“Shippology”: understanding how we became “humans”

We are “humans”—biologically, we are tailless Homo sapiens, but culturally, we have created many kinds of characters with tails in myths and folklore. My research tries to understand how we became “humans” both biologically and culturally by focusing on tails. In general, when we seek knowledge, it is never enough to rely on just one method. I emphasize the importance of thinking from diverse and open perspectives beyond traditional disciplines and call my approach to tails “shippology” (from shippo, meaning tail in Japanese). I am exploring how humans lost their tails through an evolutionary and developmental biological approach, while also analyzing historical depictions of tails to trace changes in human-specific cognition. Through this work, I aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of how we became “humans.

URL

https://www.hakubi.kyoto-u.ac.jp/application/files/9016/5232/8474/2021_.pdf(in Japanese)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hFINCceAYo(in Japanese)
https://kdb.iimc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/profile_private/en.b2c4e4797bb0ddf0.html