ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

Big in Japan: Minakata Kumagusu and Britain

• In Event: Plural Plant and Fungal Worlds

English Abstract

The mycologist and folklorist Minakata Kumagusu (1867-1941) remains a prominent figure in the history of Japanese science. Widely credited with pioneering ecological thought in Japan, he spent his early adulthood in the USA and Great Britain. His time in Great Britain coincided with the expansion of British mycology--including the formation of the British Mycological Society--and he developed working relationships with a number of British mycologists that continued via correspondence after his return to Japan. His library, which remains preserved today by the Association of Minakata Kumaugusu Archives, also shows his continued engagement with British mycology through importing and annotating of published books and archives. Focusing particularly on his work with slime moulds and his correspondence with father/daughter British naturalists Arthur and Gulielma Lister, this paper will explore his relationship with the British mycological communities and their texts, examining what impact it had on his later work in Japan and exploring key parallels and differences in the emergence of ecology in both countries.

Author

• Nathan Smith, Amgueddfa Cymru—Museum Wales