Science: Japanese Twins

Anthropologists have long suspected that in Japan twins are born less frequently than among whites. Confirmation has been difficult because Japanese mothers believe that to bear more than one child at a time is a bestial act, frequently try to hide multiple births by separate registry of offspring, even by infanticide. Investigators Taku Komai and Goro Fukuoka of Kyoto Imperial University pierced this veil of obscurantism, sifted hospital figures and midwives’ records, found that Japanese twins are indeed scarce: One pair in 160 births, as against one in 87 among U. S. whites.