Text | Gu Xuan said history
Edit | Gu Xuan said history
The average height of the Japanese once skyrocketed, from 158 centimeters in the early 20th century to more than 170 centimeters today, which proves that the Japanese are not satisfied with the nicknames "woko" and "little devil", and have changed the physique of the people through self-improvement.
However, this wave of height growth seems to have come to an end, and data in recent years shows that Japanese height has not only stagnated, but even regressed significantly.
This phenomenon deserves our deep consideration. Why is the height of the Japanese declining, while the average height of the Chinese is steadily rising, is this really related to the genetics and diet of our population?
01
The history of the rise of the short Japanese
Japanese people have always been shorter, and in the Edo period, the average height of Japanese people was only 144 centimeters due to isolation. In the second half of the 19th century, the Edo shogunate was forced to open its doors, ending a policy of lockdown that had lasted for more than 200 years.
At that time, Japan was still in the feudal period, the productivity was extremely backward, and agriculture was still traditional farming dominated by manpower, lacking mechanization.
Compared with the United States, which had entered the industrial revolution at that time, there was a huge gap in Japan's production methods and living standards.
In 1853, U.S. Navy Commodore Perry led a fleet to forcibly open Japan's doors and force Japan to sign an unequal treaty, and Japan realized that it was decades or even centuries behind Western countries.
The Japanese came into contact with tall Westerners for the first time, and the huge height gap between the two was even more striking. Such a huge height gap has led to Japanese people being repeatedly discriminated against by Westerners in international exchanges, which has inspired the Japanese people to increase their determination.
After entering the Meiji Restoration, Japan began to learn from the West in an all-round way, promoting industrialization, introducing Western medicine, and improving dietary structure. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Japanese government put forward the slogan "A glass of milk to revitalize a nation", serving milk in schools and encouraging students to drink one cup a day.
Because milk is rich in protein, calcium, and other nutrients that are very important for bone development, drinking milk for a long time does increase the average height of Japanese people. Over time, drinking milk became a daily habit for the Japanese.
By 1937, after more than 30 years of milk drinking, the average height of Japanese male soldiers had reached 165 cm. However, during the Sino-Japanese War, due to the large number of minors recruited by the army, the average height of Japanese soldiers plummeted to 144 centimeters.
This is mainly due to the relaxation of the criteria for enlistment and the recruitment of physically underdeveloped adolescents in large numbers. After the war, Japan continued its nutrition improvement program, with the average height of adults reaching 171.2 cm for men and 158.8 cm for women, an increase of 13 cm and 17 cm respectively compared to the past.
Since the 1990s, however, the average height growth of Japanese people has stagnated and appears to have reached the limits of their genetic potential. Even if you continue to stick to the good habit of one glass of milk a day, it is difficult to significantly increase the average height.
Although the height of the Japanese has improved considerably, there is still a lot of room for improvement in Japanese height compared to the average of 183 cm for the world's tallest Dutchman. Further increases in average height may require genetic technology, but there are ethical implications involved.
02
The height of the Japanese has changed dramatically – from small to tall and back
At the end of the 19th century, Japanese people were generally thinner. The samurai Takahashi Yoshio pointed out in his book "Racial Improvement" that the common practice of early marriage in the Edo period in Japan was one of the important reasons for affecting height.
Girls are eager to give birth before they are fully developed, and the height of their offspring is also affected. Takahashi Yoshio found through his investigation that the custom of child brides was widespread throughout Japan during the Edo period, and girls were forced to end their childhood and enter marriage when they were only in their 10s.
These girls are underdeveloped, find it difficult to get adequate nutrition during pregnancy, give birth to babies with weak physiques, and do not grow up tall.
In addition, marriage between close relatives also leads to genetic degradation. Takahashi Yoshio statistics found that many Japanese people are looking for a partner near their hometown, and the high proportion of marriage between close relatives is also an important factor affecting height.
In order to improve his height, he advocated intermarriage with Westerners and the introduction of excellent genes. During this period, the Japanese government also encouraged intermarriage with foreigners and relaxed some restrictive regulations.
At the beginning of the 20th century, with the acceleration of industrialization, Japan's medical conditions, sanitary environment, and food supply were greatly improved.
Life expectancy has increased, disease rates have decreased, and people have better access to nutrition. These changes laid the foundation for the improvement of the physical condition of the Japanese.
In addition, the government promotes sports and carries out national fitness sports, and the physical fitness has also been comprehensively enhanced. As a result of these factors, the height of Japanese people has increased significantly.
But by the late 1990s, this growth began to slow until it stalled. One of the reasons for stagnation is the change in the diet structure, and the Japanese gradually prefer delicate small meals.
A bowl of rice is only the size of a palm, seafood and vegetables are most, and calorie intake is insufficient for developing adolescents. At the same time, Japanese women advocate slimming aesthetics and try to achieve body effects by eating less, which also affects height growth.
Since then, the Japanese government has realized that nutrition cannot keep up as a key factor affecting height. Historically, the introduction of Buddhism made the Japanese royal family and aristocracy advocate forbidden meat and not eat meat.
They believe that all things in life have spirituality and that killing is a shameful act. This ideological influence lasted for centuries, causing the Japanese to chronically lack animal protein intake.
After the Korean War, Japan began to promote meat and milk, and promoted protein intake. The United States also supplies livestock products at low prices to help Japan.
The Japanese government distributes free milk to encourage students to drink more milk and improve their height quickly. In 1994, the average height of Japanese men reached an all-time high of 170.9 cm. Milk is seen as a "rejuvenating agent" to raise height.
However, the good times did not last long, and since the 21st century, the average height of Japanese people has declined. The reasons may be related to changes in dietary structure again, as well as to various factors such as increased high-intensity work pressure and the emergence of a large number of emerging environmental pollutants.
Despite the rapid growth for a time, the height of the Japanese eventually failed to break through the genetic ceiling. As an island country, a long-term relatively closed geographical environment may lead to certain genetic degradation, which is a fundamental obstacle that is difficult to overcome. How to continue to improve height under the existing conditions is still a difficult problem that the Japanese government and the scientific community need to study in depth.
03
Analysis of the reasons for the height difference between Chinese and Japanese youth
First, the reasons for the continuous growth of Chinese youth's height
In 2000, the average height of men over the age of 18 in China was 167.1 cm, and that of women was 155.8cm. By 2020, the average height of post-00s boys in China has reached 175.7cm, and that of girls has reached 163.5cm, an increase of about 8cm over their parents. The main reasons for this phenomenon are as follows:
1. China's rapid economic development, the income level of residents has increased, and the diet structure and nutrition level have been improved. Economic development has enabled people to obtain more high-protein and nutritious foods, such as dairy products, fish, poultry, etc., which is conducive to the growth of young people's bodies.
2. Significant progress in health care and health conditions. The number of hospitals at all levels and types has increased, and the coverage of primary medical outlets has increased, making it easier for the general public to obtain disease diagnosis and treatment. The incidence of malnutrition and deficiency disorders has decreased, reducing the negative impact on physical development.
3. The Government has increased its investment and coverage of physical education. More and more children and adolescents of school age are able to receive a complete and standardized compulsory education, including nutritious diet and physical exercise, which contributes to physical development.
4. The urbanization process is accelerating, and the original urban-rural gap is narrowing. Infrastructure construction in rural areas has been strengthened, the gap between urban and rural areas in education, medical care, employment and other aspects is narrowing, and the height of rural adolescents has also improved.
Second, the reasons for the stagnant growth of Japanese youth height
In contrast, the height growth of young Japanese has stagnated. The average height of Japanese people has not changed significantly since the 1990s, and there is not much difference in height between parents and children. The reasons for this may be:
1. The traditional Japanese diet is small in portions, which is not convenient for teenagers to obtain sufficient nutrition. The Japanese diet focuses on delicacy and beauty, and the small portions of each meal are not conducive to adequate calorie intake. Long-term relative "semi-starvation" limits the growth of height.
2. Japanese aesthetics attach importance to women's petite figures, so that teenagers dare not eat too much. Japanese society celebrates women's petite stature and fair skin, and this aesthetic concept influences the eating behavior of adolescent boys and girls, who are afraid of being too tall and limit calorie intake.
3. The relatively closed geography of island countries can lead to "island dwarfization". As an island country, Japan has long lived in a small area, and the gene pool is relatively closed, which is not conducive to the diversification of physical characteristics and limits the continued growth of height.
4. Japan's population is aging and the proportion of adolescent population is declining. Aging has led to a decline in fertility and a decrease in the adolescent population, which to some extent affects the representativeness of height comparison between different generations.
The difference in the height of young people in China and Japan is mainly due to the difference in economic development level, food culture, aesthetic concept and other aspects. As living conditions continue to improve, there is still room for Chinese youth to improve in height, while Japanese youth height growth may be close to saturation.
This difference in anthropometric indicators reflects the state of social development and problems faced by the two countries. With the advancement of globalization, the two countries may gradually approach in food culture and aesthetic concepts, and the gap between the height of young people in the two countries may be further narrowed.
04
The reasons for the short stature of Japanese people are worth continuing to explore, is it related to the Japanese diet and lifestyle? Will the trend of future generations not increasing but decreasing in height continue? This requires further statistical and scientific research to draw conclusions. Whatever the outcome, each nation has its own uniqueness, and it is important to respect and understand each other.