Homo nihonensis

Evolution
Because of the scarcity of wildlife in the northern reach of the Denisovans, this populations has split of into a different species altogether around 190,000 BCE.

Characteristics
To catch their prey, they traded some of their size, muscle mass and intellectual capabilities for a slimmer and lankier build, in turn they have also aquired a more sophisticated sense of hearing (reflected by their bigger ears). This lets them be fast enough to catch up to some of their prey (as endurance due to sweating is useless in those colder areas).

As the temperatures rose up again during the Eemian interglacial period, they began to hunt the newly flourishing wildlife of the Japanese archipelago and the coasts of the Sea of Okhotsk, allowing them to regrow larger brains and invent more efficient ways of hunting. When the Eemian interglacial period ended, they kept their newly acquired techniques and intellects as well as their lankier limbs and smaller sized builds, letting them develop protocultures.

Migration
By the time the glacial period ended, they had receded to the Japanese archipelago and Korean peninsula only, but were firmly implanted in those areas.