Hisayoshi Takeda was a Japanese

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

whose father was the British diplomat

Sir Ernest Satow Sir Ernest Mason Satow (30 June 1843 – 26 August 1929), was a British diplomat, scholar and Japanologist. He is better known in Japan, where he was known as , than in Britain or the other countries in which he served as a diplomat. He was ...

. He was a founder of the Japanese

Natural History Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

Society, and is known for his campaign to preserve the environment at Oze, which is now

Oze National Park , is an area consisting of open greenland in Fukushima, Tochigi, Gunma and Niigata Prefectures in Japan. The park is 372 km2 in area and is the 29th national park in Japan. Opened on 30 August 2007, the park's area includes the marshes ...

Botanist

Takeda was born in

Tokyo Prefecture Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital and most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is one of the most populous urban areas in the world. The Greater Tokyo Area, which ...

, the second son of Satow and his common-law wife, Takeda Kane. He learned English at the Tokyo Foreign Language School () before going to the United Kingdom in 1910 to study botany at

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1759, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Takeda returned home in 1913 before returning to England in 1915 to continue his studies at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

. A year later he visited the island of Shikotan to conduct plant research as part of his doctorate. In 1916 he became a lecturer at

Kyoto University , or , is a National university, national research university in Kyoto, Japan. Founded in 1897, it is one of the former Imperial Universities and the second oldest university in Japan. The university has ten undergraduate faculties, eighteen gra ...

before joining

Hokkaido University , or , is a public research university in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. Founded in 1918, it is the fifth-oldest government-authorised university in Japan and one of the former Imperial Universities. The university finds its roots in Sapporo A ...

in 1920. From 1928 to 1939, he returned to Kyoto University where he served as a senior lecturer.

Mountain conservation

Between 1948 and 1951, Takeda served as the sixth Chairman of the Japanese Alpine Club, which was founded in 1905. He was also the chairman of Nature Conservation Society of Japan () until 1970, when he was awarded the Prince Chichibu Memorial Science Prize for his contributions to botany. Through his research, he campaigned for greater protection of mountain plant species. Takeda, who is known as the "father of Oze", helped establish

. The area covers part of Fukushima, Tochigi,

Gunma is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of . Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima Prefecture to t ...

and

Niigata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,131,009 (1 July 2023) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area ...

s 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 ...

. A memorial hall was built in his honor at Hinoemata,

Fukushima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,771,100 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miyagi Prefecture and Yamagata Prefecture ...

Personal life

Takeda was married and had two daughters. He died aged 89 on June 7, 1972.

Published works

* ''Oze and Kinunuma'' (1930), Azusa Shobo (尾瀬と鬼怒沼 (1930), 梓書房) * ''Climbing and plant'' (1938) Kawade Shobo (登山と植物 (1938), 河出書房) * ''Alpine plant'' (1941), Ars (高山の植物 (1941), アルス) * ''Travelers' companion'' (1942), Ars, (道祖神 (1942), アルス) * ''Folklore and the plant'' (1948), Yamaoka (民俗と植物 (1948) 山岡書店) * ''Oze'' (1951) Iwanami (尾瀬 (1951), 岩波写真文庫) * ''Lofty dream'' (1956), Yamatokeikokusha (高嶺の花 (1956), 山と渓谷社) * ''Primary School Children Picture Book on Japanese Alpine plants'' (1959), Childcare, Inc (原色日本高山植物図鑑 (1959), 保育社) * ''Continued Primary School Children Picture Book on Japanese Alpine plants'' (1964), Childcare, Inc (原色日本高山植物図鑑 (1964), 保育社)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Takeda, Hisayoshi 1883 births 1972 deaths 20th-century Japanese botanists Japanese mountain climbers Japanese people of English descent Japanese people of German descent People from Tokyo Metropolis Tokyo University of Foreign Studies alumni Alumni of the University of Birmingham Academic staff of Kyoto University Academic staff of Hokkaido University Scientists from Tokyo Metropolis