Something about Japan

[Ygsi]

I noticed something about many Japanese individuals who claim to come from a Christian background. And that thing that I am talking about here is that they look quite European. Look at former Japanese PM Taro Aso for a good example. Now, my question is this. Is this because you can find some European blood in their family (like Portuguese or English) from about 400-450 years ago, when Europeans stumbled into Japan? Or do such people look like this purely because of Europid-looking Ainuid people who have been in Japan since the beginning of human habitation over there? And by the way, what did happen to the Europeans who went to Japan in around late 16th, early 17th century? Did they end up living there? Were they expelled? Did they return to Europe? What happened to them?

[Chaos One]

I noticed something about many Japanese individuals who claim to come from a Christian background. And that thing that I am talking about here is that they look quite European. Look at former Japanese PM Taro Aso for a good example. Now, my question is this. Is this because you can find some European blood in their family (like Portuguese or English) from about 400-450 years ago, when Europeans stumbled into Japan? Or do such people look like this purely because of Europid-looking Ainuid people who have been in Japan since the beginning of human habitation over there? And by the way, what did happen to the Europeans who went to Japan in around late 16th, early 17th century? Did they end up living there? Were they expelled? Did they return to Europe? What happened to them?

All Portuguese in Japan were killed or expelled. Christianism was banned and Crypto-Catholics existed until Meiji Revolution.

Very hard to imagine any kind of mixing there (and if it was, only happened in Hiroshima). Probably an Ainu effect more than anything else, but very rare in Japan at all (I lived there and only saw one Japanese guy with natural light brown eyes).

[Ygsi]

All Portuguese in Japan were killed or expelled. Christianism was banned and Crypto-Catholics existed until Meiji Revolution.

Very hard to imagine any kind of mixing there (and if it was, only happened in Hiroshima). Probably an Ainu effect more than anything else, but very rare in Japan at all (I lived there and only saw one Japanese guy with natural light brown eyes).

It's important to note though that at the beginning of the Tokugawa Shogunate, roughly around early 17th century, as many as around 1% of then Japan's population had converted to Christianity due to missionary work of European missionaries in the area. But the missionaries themselves. You say they most likely left Japan shortly after and they could not have mixed with the contingent of the Japanese population that had converted to Christianity.

And people with Europid-like features in Japan are not extremely rare. They are in minority in Japan, but not like 1 in a million type. And here I am not talking about eye color. Since I mentioned Taro Aso. If you look at him, you notice a few things about his looks, such as non-slanted eyes without mongoloid fold (but still small eyes), small cheekbones that are not prominent, very thin lips. I mean, such features are not found in purely blooded Mongoloid individuals.

[Hialt]

What you're talking about reminds me of a photo I saw of a bunch of young Dane summer-campers who almost every one of them had white hair. It was like a pen of white-blonde-only kids.
Maybe not entirely, but I think such coincidences are a function of economic categories of mankind. Though the circumstance of their gathering in the photo was for summer camp, their parents likely come from the same income group in Denmark, in which white-blonde hair happens to be an informal identifier. That's how I make sense of such a coincidence as you refer to. Good observation on your part. One explanation is the economic habits of a certain social class expressing itself in a recognizeable way.

[Flashball]

Ainu are not "Europid", they are close to Aboriginal.

[Ygsi]

Ainu are not "Europid", they are close to Aboriginal.

Says who?