Evolution allows advantageous traits to become predominant. Evolutionary adaptions that occur on comparatively short time scales are less well-understood. Researchers used whole-genome sequencing to identify the evolutionary adaptations that occurred within Japanese populations over the last 3,000 years. In contrast to European ancestry studies, adaptive changes related to alcohol, glucose, and lipid metabolism were found. This sheds light on how divergent adaptions occur between human populations over short time periods.