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Ancestry dna 2022/8/9 21:56
I was adopted and searching for my ancestry. I am part Japanese and am interested in learning more about my Japanese roots. I've done some common American DNA tests, but I have NO genetic matches from that side of the family. Is it common for people in Japan to use DNA testing? Is there a certain brand I should use? Any other suggestions?
by Adoptedandwondering (guest)  

Re: Ancestry dna 2022/8/10 07:59
I frankly think that all this ancestry DNA testing is a very US American thing. Not widely used anywhere else.
by LikeBike rate this post as useful

Re: Ancestry dna 2022/8/10 15:15
That type of ancestry DNA testing is indeed available in Japan, but I doubt it's commonly used.

In fact, the last time I studied about it, the one (or was it "ones") that was available here only told you whether you're from either of the two ancestries they provide information of. And if you belonged to neither, your result turned out as something like "not found".

In short, it only told you "what kind of a Japanese race you are" and not much about immigrant possibilities. I thought they charged you a very high price for something that turned out to be "just for fun", and I'm not really convinced about the accuracy.

Quick Googling tells me that the tests have been improved, but I'm not sure if many people would be interested, especially because most people in Japan know at least what "continent" their great-grandparents came from, and that's enough for them.

On the other hand, I do love digging into ancestry websites such as ancestry.com or FamilySearch.org. They provide you more specific info such as embarkation lists, which indeed helped me a lot. Why not try studying documents instead of DNA? It would be fun, and for free.
by Uco rate this post as useful

Re: Ancestry dna 2022/8/10 20:47
I do have ancestry and I've learned a lot about my biological mother's side of the family who are mainly from different parts of Europe. I have no information on my biological father except for an extremely common name. Without any genetic hits I'm lost.
by Adoptedandwondering (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Ancestry dna 2022/8/11 00:43
So, are you saying you have no way to track down possible orphanages, ships or planes that transported your ancestors, regions of certain countries they came from/through, people who may know some of your family history?

If so, I'm not sure what you can do, but perhaps movies like this may help you look at the bright side of things. You can turn on English subtitles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUQ5bZtk6s4
by Uco rate this post as useful

Re: Ancestry dna 2022/8/11 11:42
If you mean services which provide not just DNA test itself but also opportunities to know people who match genetically according to result, I don't think it is common in Japan, I even doubt it exists in many countries. People in Japan tend not to share private information like DNA test result. In Japan, DAN test seems to be done when a parent and a child confirm whether they are biologically family or not when there was a trouble between a couple, a crime occurred, or people want to analyse health concern, etc. to me, who is a long term foreign resident. On the other hand, I have seen an article about an American man who was adopted and managed to find his Japanese biological mother in Japan. I really don't know how they found each other but I think it means there is a way to trace, I hope you can find it also and reach information that you want.
by Nanashi (guest) rate this post as useful

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