Botanist. Born as the son of a feudal retainer of the Fukui domain, he graduated from the Department of Botany of the Imperial University of Tokyo.He then became a professor at the Tokyo Agriculture and Forestry School and, later, at the College of Agriculture of the Imperial University of Tokyo. He went to study in Germany in 1899. Founder of plant pathology in Japan. He also contributed to the development of herbalism and made efforts to preserve natural monuments.