Land of plants in motion : Japanese botany and the world

Land of Plants in Motion is the first in any language to examine two companion stories: (1) the rise of an East Asian floristic zone and how the Japanese islands evolved an astonishing wealth of plant species, and (2) the growth of Japanese botanical sciences. The majority of plant species regarded as “Japanese” trace their origins to western China and the eastern Himalaya but are so indigenized that they often seem native today. Early modern scientists in Japan drew on knowledge of Chinese herbal medicine but achieved distinctive insights into plant life commensurate with but separate from their European counterparts. Scholars at the University of Tokyo pioneered Japanese plant biology in the late nineteenth century. They incorporated Western botanical methods but sought a degree of difference in taxonomy while also gaining international legitimacy through publications in English. Japan’s age of empire (1895–1945) was less about plant exploration and more about plant collection, for both scientific and economic benefits. Displays of species from throughout the empire made Japan’s sphere of colonization and conquest visible at home. The infrastructure for research and instruction expanded slowly after World War Two: new laboratories, botanical gardens, scholarly societies, and publications eventually allowed for great diversity of specialized study, especially with the growth of molecular biology in the 1970s and DNA research in the 1980s. Basic research was harmed by cuts in government funding during 2012–2017, but Japanese plant biologists continue to enjoy international esteem in many fields of scholarship. "Land of Plants in Motion is the first in any language to examine two companion stories: (1) the rise of an East Asian floristic zone in deep geological time, how the ancestors of many Japanese plants spread to eastern North America by 5 million years ago, and how the Japanese islands evolved an astonishing wealth of plant species since; and (2) the growth of Japanese botanical sciences, from focusing on herbal medicine and natural history in the Edo period (1600-1868) to developing modern plant biology and amateur botany since the Meiji period (1868-1912). Both paleoclimatological processes and modern commercial motives explain the movement of plants across time and around the world. The majority of plant species regarded as "Japanese" trace their origins to western China and the eastern Himalaya but are so indigenized that they often seem native today. Early modern scientists in Japan drew on knowledge of Chinese herbal medicine but achieved distinctive insights into plant life commensurate with but separate from their European counterparts. Foreign doctors and plant collectors sent Japanese species abroad in the nineteenth century for scientific study and to adorn ornamental gardens. Scholars at the University of Tokyo pioneered Japanese plant biology in the late nineteenth century, incorporating Western botanical methods but seeking a degree of difference in taxonomy while also gaining international legitimacy through publications in English. Makino Tomitarō and Minakata Kumagusu were extremely productive scholars who promoted public botany among amateur plant aficionados. Japan's age of empire (1895-1945) was one less of exploration than plant collection, for both scientific and economic benefits. Displays of species from throughout the empire made Japan's sphere of colonization and conquest visible at home. The infrastructure for research and instruction expanded slowly after World War Two: new laboratories, botanical gardens, university appointments, scholarly societies, and publications eventually allowed for great diversity of specialized study, especially with the growth of molecular biology in the 1970s and DNA research in the 1980s. Basic research was harmed by cuts in government funding during 2012-2017, but Japanese plant biologists continue to enjoy international esteem in many subfields of scholarship"-- Provided by publisher AlignIndividualCenter Starting Sucessfully AlignIndividualCenter Completed Sucessfully Loose Line and Tight Line Sucessfully Completed AlignIndividualCenter Starting Sucessfully AlignIndividualCenter Completed Sucessfully AlignIndividualCenter Starting Sucessfully AlignIndividualCenter Completed Sucessfully AlignIndividualCenter Starting Sucessfully AlignIndividualCenter Starting Sucessfully AlignIndividualCenter Starting Sucessfully AlignIndividualCenter Completed Sucessfully AlignIndividualCenter Starting Sucessfully AlignIndividualCenter Starting Sucessfully AlignIndividualCenter Completed Sucessfully AlignIndividualCenter Starting Sucessfully AlignIndividualCenter Completed Sucessfully Contents 8 Preface 10 Introduction 14 From Alpine to Subtropical 20 Natives and Invasives 25 One 31 East Asia’s Plants in Geological Time 31 The Slow Progression of Plants in Japan 32 How Japanese and Eastern North American Plants Came to Look Like Each Other 42 Two 51 Plants in Early Modern Japan 51 Chinese Herbal Medicine in Japan 52 Europeans Embrace Japanese Plants 53 Natural History and Indigenous Plants 55 Scientific Illustrations 60 European Visitors Popularize Linnaeus 62 Horticulture Spreads throughout Japan 65 Late Edo-Period Plant Scientists 67 Three 70 Seeking Japanese Plants in Europe and North America 70 “Plants and Seeds Wanted from China and Japan” 71 European Plant Collectors in Japan 73 Japanese Plants Arrive in America 79 Plants and Commerce 84 Plant Exports to the United States since the Late Nineteenth Century 87 Four 92 Foundations of Plant Biology in Modern Japan 92 Botanical Beginnings 93 “A Revolution in East Asian Botany” 97 Infrastructure for Research 104 Diversification and Specialization 109 Five 113 Plant Biology in Japan’s Age of Empire 113 Makino and Minakata on Studying Nature 113 Japanese Plant Biology in the Early Twentieth Century 121 The Botany of Empire 124 Six 134 Plant Biologists in an Era of Specialization 134 Enhanced Infrastructure for Research 135 Plant Ecology in Postwar Japan 155 Further Diversity and Specialization 149 Afterword 158 Japanese Plant Biology and the World 158 Notes 166 Sources Cited 188 Index 206 About the Author 212 Blank Page -1