Yakonin Phenotype - Face Features & Origin

Average Face

The Yakonin composite below is not a photograph of a real person. Historical anthropologists aligned multiple individual portraits from the Yakonin reference population and averaged them into one image, so recurring structures — skull outline, nose form, lip thickness, brow position — dominate while individual idiosyncrasies cancel out.

Composite source: Human Phenotypes — Yakonin

Geographic Distribution

Geographically, Yakonin anchors to 36.6° N, 139.2° E (East Asia). That is the point where historical anthropologists judged Yakonin most concentrated, not a hard edge; modern migration and intermarriage have long since softened whatever boundaries once existed.

Physical Characteristics

Light to brownish yellow skin with coarse straight to wavy hair.

• Rather short to medium height, macroskelic and ectomorph
• Usually mesocephalic, (mildly) hypsicranic with a prominent, long and convex nose, sometimes with a broad tip
• The face is narrow and elongated, the mouth small, and the eyes are almond shaped, sometimes with the Mongolian fold

Historical Background

East Asian type that has been associated with the ancient Japanese government and nobility circles. The name derives from yakunin (Jap.: bureaucrat). Shows pseudo-Semitic features and may in blend produce Indianoid individuals. Occasionally found across Japan, although nowhere particularly common. Rare in China, where it may be linked to Tibetid elements

Research History & Naming

The passage below traces who first defined Yakonin, which rival names competed with it, and how later authors consolidated or disputed the classification — the raw material of any serious phenotype reference.

Defined and named early by Weisbach (1878) , the name was kept by Ten-Kate (1902) , Eickstedt (1944) and others. Klenke (1938) identified it in 6 % of Japanese Olympic athletes. Also noticed by Baelz (1883) . Lundman (1967) , among others, combined it with Choshiu and noted similarities with Tibetid.

Comparison With Nearby Phenotypes

Geography, not alphabet, ordered this table: the five phenotype centers closest to Yakonin's, with the traits most likely to be mistaken for it (Ishikawa leads at 221 km). In gameplay, these five account for most of the wrong-but-nearby pins against Yakonin.

Yakonin in the Game

In gameplay terms, Yakonin rewards region-level recall: the score is computed from the distance between your pin and 36.6° N, 139.2° E. Players often confuse Yakonin with Ishikawa (221 km out) in the comparison table above — those confusions are exactly what the distance penalty is designed to expose.

Yakonin Phenotype FAQ

Where does the Yakonin phenotype come from?

Historical sources center the Yakonin phenotype on 36.6° N, 139.2° E (East Asia). Treat that as a rough anchor: the type appeared across a wider surrounding area — its nearest documented neighbors, Ishikawa and Aoshima, sit 221 and 690 km from the reference point — and its present-day distribution no longer matches the historical map.

What does the Yakonin phenotype look like?

The composite emphasizes recurring traits: light to brownish yellow skin with coarse straight to wavy hair. The full trait list for Yakonin appears in the physical characteristics section above.

Is the Yakonin phenotype a race or a nationality?

No. A phenotype is a recurring bundle of visible traits documented by historical anthropologists across a population — for Yakonin, patterns such as light to brownish yellow skin with coarse straight to wavy hair. The Yakonin entry is not a genetic ancestry, not a nationality, and not a statement about any individual person. Two people from the same country can match completely different phenotypes — one resembling Yakonin, another closer to Ishikawa — and one phenotype can span many modern borders.

How does Yakonin appear in the game?

When the Yakonin face comes up in Classic Daily or Challenge Mode, you pin the world map where you believe the type is historically most common, and the score decays with your distance to 36.6° N, 139.2° E. Fair warning: the nearest other entry in our dataset, Ishikawa, sits just 221 km away, so this face rewards precise placement — the right country alone is not always enough.

References & Literature

The Yakonin phenotype entry above is compiled from the 6 academic references. Readers are encouraged to consult the original Yakonin sources for verification and deeper context.

• Weisbach, A. 1878. Körpermessungen verschiedener Menschenrassen. Berlin.
• Ten-Kate, H. 1902. Anthropologisches und Verwandtes aus Japan. Internationales Zentralblatt für Anthropologie und verwandte Wissenschaften 7.
• Eickstedt, E. von. 1944. Rassendynamik von Ostasien. Walter de Gruyter. Berlin.
• Klenke, W. 1938. Zur Anthropologie japanischer Wettkämpfer, Zeitschrift für Rassenkunde 8.
• Bernhard, W. 1983. Ethnogenesis of South Asia with special reference to India. Anthropologischer Anzeiger 41, 2, 93-110.
• Lundman, B. 1967. Geographische Anthropologie. Rassen und Völker der Erde. G. Fischer, Stuttgart

Related Phenotypes

More entries from the same region of the historical map as Yakonin, each with its own composite and trait profile.

• Ishikawa

  East Asia · 221 km away

  Special Japanese type, influenced by ancient regional elements. Named after the Ishikawa region of Honshu. Probably represents admixed varia...

• Aoshima

  East Asia · 690 km away

  Ainuid proper, the most ancient type of Japan. Resembles Paleolithic Japanese populations like the Jomon people. Probably a relict of an old...

• Choshiu

  East Asia · 740 km away

  Gracilised variant of the Manchu-Korean type, named after the old Japanese Choshu Domain. Once common in Chinese-Korean aristocracy. Today m...

• Chikuzen

  East Asia · 860 km away

  Special Japanese type, influenced by ancient regional elements. Named after the old Chikuzen province that is today part of Fukuoka Prefectu...

• Satsuma

  East Asia · 978 km away

  South Mongolid type of Japan and Korea, somewhat influenced by Tungid. Named after the Satsuma region of Kagoshima. Today the most populous ...

Further Reading

Background articles from the blog that explain where the Yakonin type fits, how these composites are built, and what a face can and cannot tell you.

• What Is a Phenotype - and Why It Is Not a Race

  Phenotype is a century-old scientific term for observable traits, not a synonym for race. The difference matters: clines, Lewontin's 85...

• What Country Do I Look Like: The Count Comes Before the Face

  Which country a face resembles depends on which official list you are using, and the world publishes several that disagree on how many...