Radiological assessment of the skeletal remains from Hiraizumi, Japan: review of results from the 1950 investigation

Abstract

Scientific investigations on the skeletal remains of four generations of the Fujiwara clan enshrined at the Chusonji World Heritage Site were carried out in March 1950. Although an official report on this investigation was published at the time, it did not merit much public attention. Thus, the purpose of this review is to describe the radiological aspects of the investigation, which may be of interest in the context of eleventh and twelfth century Japanese history.

The Ōshū Fujiwara—An interdisciplinary study on the history, culture and medical assessment of the oldest known mummified human remains in Japan (late Heian, 12th century AD)

“…The cephalic (length-breadth) index of Kiyohira is 80.30 (brachycephalic, but only slightly above mesocephalic), Tamura et al [ 1 ] came to the same conclusion.…”

“…The only scientific examination of the mummies took place in 1950 and was published as an investigation report ( Chūsonji to Fujiwara yondai , 1950). Since the mummies themselves are currently inaccessible for scientific inquiries, this study is based primarily on the 1950 investigation report, a 1994 revised version of this investigation report ( Chūsonji goitai gakujutsu chōsa , 1994), as well as a more recent reassessment of some of the x-rays from the 1950 investigation [ 1 ]. Since the overviews in the western scientific literature [ 2 – 4 ] are relatively limited, this study aims to provide access to so far untranslated and inaccessible parts of the original investigation report.…”

“…The paper’s medical part is heavily based on the original investigation reports, particularly the radiology report written by Taruzawa Sannosuke [ 5 , 6 ] ( Chūsonji to Fujiwara yondai , 1950, 67–82, and Chūsonji goitai gakujutsu chōsa , 1994, 100–147) with some adaptions to modern medical terminology. Indications about sources in this part are only made where important or necessary, such as comparisons to the re-evaluation [ 1 ].…”

“…For our radiological follow-up, we had available high-resolution digital scans from the original radiographs of the 1950 examination [ 5 ], republished in 2017 [ 1 ] as Figs 1–7. We evaluated both the highly detailed original Japanese reports from 1950 and the English summary reports from 2017 and consolidated them with our radiological re-evaluation.…”

“…Consequently, the blood circulation might even have been compromised on the paralyzed side, worsening bone atrophy due to insufficient supply. Tamura et al [ 1 ] considered that hemiplegia-related osteoporosis was the most likely explanation and discussed cerebral hemorrhage (or a similar condition) as a possible cause of death. Further investigations would be needed to clarify this [ 35 ]; however, a lethal external injury would be expected to affect both sides and lead to death before bone atrophy can develop.…”