地球にたった3つの点 ── 日本人が受け継ぐ「Dの遺伝子」

Approximately one in three Japanese men quietly inherits a particularly ancient genetic lineage within humankind—haplogroup D. Furthermore, this same lineage is found at a high frequency in only three locations on Earth: the Japanese archipelago, the Tibetan Plateau, and the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean. Even if you connect these three locations on a map, no connection is apparent. Moreover, these three lineages are "distant relatives" that diverged into separate branches more than 53,000 years ago. Even further, in neighboring countries that are culturally and geographically close, this lineage accounts for only about 2 percent of the population. Why did this same ancient lineage survive only in these three geographically distant locations? From the clues left behind—the massive eruption of the Kikai Caldera and humanity's "coastal journey" after leaving Africa—we trace the record of humanity's magnificent journey. *This is in no way a claim that "the Japanese are superior/a chosen people." Cultural proximity and paternal genetic lineage are separate axes, and differences in frequency between neighboring countries are not considered superior or inferior. Instead, they are treated as a common human narrative: older lineages simply survived in environments with limited external interaction (island nations, highlands, isolated islands). The distribution of haplogroup D is based on peer-reviewed research, but interpretations of "why only three locations remained" (such as the Kikai Caldera evacuation theory and coastal migration theory) are within the realm of "one theory." *The title and thumbnail "Genes of D" are for clarity; more accurately, it refers to haplogroup D (Y-chromosome lineage). ▼Table of Contents 0:00 Introduction – Just Three Points on Earth 1:36 Three Points on the Map 3:06 Relatives Separated 53,000 Years Ago 4:01 Neighbors, Yet Completely Different 5:06 Evacuation from a Massive Eruption 6:17 The First Journey Across the Sea 7:37 Conclusion