was a professional Japanese track cyclist, photographer, designer, and aquarist. He founded Aqua Design Amano (ADA), a Japanese company that specializes in the design of aquariums and their production. Amano was the author of ''Nature Aquarium World'' ( TFH Publications, 1994), a three-book

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used i ...

on aquascaping, freshwater aquarium plants, and

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

. He also published the book ''Aquarium Plant Paradise'' (TFH Publications, 1997). A species of freshwater shrimp, the "Amano shrimp" or "Yamato shrimp" (''

Caridina multidentata ''Caridina multidentata'' is a species of shrimp in the family Atyidae. It is native to Japan and Taiwan.De Grave, S., Shy, J. & Cai, X. 2013''Caridina multidentata''. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013. Downloaded on 14 June 2016. Its ...

''; previously ''Caridina japonica''), was named after him. Amano discovered the species' ability to eat large quantities of algae. Amano ordered several thousand of them from a local distributor. They have since become widely used in freshwater planted

aquarium An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

s. Amano also developed a line of aquarium products under th
Aqua Design Amano (ADA)
brand. His aquarium column, "Nature Aquarium," appeared in the monthly magazines '' Practical Fishkeeping'' and '' Tropical Fish Hobbyist''. He died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

in 2015 at the age of 61.

Aquarist

His plant layouts incorporated

Japanese garden are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desig ...

ing concepts such as Wabi-sabi and

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

rock arrangements. Amano frequently used ''Glossostigma elatinoides'' and '' Riccia fluitans'' as plant material. He founded Aqua Design Amano Co., Ltd. in 1982, which provided aquatic plant-growing equipment. His photo books of what he called the "Nature Aquarium", ''Glass no Naka no Daishizen'', published in 1992, followed by ''Mizu-Shizen eno kaiki'', were translated into seven languages.

Amano shrimp

The Amano shrimp (''

'') was introduced to the aquatic hobby by Takashi Amano as a method of controlling

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

growth in the 1980s. The species was subsequently named after him.

"Forests Underwater" at Lisbon Oceanarium

"Forests Underwater" by Takashi Amano is a tropical freshwater aquarium at the Lisbon Oceanarium that features a diverse underwater landscape. The aquarium is in length and holds of water, and houses more than 10,000 individual fish of 40 different species. The exhibit opened on April 21, 2015, although it was initially intended to be a temporary exhibition lasting two years, "Forests Underwater" remains open.

Photography career

Starting in 1975, Takashi Amano travelled across tropical rainforests in the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

, and

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

. He also visited forests in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, creating a series of photos focusing on "untouched nature" using large-format cameras. He used extra-large-films with sizes (up to 8 × 20 inches). His works have been featured internationally at several exhibitions and publications. Amano gave lectures on his photographic expeditions and his experiences in nature around the world, and he advocated for the environmental importance of tree planting programs to support environmental conservation. He was a member of the Japan Professional Photographers Society, the Japan Advertising Photographers' Association, the International Environment Photographers Association, and the Society of Scientific Photography.

G8 Hokkaido Tōyako Summit

Two of Takashi Amano's landscape photos, featuring a cedar forest on Sado Island, were displayed at the 34th G8 Summit Working Lunch/Outreach Working Session. The photos, taken with an 8 × 20-inch large format camera, were exhibited on 4 × 1.5 meter panels.

Bibliography

Exhibitions

References

External links

AmanoTakashi.net
– official website
Aqua Design Amano Website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amano, Takashi Japanese designers Fishkeeping Japanese photographers 1954 births 2015 deaths