Education minister Bunmei Ibuki's recent comment that Japan is an "extremely homogenous" country shows again how clueless so many of our officials in government, particularly in the Liberal Democratic Party administration, are with regard to the origins of this country.
Japan is not homogenous. Excluding the many thousands that are naturalized each year as citizens, Japan has two main races that are very much different: the Jomon and the Yayoi. The Jomon are shorter in nature with larger noses and often with a darker complexion. They most likely come from inner Asia as well as Southeast Asia. The Yayoi are taller, with flatter noses, and are most likely descended from ancestors in Korea and parts of China. Of course, we also have the Ainu, who are/were primarily Caucasian.
To say that these three races have equally assimilated/intermarried is just not true. In fact, the idea of Japan's racial homogeneity is one of the biggest myths existing in Japan today. I would hope that our own education minister would be more knowledgeable about our country instead of spreading this rubbish about it.