The Kofun-Period Japanese of Iwade

The Kofun period takes its name from the keyhole-shaped burial mounds raised for the emerging state elite of Japan, though the three people gathered here were laid in rock-cut cave tombs at Iwade, near Kanazawa, between about 570 and 630 CE. Their genomes helped rewrite the story of Japanese origins. The old dual-structure model, indigenous Jomon foragers overlaid by Yayoi-period migrants, became a three-way one: Jomon, then Yayoi-period arrivals from the Korean peninsula, then a further Kofun-period influx of East Asian ancestry related to Han-Chinese-like populations, which turned out to be the largest single component of modern Japanese ancestry. One of the three, a man, carried the paternal line O2a2b1 and the maternal line B5a2a1b. Only three individuals, but they anchor a chapter of the archipelago's genetic history.

The genome-wide data behind this entry was published in Ancient genomics reveals tripartite origins of Japanese populations.

Every Ancestry Map includes the free Notable Matches lens: your coordinates are compared to every sequenced member of every catalog entry, and the distance to the closest member is reported, a Euclidean distance in the same 25-dimensional space the Distance lens uses. Because these are a small group of real individuals, not a population average, distances naturally run larger than population distances. That is expected, not a poor result. And one thing is never claimed: a small distance means similar ancestry composition, not that the Kofun-Period Japanese of Iwade are your ancestor. See how it looks in the live demo or read about Ancestry Map, the full Global25 report.

• 01

  Who were the Kofun-Period Japanese of Iwade?

  The Kofun-Period Japanese of Iwade (c. 570-630 CE, Iwade cave tombs, Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan) are one of the Iconic discoveries entries in our Notable Matches catalog, represented by 3 sequenced ancient genomes published in the study "Ancient genomics reveals tripartite origins of Japanese populations".

• 02

  What does "matching" the Kofun-Period Japanese of Iwade mean?

  Your Global25 coordinates are compared to the entry's sequenced members and the distance to the closest one is reported, a Euclidean distance in the same 25-dimensional reference space the Distance lens uses. A notable entry is one person or one small burial group, not a population average, so distances naturally run larger than population distances.

• 03

  Are they my ancestor?

  No, and no DNA test can show that. A small distance means your genome sits near theirs in a shared reference space: similar ancestry composition, not descent. Ancestrify never claims a notable individual is your ancestor or relative.

• 04

  How do I see my own distance to the Kofun-Period Japanese of Iwade?

  Notable Matches is a free lens on every Ancestry Map, never sold separately. Order Ancestry Map, our Global25 analysis (29.99 EUR), and your report ranks your coordinates against the full catalog, with a portrait, dossier and map for every entry. The public demo shows the lens with example data.

The catalog holds every published entry across three tiers. Browse the full Notable Matches directory. Nearby entries:

• The Lovelock Cave Peoplec. 150-1400 CE

• The Visigoths of Iberiac. 480-770 CE

• The Anglo-Saxonsc. 450-750 CE

• The Early Bavariansc. 500-600 CE

• The Pictsc. 420-630 CE

• The Merovingians of Koksijdec. 620-750 CE

• The Langobards of Collegnoc. 640-750 CE

• The Gepid Kingdomc. 450-560 CE

• The Early Slavsc. 600-900 CE

• The Medieval Venosans8th century CE

• The Tylos-Era Bahrainisc. 300-650 CE

• The Moche of Huaca Cao Viejoc. 200-600 CE