Since the beginning of the 21st century, with the improvement of living standards, people's height has also followed. One of the most obvious phenomena is that children in the family are generally taller than their parents when they reach adulthood. But in one country, on the contrary, the average height of men has dropped by 0 over the past 30 years1 centimeter, it's Japan.
The people here don't seem to be too shortData shows that the average height of a 17-year-old male in Japan in 2021 is 1708 cm, at first glance it's okay, and then it's really not good, not that the height of 1.7 meters is not good, but the average height of Japanese men of the same age reached 170 in 19949 cm, it's okay not to advance but retreat?
Some netizens speculated that the stagnation of Japanese height growth for 30 years was related to the decline in living standards during the "lost 30 years" after the bursting of the bubble economyAlthough Japan's economy has not improved in the past 30 years, it is a developed country, and it can only be said that there is a positive correlation between the two.
Compared with us Chinese, the height has increased by leaps and bounds in the past 30 years, and the average height of 19-year-old men has reached 1757 cm, 163 for women5 centimeters, ranking first among the three East Asian countries, the gap is clear at a glance.
Even Japan's own ** used the "height limit" to describe the trend of national height changes, indicating 170 in 19949 cm is already the ceiling of the average height of Japanese men, not only in the past 30 years, but it will be difficult to break through in the future.
Hey, look at that giant so the question is, why did the height of the Japanese drop when the standard of living did not drop significantly?
As we all know, the Japanese have been very short since ancient times, otherwise ancient China would not have used the Japanese to describe them, which is directly related to the geographical environment of Japan.
Japan is a veritable island country, in the era of low productivity, the islands are not suitable for farming, the material conditions are extremely harsh, and because of the low temperature, the islanders can only reduce consumption and store calories as much as possible, and people with short stature are more likely to survive, which is the so-called "island dwarfization".
After Buddhism was introduced to Dongying, the Japanese royal family ordered to restrict eating meat, which made the already low Japanese even worse, and finally their lives improved, and they were not allowed to eat meat, and it was difficult to grow taller if they did not eat enough protein.
It was not until the Meiji Restoration that Japan opened its doors to the westernization of the country, and the Western concept of eating meat, eggs and milk came over, and the Japanese began to eat meat in large quantities. However, due to the economic level at that time, only rich and noble families could eat meat at once, and the average height increase also required a process, so it didn't look obvious.
In some of the anti-Japanese films we watched, the Japanese soldiers were generally very short, but this was still looking for Chinese actors with lower height, and the real Japanese soldiers may not be as tall as the rifles on their backs, and the main focus is a short and concise.
The height of the Japanese really began to grow after World War II, and with the deliberate support of the United States, the Japanese economy developed rapidly, and the quality of life of ordinary people also improved significantly, and they were once richer than Americans. At the height of the bubble economy, the Japanese even threatened that "if you sell Tokyo, you can buy the whole of the United States," which is an exaggeration, but it also reflects how rich Japan was at that time.
The Japanese are improving not only their economic conditions, but also their genes. In order to make up for the gap caused by young and middle-aged men who died on the battlefield, countries usually ushered in a "baby boom" after the war, but there were not enough men in Japan at that time.
As for why the average height of Japanese men has risen to 1.7 meters and stopped, there is no clear explanation from the academic community, but it is roughly related to the following reasons.
First of all, with the improvement of living standards and women's social status, Japanese women pay more and more attention to their body appearance, and the whole society has set off a tide.
In this way, it is not only the mother's weight that is lost, but also the newborn's. Babies do not get enough nutrients in the mother's womb, are born with low birth weight, and are easily stunted, and this ** trend has continued until 2021. However, compared to other countries, Japanese women are still underweight.
Then there is the influence of Japan's "feminine culture", when it comes to idol idols, many people's first reaction is South Korea, but in fact, Japan's idol culture rose earlier, which is also promoted by the United States, only by making the Japanese more depressed physically and mentally, it is easier to control.
With the change of social atmosphere, the image of a tough guy like Ken Takakura has gradually become unmarketable, replaced by Kashiwahara Chong, Kimura Takuya, a little fresh meat with a feminine appearance, height is naturally not so important, but it is easier for shorter boys to create a neutral temperament.
In short, the Japanese, whether congenital or acquired, have no advantage that contributes to height growth, 170It's not surprising that 9 cm is up to the ceiling. Project Sword