Comments on: The Mysterious Little People of Japan

By: afigbee

afigbee — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 23:19:44 +0000

I don’t think these accounts reflect necessarily a population spread throughout Oceania, but may rather be traditional stories told by modern human groups whose ancestors had passed through areas occupied by the little people.

I would want to ask, though, where are the skeletons? Do the Flores skeletons show marks of idiosyncratic or special treatment?

By: skeptik

skeptik — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 16:18:50 +0000

@scoutonymous: They were found to be malformed babies, source: University of Wyoming: Tiny Mummies are not The Prehistoric Little People I don't think human all over the place have been followed by little people. But since we do share a common set of stories (pre-historic history) it's more than likely that they stem from an original actual story of a separate, tiny people our earlier ancestors knew intimately. I don't think it's fair, though, to count elves and other supernatural beings into this as they usually have a specific magical role in a tale ("fairy tales" as they are called, were used to teach moral behaviour).

By: AlbertaSasquatch

AlbertaSasquatch — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 20:27:27 +0000

Great article Brent!!

By: scoutonymous

scoutonymous — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 20:15:21 +0000

Are you aware of the hobbit-type people who lived in the mountainous regions of western North America? Indian legends tell of an aggressive, warlike tribe of miniature people. An Indian museum on the Wind River Reservation in central Wyoming has an exhibit which shows photos of x-rays taken of the mummified remains of one of the creatures.

By: Amorphous

Amorphous — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 17:30:46 +0000

A random thought, regarding this issue and the Bible. Whether you view it as the as a God, an alien (technically God would be an alien), or just a document recording events that occurred at that time.

What if all these pygmies, or little people as we call them, weren’t little at all. Rather we are the giants, the Nephiliam, the offspring of the angels and women.

Far fetch, I know. But it was an amusing thought to toy with.

By: Uriah

Uriah — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:06:58 +0000

Fascinating article!
I agree, that Homo floresiensis is a likely candidate for these myths. When I was in Hawai’i I learned about the Menehune legends, and from what I’ve read these “little people” myths persist throughout Polynesian culture.

By: dogu4

dogu4 — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 20:06:30 +0000

A stimulating foray into the unknown, or perhaps better put as the “nearly-known”. It seems hard to believe there could be intelligent forms of archaic or proto human living among us and we not know of them living in the here and now despite their living in the remote and difficult landscapes where modern humans rarely go because they are so difficult, but then I think we over-estimate our capacity to detect especially those animals whose instincts are directing them to avoid contact with ‘the others’ such as we would likely seem to them, and simultaneously under-estimate just how good an archaic human might be at remaining unseen by those whose very behavior tell them that they are searching for them as quarry. The notion that modern humans are great at finding other humans is routinely shown to be not true whenever kids get lost even in places that are not that distant or remote, let alone adults with some outdoors skills who are avoiding a man-hunt, such as the infamous Eric Rudolph case a few years ago.

Just as with the archaic human remains found of Flores, it’s most instructive to try to imagine what the physical geography of the Asian coastline would have been like, and where we might ordinarily expect to find the remains of their activity, in contrast to what we have in the present day, and it becomes easier to understand why we don’t find fossil deposits of their remains or artifacts. All in all, a fascinating area for further consideration, and again, thanks to Brent for his enlightening examinations. cheers.

By: LanceFoster

LanceFoster — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 17:21:38 +0000

This was a splendid article. Well-done!

Certainly if you did a number of these sorts of papers/articles, they could be the chapters in a new cryptozoological book focusing on mystery pygmy humanoids, perhaps even focusing on the Pacific Rim, as Loren notes.

By: tropicalwolf

tropicalwolf — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 16:31:38 +0000

Amazing article! I find it highly likely that these types of Proto-Pygmies existed in much larger numbers than we currently consider. Why is it that we assume that due to their stature and primitive nature that they couldn’t cross waterways, either by “planned expedition” or by “getting caught in a current?” This is a fascinating topic that I fully intend to study in further detail.

Also, for what it’s worth, it is interesting to look at the comparison between modern man and Homo floresiensis. I can’t help but wonder how far back the ideas for our “modern” folk tales go. Could it be, that at one time, WE were the giants that dominate so much of “primitive” literature?

By: mystery_man

mystery_man — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 14:06:59 +0000

It is interesting that Loren mentions the accounts of Proto-Pygmies with large leaves held over their heads.

This sort of behavior is not only shown here on this sculpture, but is often cited in Ainu lore on these creatures, and is well represented in various artwork depicting the Koropokkuru.

That is certainly yet another curious detail that connects these Japanese Proto-Pygmies with their more well known brethren.

I am pleased that I could shed light on this little known Japanese mystery, perhaps expand the available literature on these overlooked Proto-Pygmies, and add some more focus on the implications that Homo floresiensis has on Proto-Pygmies throughout South Asia and the Pacific.

As with Loren, it is amazing to me that these Japanese Proto-Pygmies have remained so ignored within hominology and cryptozoology, at least in the English language. They remain little understood by many even in Japan, and so of course I had to dig into this mystery and write an overview here.

This article has been something I’ve been turning over in my head, researching, and wanting to contribute for quite some time, so I greatly appreciate Loren’s words of praise.

I hope the readers here will enjoy this and learn something about an Asian Proto-Pygmy they may have never heard of before.