Minakata Kumagusu

Polymath naturalist who pioneered environmental conservation in Meiji Japan

Minakata Kumagusu (1867–1941), Japan's 'Leonardo da Vinci of the East,' revolutionized multiple fields while fiercely opposing deforestation. A self-taught expert on slime molds, he published over 50 scientific papers in Nature magazine – unprecedented for an Asian researcher in the 1890s. His 10,000-page diary documented ecological systems decades before modern environmentalism.

When the Meiji government planned to merge Shinto shrines (and cut down sacred forests) in 1906, Minakata launched Japan's first conservation campaign. He wrote 120+ protest letters using Western botanical studies to argue for preserving biodiversity. This delayed the policy until 1912, saving ancient trees across Wakayama Prefecture. Learn about his preserved manuscripts at the Minakata Archives.

Beyond science, he studied folklore and comparative religion, collaborating with British mythologist Andrew Lang. His interdisciplinary approach – blending microbiology, anthropology, and activism – makes him a proto-environmentalist icon. The 2023 documentary 『The Philosopher of the Forest』 explores how his ideas predicted modern eco-philosophy.