Average Height: Korea vs Japan — Real Data and Each Country's Theories

Koreans are taller than Japanese — people feel it intuitively, and data backs it up.

The Data

Current Average Height (Ages 20-29, 2020s)

Historical Trend (Male Average)

In the 1910s, Japanese were actually slightly taller. Korea overtook Japan from the 1960s onward. Japan's height growth has plateaued since the 1990s at ~170.7cm.

What Koreans Think Caused It

1. "We eat more meat": Korea ~54kg/yr vs Japan ~33kg/yr meat consumption (FAO). Korea's rapid meat consumption increase (1970-90s) aligns with height growth
2. "Miracle on the Han River": Compressed economic growth → dramatic nutrition improvement in one generation (catch-up growth effect)
3. Northern genetics: Goguryeo/Balhae northern lineage claim. Historically taller people in northern Korea/Manchuria. Scientifically hard to verify

What Japanese Think Caused It

1. Seiza (正座) culture: Kneeling on tatami restricts leg blood flow during growth. Popular theory but no large-scale epidemiological studies support height impact
2. Lower caloric intake: Japanese Pediatric Society notes declining youth calorie intake + extremely high low birth weight rate (9.4% vs Korea's 6.5%, highest among developed nations)
3. Sleep deprivation: Japanese teens have OECD-worst sleep times; growth hormone secretes during deep sleep
4. "Genetic ceiling reached": Some epidemiologists argue Japanese height has reached its genetic potential

Most Likely Explanation

No single cause. Most plausible combination:
1. Korea's explosive meat consumption growth (1970-90s) directly fueled growth-age generations
2. Japan's high low birth weight rate drags down the average
3. Korea's compressed catch-up growth maximized the effect

The fact that both countries had nearly identical heights in the early 1900s suggests environmental factors outweigh genetics.