the majority of their ancestors, the jōmon people, arrived in japan about 30,000 – 15,000 years ago from central asia and southern siberia. they were largely replaced by the proto-japanese which arrived from southeastern china about 2,000 years ago. the ainu have strong similarities with palaeolithic europeans and people of the middle east as well as with native american groups of the northwestern coastal culture area in north america. some scholars think they were related to the emishi of northern honshu.