To sample the diversity of allelic structures at the D7821 (MS31 A) locus in the Japanese, allele-specific minisatellite variant repeat mapping using polymerase chain reaction (MVR-PCR) was performed on genomic DNA from a number of Japanese individuals. Three polymorphic positions in the MS31A 5' flanking DNA were typed from 214 un related Japanese, and the distribution of haplotypes was analysed. Allele-specific MVR-PCR using primers that discriminate between different alleles at these polymorphic positions in heterozygous individuals, allows single alleles to be mapped from genomic DNA in approximately 80% of Japanese. 149 Japanese alleles have been mapped to date and all of them, except for two pairs of indistinguishable alleles, have different internal structures. More than half of the mapped alleles showed similar regions of internal structure to other alleles and were classified into groups on this basis.