Professor Siro Kitamura (1906-2002)

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by  Iwatsuki, Kunio

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ISSN 1346-7565 Acta Phytotax .Geobot. 53 (2) :89-94 (2002)
ProfessorSiroKitamura(1906-2002)

KUNIO IWATSUKI

Zhe U}tive,:soitfytheA2i-n11yPPZikabaM,ihama-ktt,Chiba261-858a mpan

Professo rSiro Kitamura passed away on March 21, Koidzumi fbunded a new journa Alc,ta Phytotax-
2002, at the age of95, He led the lif eoftrue botanist onomica et Geobotanica ,and Professo Kritamura (a
throughou htis career of nearly a fu1 1century, making graduat estudent at the time) joine tdhejourna lalong
great contributions to the systematics of the with his young colleagues, Jisaburo Ohwi, Motozi
Compositae ,the flor aof Asia, especially of the Sino- Tagawa, YUichi Yoneda and others, at Kyoto
Japanes eFlorist Riecgion ,and to many uther field osf University LHis Compositae Japonicae and most ofhis
plant taxonomy and plant geography. other papers in his early days were either publishe din
this journ oarl in the Memoirs of the College of
Professo rKitamura as a botanist Science ,Kyoto University.
Professe Kritamura undertook a variety of field
Professo Kritamura was born on September 22, 1906, studies within and outside Japan .He suffered from'
in Ohtsu, central Japan .When he graduated from the poor healt hsince childhood and was at firs itnterest-
Facult yof Science, Kyoto University ,in 1931, he ed in cultivating herbal swhen he was about 14 years
published his firs stcientific papeg Nova Circiae Asiae old. Ms intere isnt honicultu riencreased with age and
Orientali sw,hi ¢h was a bookle tof 23 pages issue dby his intere sitn cultivation extended to wild plants,
himself In the Graduat eSchool ofKyoto University,which evolved int ohis collection ofherbarium spec-
he wotked on the Campositae under the supervision of imens of the loca lfior awhen he was in juni ohrigh
Professo Grenichi Koidzumi. Since his second papeg school. Based on these collections ofwild plant sin
Compositae Japonica e1, was also publishe din the cultivation and in specimens, he started collecting
form ofa srnall parnphle ta,lso issue bqy himselC he books on plant taxonomy and floristi Hciss. library
wished to have a jouma tlo which he could sul)mit his developed into a significant collection of literature,
papers e,ven though his fatni lways wealthy enough to most of which was donated to the Herbarium of
financia sluplpyort his privately published booklets. Kyoto Universit yin late 2000. Although his poor
At that time, the Botanica lMagazine, Tokyo, healt hprevente dhim from collecting actively dur-
was the oMcial issue of the Botanica lSociet oyf ing his high school years, Professo Kritamura started
Japan a,nd the Journa lofJapanese Botany Was issued collecting plant sin earnest in various parts ofJapan
from the Tsumura Laboratory under the editorship of when he became a student at Ikyot oUniversit yI.n
Tbmitaro Makino, also in Ibkyo. Botanist isn Kyoto 1930 he made trip sto Hachljo Island fbr one month,
always suspected that papers submitted by thei rcol- to Korea and northeast China for two months, and to
league sin the Tokyo area were given preferentialHokkaido and Sakhali nfor one month, in additioh to
treatment and published firs t.In 1932, Professor trip sto various parts of Honshu, Shikoku, and
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Kyushu. His firs ttrip to :faiwa nwas in 1932. He parts and published in the Memoirs ofthe Cotleg oef
spent about three months studying specimens in the Science, Kyoto lmperial University )Series B, Biologyl
herbarium and undertaking fiel dtrips. and it ssuccessog Memoirs of the Colleg eof Science,
The firs ctontributions of Professo rKitamura Universit oyf Kyoto, Serie sB, Biology b)etween 1937
were on the Japanese species of Compositae .His the- and 1957. At the time of his gradua tweork Japan
sis, Compositae Japonicae, was completed in six covered a wider geographical area, and his carefu1
ProfDr.SiroKitamura(1906-2002)1973.
on
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observation ofherbarium specimens along with obser- corridor extends to Nuristan. His observations result-
vations of the plant sin the fiel dand in cultivation ed in the firs rtevision of Hooker's account of the
throughou tthe entire area makes his paper a very biogeograph yofthe Himalayan areas.
reliable reference fbr a latg eportio nofeastern Asia. The botanic ailnteres tofs Professo rKitamura
He continued his intere sitn the Compositae through- grew from a Japan-center epderspecti vteo one that
out his career, and late hre studied species not only in include dthe entire Sino-Japanes felorist riegcion in
Japan, but throughout Asia in general .It is remark- general a,nd from Cirsium (Composit atoe a)l,l seed
able tha this las tscientific paper was the fina land sixth plants .Eventuall yhe worked on the Compositae of
part ofhis Studie isn Asian Compositae contributed to Seutheast Asia based on the cotlections made by
Acta Phytotaxonomica et Geobotanic ain 1991 . Japanese botanist asfter the 1960s.
During the time of the 2nd World War, and for As Professor Kitamura worked in very wide
several years thereafte gthe atmosphere in Japan was area ofbotany, it is rather diMcult to summarize his
not conducive to scientific research in the universities, contributions within a few pages, and we understand
but Professo rKhamura continued his botanica clon- tha this botanica clontributions were fUrthe erxtended
tribution dsurin sguch diMcul ttirnes. Simultaneously,through the activities ofhis students and even by
his intere sitn cultivatedplants grew rather rapidly He their successors.
spent his high school days not in natural science
courses but in the humanities a,nd his intere sitn lit- University experiences
erature and humanitie sfbrmed the broad basi sofhis
ideas on the relationship betwee nplant sand human Professo rKitamura loved science very much, and
culture, He contributed in group research with some especially betany .He was always very happy when
professor sin the humanities, and he contributed sev- he was surrounded by the diversi toyf plants.
eral papers in Japanes eon the histor aynd philosophy Professo rKitamura spent his botanica lcareer
ofscience. completely in Kyeto University .He was appointed a
Professor Kitamura went to Shikoku in 1949 Research Assistan att Kyoto Universit iyn 1938, and
for fiel wdork because of the peculia srerpentine flora spent his professional career in Kyoto University
there ,Since then, his intere sitn speciation m partic- unti1 he retired from ther ein 1970. He was promoted
ular edaphic situations developed a,nd he undertook a rapidly within the Universit tyo} Research Associat ien
variety ofresearch project osn serpentine fiora sH.is 1939, Associate Professo rin 1943, and finall yto
intere sitn speciation in particul eadraphic conditions Professo orfBotany in 1945, He spent a quarte erfa
was develope dfurthe bry his student, Professo 'fratemi century as the head ofLaboratory ofPlant Tfaxonomy
Shimizu, who studied the limestone flora sin Japan, and Phytogeography in Kyoto Uniyersit yA.lthough
In 1953, Kyoto Uniyersit syent a larg escientific he presided over the laborator yfbr a quarte rof a
expedition to explore the Hirnalaya-Hinduku rsehgions century, he himself often apologized that he was not a
under the leadershi pof Professo rHitoshi Kihara. good scientific administratog compared with his suc-
Professo Kritarnur awas the head ofthe botany team cess in the fiel odf botany,
and explored in Afglianist aesnp,ecially in NUristan in He always suffered from adrninistrative dutie sin
nenheast Afghanista nW,ith rich collections from this the Universit yb,ut was highl ysuccessfu1 in develop-
botanical lleys sknown area, he undertook an intensiveing the laborator yof plant taxonomy and phyto-
study of Atghan plants that yielded his excellent geographM actually training many of the leadin gtax-
Flora of Afghanista np,ublishe din 1960. [[hrough this onomists in Japan ,Stil hle, always complained tha the
comprehensive work, he showed that the Himalayan was not very happy in administration, He helped
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ProfessorKoidzumiinfbundingActaPhytotaxon-

Geobotanica, developeditinto inter-
omica et and an
nationally recognizedjournal, now in it s53rd volume.
It has been the oMcial journ oafl the Japanes eSociety
fbr Plant Systematic ssince 2001 when the Japan
Society of Plant Taxonomists and the Phytogeog-
raphical Societ ywere united. Professor Kitamura
also supported Professer Koidzurni in founding the
Herbarium of Kyoto University (KYO). The
Herbarium, with more than 1,300,OO Ospecimens,
includmg many valuable type specimens describe bdy
ProfessoKritamura,is theUniyersity
ncvw a section of
Museum of Kyoto University .The librar oyf Kyoto
University contains an excellent collection ofbotan-
ica lliteratu rien,cludin gthe personal collections of
Professo rKitamura ,who donated it to the library
befbre he passed away. In establishing such an
advanced botanic ailnstitu tPer,ofesso Kritamura con-
tributed very much. His administrative success far
his humble himself
exceeded own evaluation of
Just before the serious upheavals in Japanese
universities in the late 1960s and early 1970s,
ProfessorKitamura Senator Kyoto
was elected a of PTefessor Kitamura at Shi-shan mountain, Kunming, China, in
Universit yin 1968. That position is usually under- 1988. He had wished to visit Yunnan to see the center ofplallt bio-
steod to be equivalent to vice dean of the faculty. datt hvies ragse ii tno fyS i8n2o, -aJndap ia tnweass Fe lheir silsat siR tcuegiip oanb raondad .actually visited there
His new positio nled to direc tinvolvemen tin the
cenfusion in the Japanese universities raised by the he was respected for his dedicatio annd commitment.
radical students during 1969-1970,jus tbefbre he His exemplary behavior was funher evidence of his
retired from the University in 1970. Radical stu- success as an administrator in the University.
dents buildingsKyotoUniversity ProfessorKitamura hard
occupied several at usually worked at
at the beginning of 1969, Professo Kritamura exhib- botany during the summer holidays a,s he was quite
ite dgreat braver yat the time. He was determined b,y fre efrom his adininistrative dutie sin the University at
himsel Cto protect the herbarium from attack by the that time. He eajoyed botany so much, and those
students gone wild. were his happies tdays. In his late ryears at the uni-
His attitude was consistent in keeping the versity he had trouble with his eyes after a day of
research facili tsayfe, but this idea was not universal- heavy work in the herbarium .Stil lh,e continued to
ly accepted at the time of such confusion in the uni- examine specimens to fu1f hii1s deep scientific curios-
versities. His rme nature as a scientist was inciden- ity'
tally revealed and his dedication and determination
during such an abnormal situation was acknowledged Social education
by the facult yand staffl He stood out as a pure sci-
entist eyen while the universities were under siege, and When he helped foun dthe Phytogeographic Saolciety;
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Professo Kritamura had a particula ridea to issu ethe Plants.
Acta Phytotaxonomic aet Geobotanic awitheut any In his late yrears, Professor Kitamura published
support from the govemment, He expected to receive collections of his valuable papers ,including addi-
voluntary support from profession aanld non-profes- tiona larticles in Japanese. The Collecte dWbrks of
sional botanist asnd, he proposed that a few Japanese Siro Kitamura consisted of fiv eyolumes,. issued
articles be include idn each issu eto attract the support between 1982 and 1993. He includedabriefautobi-
ofnon-professional botanist sH,e oftenjeined nature ography and a lis otfall his scientific papers ,which is
obserying eco-tours as a teacher ofbotanM and he suc- a valuable reference, in the 4th volume ofthe series,
ceeded in attracting a number of non-professional
plant lovers tojoin the Phytogeographical Societ y.(I Honors
myself met Professo rKitamura for the firs ttime
when I was still a high school student, He hadjoined Professor Kitarriu wraas awarded the Firs tMatsushita
a plant observation tour arranged by a loca lbiologicalKonosuke Prize in 19x in commemoration of his
society near my heme town,) long term contributions to research in Greenery and
Professor Kitamura' sColoured Illustrati oonf Flowers .He was also awarded a medal of the 3rd
Japanese Herbs, and ofJapanese Trees ,five volumes Class upon reaching his 70th year of birt hfrom the
in all, were best sellers ofthis kind ofbook from the Japanese government,
1950s through the 1 970s. Even now they are popular The lat eEmperor Showa loved biology a,nd in
books fbrplantlovers inJapan ,Through these pep- his late arges he invite da group of botanist severy year
ular books, non-professional plant lover sin Japan to the Imperial Summer Resort in Nasu. Professor
haye been able te lear nmuch more about the scientific Kitamura was one ofthe permanent members of this
feature sof plants , We can say that the scientific group, and every year he went to Nasu at the end of
leve lofnaturalists in Japan is highe reven than in most his summer vacation. I was fbrtuna tto ehave had the
developed countries, and these popular books con- opportunity to ]iste nto him reminisce on his experi-
tributed to their attainment of such a high leve lof ences during the days he spent at Nasu.
knowledge.
Pro fesso rKitamura published a number of arti- His days at home
cles on plant sin Japanese ,especially in the early
yolumes of Acta Phytotaxonomica et Geobotanica, Professor Kitamura often rernembered the benefits
Those papers raised interes itn plan ttaxonomy among he received from his elder brother w,ho helped him
non-professional naturalists in Japan, and many plant after his parent spassed away. He grew up comfort-
hunter sdeveloped into non-professional botanists ably with fu1 1financi asulpport from his familM and he
through the lesson sthey learne dby reading his earli- could concentrate his days on his botanica ilnterest.
er papers in Japanese. He contributed such popular He married Michi Nakamura in 1936, and they
books and articles partly in response to being invited liyed in the same house near Kyoto Universi tunytil he
to do so by the readers ofthejournal and partl yby his passe daway in 2002, He hadavery happy family and
intere sitn social education, He evaluated a series of was the fathe rofthree sons and two daughter s,He
works of Ybkusai Iinurna published at the end of the loved all ofhis children, but he los tone son while he
Yedo dynasty ,and publishe dthe complete work of was stil lactive, The death of that son was a great
Ybkusai Iinuma as Illustratio nosf Herbals. In this los sto him in his late arge, and a lasti nsghocked. His
contribution, he owed in various ways his experi- eldest son is a chemist and {s Professor ofChemistry
ences in issuin tghe Coloured Illustrat ioofn Jsapanese at Ehime UniveTsity ;one ofhis daughter sis an agri-
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cultural chemist and is now Professor Emeritus, From the impressions of the young wife, we can now
Nagoya Universit yN,o children fbllowed their great understand that botanist ast that time worked pas-
fathe rin botany. sionately in the fiel do,ften forgetti nthgeir families.
In memory of their younger days ,Mrs. Khamura Stil lw,e know that Professor Kitamura loved his
frequentl ytold us that Professor Kitamura often van- family throughout his life a,nd always thanked Mrs.
is h e d f r o m h o m e f brL many days, then came back Kitamura fbr her help.
from hisfield
work rather suddenly without notice.
'
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