Dual origins of the Japanese:

A set of 81 Y chromosome single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was used to trace the origins of Paleolithic and Neolithic components of the Japanese paternal gene pool, and to determine the relative contribution of Jomon and Yayoi Y chromosome lineages to modern Japanese. Our global sample consisted of >2,500 males from 39 Asian populations, including six populations sampled from across the Japanese archipelago.

a Southeast Asian origin of the ancestors of the Yayoi,contra previous models based on morphological and genetic evidence.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/p31g0300430k6215/

I would say any sample below 2,000, any sampling that does not strictly follow a well defined statistical method be kept at bay by calling them hypotheses.

The small sample size is enough to raise serious doubts about the reliability of the study; most genetic group studies conducted these days suffer from the same problem. Furthermore, the sampling method employed is not even defined.Often times academic studies are hampered by such fundamental flaws lending numerous theoretical and factual errors to creep in. Academic publishing has become more an issue of competition for suvival pushing otherwise good intuitions to deteriorate into sensational hypothesising that stops at just that. The temptation to manipulate data by "weeding out" unfavourable "stray occurences" to force statistics with superficial appeal are sometimes detected, but not always. The extent to which dishonest science has become fashionable is a problem that needs to be addressed before getting too serious about any particular study result.


Actually,in term of looks,Japanese and Korean look quite different. Majority modern day Koreans have broad face and big head whereas the Japanese typically have sharp narrow face and small head.Also,most Koreans are stocky build oppose to the Japanese are mostly smaller build.

Great disparity of these basic physical characteristics are sufficient to ' debunk ' any argument that Japanese and Koreans are more closely related than with other NE Asian group