century, three small countries were established. 1429, the Shang Eight Branches were unified into the Ryukyu Kingdom, forming a tribute relationship with China. /kloc-At the beginning of the 7th century, Ryukyu was invaded by Japanese Samoans and began to be controlled by them. 1879, Ryukyu was formally incorporated into Japanese territory. Ryukyu people have their own language-Ryukyu language. Although Ryukyu belongs to the same language family as Japanese, its pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary are quite different from Japanese. Ryukyu people don't have their own writing. /kloc-After the 6th century, some upper-class people began to record with Chinese characters and Japanese pseudonyms. A hieroglyph called "Qiu Si Code" is very popular in the lower classes. Some people keep records by tying ropes. After Ryukyu was incorporated into Japan, the Meiji government pursued the assimilation policy, forcing Japanese to be widely used in Ryukyu Islands. Now many young people in Ryukyu can't speak Ryukyu. The culture of Ryukyu people is deeply influenced by China and Japanese mainland. From a religious point of view, there are Buddhists, Shintoists and many Taoists among Ryukyu people. Like the Han people in China, they have the custom of sweeping graves in Tomb-Sweeping Day. They also like to place a statue of a stone lion on the roof and a stone beast named "Shi Gandang" at the intersection of major traffic routes, which is similar to the customs in some areas in southern China. In terms of diet, Ryukyu people like to drink a kind of white wine called "Paosheng", eat greasy vegetables and eat pig's trotters. These customs are different from Yamato nationality.