Who Are the Japanese? Shocking DNA Study Reveals the Truth

A Massive DNA Study Just Rewrote Japan’s Ancestry — And It Could Help Future Medicine

Scientists have just made a fascinating discovery about the roots of the Japanese people. By analyzing the complete genomes of over 3,200 individuals from all across Japan, researchers found that the population isn’t shaped by just two ancestral groups, as long believed — but three.

Genetic Diversity in Japan

A groundbreaking genetic study has just rewritten what we thought we knew about Japan’s origins.^[1] Scientists from RIKEN’s Center for Integrative Medical Sciences have found strong evidence that today’s Japanese population descends from not two, but three ancient groups—a discovery that’s turning heads in the world of genetics.

For years, it was believed that Japan’s ancestry stemmed mainly from the Jomon hunter-gatherers and rice-farming migrants from East Asia. But this new research adds a third player to the mix: the Emishi, a lesser-known group from northeast Asia. This supports a growing theory that Japan’s roots are more complex and diverse than previously thought.^[2]

The Japanese population isn’t as genetically homogenous as everyone thinks, says RIKEN’s Chikashi Terao, who led the study. “Our analysis revealed Japan’s subpopulation structure on a fine scale, which is very beautifully classified according to geographical locations in the country.”

Combing for Clues

To uncover these hidden threads of ancestry, the team sequenced the complete DNA of over 3,200 people across seven regions of Japan, stretching from Hokkaido to Okinawa. It’s one of the largest studies ever done on a non-European population—and thanks to whole-genome sequencing, which reveals all 3 billion base pairs of a person’s DNA, it offered a much deeper look than previous methods.

It provides roughly 3,000 times more information than the DNA microarray method, which up until now has been used more widely. “Whole-genome sequencing gives us the chance to look at more data, which helps us find more interesting things,” says Terao.

Exploring Ancestral Links and Rare Gene Variants

To further enhance the data’s usefulness and examine the potential links between genes and certain diseases, he and his collaborators combined the DNA information obtained with relevant clinical data, including disease diagnoses, test results, and information on both medical and family history. They collated all of this into a database known as the Japanese Encyclopedia of Whole-Genome/Exome Sequencing Library (JEWEL).

One topic of particular interest to Terao’s was the study of rare gene variants. “We reasoned that rare variants can sometimes be traced back to specific ancestral populations, and could be informative in revealing fine-scale migration patterns within Japan,” he explains.

Their hunch proved right, helping to reveal the geographic distribution of Japanese ancestry. Jomon ancestry, for instance, is most dominant in the southern, subtropical shores of Okinawa (found in 28.5% of samples) while lowest in the west (just 13.4% of samples). By contrast, people living in western Japan have more genetic affinity with Han Chinese people—which Terao’s team believes is likely associated with the influx of migrants from east Asia between the year 250 and year 794, and is also reflected in the comprehensive historical adoption of Chinese-style legislation, language, and educational systems in this region.

Emishi ancestry, on the other hand, is most common in northeastern Japan, decreasing to the west of the country.

Insights From Archaic Human DNA

The researchers also examined JEWEL for genes inherited from Neanderthals and Denisovans, two groups of archaic humans that interbred with Homo sapiens. “We are interested in why ancient genomes are integrated and kept in modern human DNA sequences,” says Terao, who explains that such genes are sometimes associated with certain traits or conditions.

For instance, other researchers have shown that people in Tibet have Denisovan-derived DNA within a gene called EPAS1, which is believed to have aided their colonization of high-altitude environments.^[3] More recently, scientists discovered that a cluster of Neanderthal-inherited genes on chromosome 3—a trait that is present in roughly half of all South Asians—is linked to a higher risk of respiratory failure and other severe symptoms of Covid-19.^[4]

The analysis by Terao’s team shed light on 44 ancient DNA regions present in Japanese people today, most of which are unique to East Asians. These include a Denisovan-derived one, located within the NKX6-1 gene, known to be associated with type 2 diabetes, which the researchers say could affect a person’s sensitivity to semaglutide, an oral medication used to treat the disease. They also identified 11 Neanderthal-derived segments linked to coronary artery disease, prostate cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and four other conditions.

The Future of Personalized Medicine

The RIKEN-led researchers also used data on rare genetic variants to uncover the potential causes of diseases. For example, they found that one variant of a gene called PTPRD has the potential to be “highly damaging” because it could be linked with hypertension, kidney failure, and myocardial infarction, says Xiaoxi Liu, a senior scientist in Terao’s lab and the study’s first author.

Additionally, the scientists noted a significant incidence of variants—also called loss-of-function variants—in the GJB2 and ABCC2 genes, which are associated with hearing loss and chronic liver disease, respectively.

Teasing out the relationship between genes, their variants, and how these impact traits, including disease predisposition, could one day play a role in helping scientists develop personalized medicine, says Terao.

“What we’ve tried to do is to find and catalog loss-of-function gene variants that are very specific to Japanese people, and to understand why they are more likely to have some specific traits and diseases,” he says. “We’d like to connect population differences with differences in genetics.”

In the future, he hopes to expand JEWEL and include even more DNA samples in the dataset. For the longest time, large-scale genomic studies have focused on analyzing data from people of European descent. But Terao says it’s “quite important to expand this to the Asian population so that in the long run, the results can benefit us too.”

References:

1. “Decoding triancestral origins, archaic introgression, and natural selection in the Japanese population by whole-genome sequencing” by Xiaoxi Liu, Satoshi Koyama, Kohei Tomizuka, Sadaaki Takata, Yuki Ishikawa, Shuji Ito, Shunichi Kosugi, Kunihiko Suzuki, Keiko Hikino, Masaru Koido, Yoshinao Koike, Momoko Horikoshi, Takashi Gakuhari, Shiro Ikegawa, Kochi Matsuda, Yukihide Momozawa, Kaoru Ito, Yoichiro Kamatani and Chikashi Terao, 17 April 2024, Science Advances.
   DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adi8419
2. “Ancient genomics reveals tripartite origins of Japanese populations” by Niall P. Cooke, Valeria Mattiangeli, Lara M. Cassidy, Kenji Okazaki, Caroline A. Stokes, Shin Onbe, Satoshi Hatakeyama, Kenichi Machida, Kenji Kasai, Naoto Tomioka, Akihiko Matsumoto, Masafumi Ito, Yoshitaka Kojima, Daniel G. Bradley, Takashi Gakuhari and Shigeki Nakagome, 17 September 2021, Science Advances.
   DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abh2419
3. “Altitude adaptation in Tibetans caused by introgression of Denisovan-like DNA” by Emilia Huerta-Sánchez, Xin Jin, Asan, Zhuoma Bianba, Benjamin M. Peter, Nicolas Vinckenbosch, Yu Liang, Xin Yi, Mingze He, Mehmet Somel, Peixiang Ni, Bo Wang, Xiaohua Ou, Huasang, Jiangbai Luosang, Zha Xi Ping Cuo, Kui Li, Guoyi Gao, Ye Yin, Wei Wang, Xiuqing Zhang, Xun Xu, Huanming Yang, Yingrui Li, Jian Wang, Jun Wang and Rasmus Nielsen, 2 July 2014, Nature.
   DOI: 10.1038/nature13408
4. “The major genetic risk factor for severe COVID-19 is inherited from Neanderthals” by Hugo Zeberg, and Svante Pääbo, 30 September 2020, Nature.
   DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2818-3

A version of this article was originally published in October 2024.

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