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Part 2: Modern era

Chapter 8: Scholars 1. Natural sciences

MAKINO Tomitaro, 1862-1957

Makino was a botanist. After he dropped out of the elementary school, he studied botany by himself. While he worked as an assistant teacher and instructor at the Science College of the Imperial University of Tokyo (later the Faculty of Science of the University of Tokyo), he named 1,000 new plants and 1,500 varieties. He was called the "father of Japanese botany".

116 Makino Tomitaro shokan, November 26, 1918 [Watanabe Chiaki Papers: 1122]

This is a letter written by Makino to Ogata Masui who was staying at Count Watanabe Chiaki's residence. The letter is to answer the questions about the plant, "magnolia kobus". The flower is drawn on the letter and the postscript says he will send the real flower if necessary when it blooms the following spring. Ogata of the addressee is a person who worked as a curator at the Nara Imperial Museum.

牧野富太郎書簡（冒頭部）

（末尾部）

SHIRAI Mitsutaro, 1863-1932

Shirai was a botanist. After he studied in Germany, he taught at the Agriculture College of the Imperial University of Tokyo and played an important role in developing phytopathology. Meanwhile, he published Nihon hakubutsugaku nenpyo in 1891, in which the process of the development of natural history in Japan was systematically summarized for the first time. He also worked on research and protection of natural monuments. About 6,000 books of Shirai's old possessions including the ones on the traditional pharmacognosy (study of medicines derived from natural sources) in Japanese, Chinese and Western languages are housed in the National Diet Library as Shirai Collection. (See also the digital exhibition "Fauna and Flora in Illustrations", Shirai Collection)

117 Berurin kinpu, 1899-1901[特1-3645]

Shirai studied in Germany from July, 1899 to October, 1901. This book has his drawings of mushrooms and yeast he researched in Germany. The page shown has the drawing of malts for beer and the beer manufacturing process. Shirai had a great talent in art and he even thought about being a painter. On the previous page (image on the right), a malt sample collected "in the malt room of the Seestraße brewing school in Berlin" kept in the envelope is attached. The Shirai Collection includes his own manuscripts with his diary which are filled with details and lively drawings from which we can feel the power of his spirit.

伯林菌譜（ビール醸造用の麦芽（Malts）についての図及び製法の記述）

伯林菌譜（「伯林ゼエストラアセ醸造学校マルツ室」にて採集した麦芽の標本）

MINAKATA Kumagusu, 1867-1941

Minakata was an ethnologist and a biologist. He was from Wakayama Prefecture, and was one of the founders of ethnology in Japan. He left the University of Tokyo Prep School, and went to the United States in 1887. He worked in the research department of the East at the British Museum, and studied zoology, botany, archaeology and theology through self-study. He contributed his articles to the Nature and other magazines. After he returned to Japan in 1900, he lived in Tanabe in Wakayama Prefecture, and collected the myxomycete (slime molds) and researched on them. He also studied folklore and closely communicated with the folklorist Yanagita Kunio, and had great influence on the founding period of Japanese folklore.

118 Shirai Mitsutaro ate shokan, October 24, 1927[W391-N40(31)]

This is a postcard of inquiries on Shirai Mitsutaro's book written by Minakata. Minakata and Shirai started communicating through the folklorist, Yanagita Kunio, and kept a good relationship all their lives. On the postcard, Minakata is asking Shirai about "Chiyomigusa" written in Shirai's representative work Nihon hakubutsugaku nenpyo (revised version in 1908). He says chiyomigusa is a nickname for chrysanthemum or pine and asks Shirai what this book is about (Chiyomigusa is a book on chrysanthemum). In the postscript, Minakata says he went to the Tokyo Library (one of the predecessors of the National Diet Library) when he was 16 or 17, and read Hakubutsu zassi saying it probably was the first magazine on natural history (this Hakubutsu zassi is still kept in the National Diet Library). "Ono Motoyoshi" who appears in the postcard was a naturalist and a great-great-grandchild of Ono Ranzan.
*Image of the cover is of the postcard with a date of October 19, 1926.

白井光太郎宛書簡（裏）

白井光太郎宛書簡（表）

Trivia

When did postcards come into use?

The kansei hagaki (government-issue postcard) first became available in 1873. Etymologically speaking, the word hagaki was derived from kaeshigaki (refer to the trivia item entitled "Continuing a handwritten letter in the margin at the top") in the right-hand margin of makigami (refer to the trivia item "Sizes and types of paper"), which was also known as hashigaki (writing at the edge).
In 1900, commercial postcards with a variety of designs were officially authorized and came into common use. A commemorative picture postcard depicting the First Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905) became very popular and provided impetus to a boom in the use of picture postcards.

SHINJO Shinzo, 1873–1938

An astronomer. Shinjo established the Department of Astronomy at the Imperial University of Kyoto and later served as its president. Although he is known for his research on physical cosmology, his investigations also extend to the calendrical sciences in ancient China, and he gained renown as a scholar of East Asian astronomy. He authored many works, including Toyo Tenmongakushi kenkyu (lit. Studies in the History of East Asian Astronomy). He also actively worked to debunk folk divination practices. In 1943, the National Diet Library acquired Shinjo's former collection of around 12,000 volumes, designating it the Shinjo Collection. Most of these materials are on Japanese and Chinese astronomy and calendars, ultimately making it one of the foremost collections in this field in both scope and quality.

119 Saikin uchu sinkaron kogai, 1917 [特2-1890]

An autograph manuscript, bound together with proofread offprints and others. This work was included in Saikin Rikagaku no Sinpo (lit. Recent Advances in the Physical and Chemical Sciences) (1917), which was a special issue of the journal Kyoiku gakujutsu kai. This special issue features leading specialists presenting the latest developments in their respective fields, from fundamental theories in physics and chemistry to various disciplines in applied engineering. Around this time, Shinjo was making advances in astrophysics research, which was clearly distinct from the classical astronomy practiced up until that time, having published Uchu shinkaron (lit. The Evolution of the Universe) in 1916 and establishing the Department of Astrophysics at Kyoto Imperial University in 1918, where he served as its inaugural professor.

NOGUCHI Hideyo, 1876-1928

Noguchi was a doctor and a bacteriologist. After being an assistant at the Institute of Infectious Diseases, he worked at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research and studied bacteriology. He is known for researching yellow fever and syphilitic. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, but Noguchi himself suffered yellow fever while he was studying and died in Accra, Ghana.

120 Noguchi Hideyo shokan, April 28, 1919[Ishiguro Tadanori Papers: 936]

This is a letter written by Noguchi Hideyo to Ishihara Tadanori who was an army surgeon and the president of the Japanese Red Cross Society at that time. In the letter, Noguchi says he was sent to Ecuador to research on yellow fever in June, 1918 which is the previous year and he probably had found the bacterium of yellow fever. His research on yellow fever continued until he died in Africa ten years later. Ishiguro who is from Fukushima Prefecture, the same land as Noguchi's, and made the foundation of the Japanese army surgeon system.

野口英世書簡

KITASATO Shibasaburo, 1852–1931

A bacteriologist. Kitasato studied at the Kumamoto Medical Facility and Training School (later Kumamoto Medical School). After graduating from the University of Tokyo Faculty of Medicine, he joined the Sanitary Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs. In 1886, he went to Germany to study under Robert Koch and, in 1889, succeeded in isolating the tetanus bacillus in pure culture for the first time in the world. After returning to Japan in 1892, he became director of the Institute for Infectious Diseases, which was founded by Fukuzawa Yukichi. The institute was later placed under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Kitasato resigned in protest when plans were made in 1914 to transfer the institute to the Medical College of the Imperial University of Tokyo. That same year, he founded the Kitasato Institute.

121 Kitasato Shibasaburo shokan, April 4, 1911 [ISHIGURO Tadanori Papers: 396]

A letter of reply from Kitasato Shibasaburo to Ishiguro Tadanori, who had served as the head of the military doctors for the Army, written while Kitasato was in Fengtian(Mukden), Qing China, for the International Plague Conference. In this letter, Kitasato reports on the opening of the conference, sharply criticizing the ineptitude of the host country's organization of the event while still remarking that it was "a great success for Qing China." This might have been a jab at the Medical College of the Imperial University of Tokyo, which had recently withdrawn from plans to host an international conference, arguing that it was still too early for Japan to host one. At one point in the letter, Kitasato mentions that he had just returned from the conference after losing his patience and losing his temper when Ishiguro's letter arrived telling him to "tolerate it," a coincidence that appeared to have left Kitasato slightly embarrassed.

北里柴三郎書簡（2枚目）

北里柴三郎書簡（1枚目）

NAKAYA Ukichiro, 1900–1962 　　　

A physicist. He received instruction from Terada Torahiko at the Imperial University of Tokyo. After his graduation, he became Terada's assistant at the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (Riken) and later studied abroad in the United Kingdom. In 1930, he was appointed associate professor at the Imperial University of Hokkaido and became full professor in 1932. Nakaya conducted research on snow crystals and, in 1936, successfully produced the world's first ever artificial snow. He was also highly regarded as an essayist; his accessible writings made science something with which the layperson could easily become acquainted. The passage "snow crystals are letters sent from heaven" from his book Yuki (Snow) —published in the Iwanami Shinsho series— is especially well known.

122 Nakaya Ukichiro shokan, June 6, 1945 [Makino Nobuaki Papers, Letters: 360-1]

A letter addressed to Makino Nobuaki, a senior statesman who served as Minister of the Imperial Household and Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal and was the second son of Okubo Toshimichi. Nakaya expresses concern for Makino's safety following the devastating air raid on Tokyo's Yamanote district on the night of May 25, while also detailing his research progress amid wartime conditions. From his words, we can sense how Nakaya placidly continued with his experiments even as he acutely felt the worsening state of the war, driven by his conviction that his institute would be "the last to remain standing in Japan as it goes about its regular business." Nakaya came to visit the Makino residence through an introduction by Takemi Taro, Makino's grandson-in-law, who would later become president of the Japan Medical Association. Makino, who had an unflagging intellectual curiosity even in his old age, is said to have greatly enjoyed listening to Nakaya talk about science.

中谷宇吉郎書簡（2枚目）

中谷宇吉郎書簡（1枚目）

（封筒裏）

（封筒表）

Trivia

Postal censorship during WWII

Although the Constitution of the Empire of Japan guaranteed the secrecy of correspondence, in practice, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Army conducted postal censorship without any legal basis for reasons of preserving public security and protecting state secrets. As the Second Sino–Japanese War dragged on, the Provisional Postal Control Ordinance was promulgated in October 1941 as an emergency imperial ordinance, placing matters of censorship under the Ministry of Communications. Legally sanctioned censorship was said to have become increasingly necessary to prevent espionage by foreign powers and leaks of military secrets. In principle, censorship was to apply only to international and not domestic mail, but, in certain cases, domestic mail was also subject to censorship.
Nakaya Ukichiro's letter (Material 122) bears a sticker reading "Censored—Ministry of Communications, Empire of Japan."