ABSTRACT
These various races can be roughly divided into four main stocks, namely, Chinese, Korean, l\hlayan, and Ainu. As this distinction of stocks is not strictly true from an ethnological standpoint, we may consider it more of a true division from the historical view-point. As to the original starting-point of these races, and the manner and direction in which they spread over the islands, we can trace this from the distribution of rice plants, the grains of which constitute the chief food. From the beginning there has been a species of rice plant called the Izumo, first found in the province of Izumo, which was the landingplace of the Izumo race which is Korean. This species has been distributed over Chugoku (the south-west district) and five provinces surrounding Kyoto, as well as in a part of Kyushu. There are four varieties of this species-the Kurouru, the Kuromochi, the Akaura, and the Akamochi-all of which were named the Daikoku. It has large stalks, large grains, and thick hulls with hair, and it grows even on barren soil, being of a sturdy nature. The distribution of this species seems to be in the district which the Izumo race inhabited, or those under their influence.
