A group of smiling Japanese school girls in the folk village outside of Takayama, Japan.
Hmong village families can be large; everyone pitches in. This girl doesn't seem that much older than her little brother, but still old enough to take care of him. The Hmong, descended from Mongolian nomads, have higher cheekbones and wider faces than the Lao, or other minority communities such as the Khmu. Read more about the three levels of hill tribes we encountered on this trek.
