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| Botanical Society of Japan | |
|---|---|
| Name | Botanical Society of Japan |
| Native name | 日本植物学会 |
| Founded | 1885 |
| Headquarters | Tokyo, Japan |
| Fields | Botany, Plant taxonomy, Phytogeography, Plant physiology |
Botanical Society of Japan is a learned society focused on the study and promotion of plant sciences in Japan. It serves as a hub connecting researchers from institutions such as University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Hokkaido University, Osaka University, and Tohoku University with international partners including Kew Gardens, Missouri Botanical Garden, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Smithsonian Institution, and Botanical Society of America. The society interfaces with national and regional bodies like Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Ministry of the Environment (Japan), Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists, Society for the Study of Plant Taxonomy (Japan), and museums such as the National Museum of Nature and Science (Tokyo).
Founded in the late nineteenth century alongside institutions such as Imperial University (Japan), the society emerged amid botanical exploration connected to expeditions like those led by Ernst Friedrich Gilg and collections comparable to those of Joseph Hooker and Carl Linnaeus. Early members often trained at foreign centers including University of Cambridge, University of Edinburgh, University of Göttingen, University of Paris, and Harvard University, facilitating exchange with figures associated with Köppen climate classification studies and with herbaria such as Herbarium of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle. The society navigated periods marked by events like Russo-Japanese War, Meiji Restoration-era modernization, and later collaborations influenced by postwar connections to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and bilateral programs with United States-Japan cultural exchanges.
The society's mission aligns with objectives promoted by organizations such as International Union for Conservation of Nature, Global Biodiversity Information Facility, and Convention on Biological Diversity: to advance plant taxonomy, phytochemistry-linked studies, plant ecology, and conservation. Activities include coordination with botanical gardens like Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, research coordination with institutes such as RIKEN, outreach in collaboration with universities including Nagoya University and Kobe University, and advisory roles supporting agencies such as Agency for Cultural Affairs (Japan) and regional prefectural natural history museums.
The society publishes peer-reviewed journals and monographs comparable to Journal of Plant Research, Taxon, Brittonia, and Annals of Botany. Its flagship periodicals disseminate work on topics similar to those in New Phytologist, Plant Physiology, American Journal of Botany, and regional floras akin to Flora of China and Flora Japonica. It also issues newsletters and bulletins that parallel offerings from Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society and collaborates on checklists and databases integrated with Index Herbariorum and International Plant Names Index projects.
Membership draws botanists affiliated with institutions such as Ritsumeikan University, Tsukuba University, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Kanazawa University, and Ehime University, as well as researchers from botanical gardens like Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands and conservation NGOs such as World Wildlife Fund Japan. The governance model resembles structures used by Royal Society, National Academy of Sciences, and specialist societies like Ecological Society of America, featuring an elected council, sectional committees for subfields linked to people working in areas represented at Society for Economic Botany, and working groups interfacing with international bodies like International Botanical Congress.
Annual meetings follow the pattern of congresses such as International Botanical Congress, Asian Botanical Congress, and symposia similar to those held by Society for Conservation Biology and Ecological Society of Japan. The society hosts themed sessions on topics reflected in conferences at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, workshops modeled after Smithsonian Institution seminars, and joint meetings with organizations like Japanese Society for Plant Cell and Molecular Biology and Japan Paleobotanical Society.
Research initiatives coordinate with herbaria comparable to Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew herbarium and databases such as GBIF projects, addressing issues that intersect with conservation programs run by Ministry of the Environment (Japan), regional prefectures, and NGOs like Nature Conservation Society of Japan. Projects include floristic surveys analogous to Flora of North America, phylogenetic studies using methods popularized at institutions such as Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, and habitat restoration efforts paralleling work by International Union for Conservation of Nature partners.
The society bestows prizes and honors similar in stature to awards given by Royal Society, Japan Academy Prize, Asahi Prize, and international botanical medals like the Darwin Medal and Linnean Medal. These recognize achievements in taxonomy, systematics, ecology, and conservation, and often acknowledge collaborative research with institutions such as University of Cambridge, Smithsonian Institution, University of California, Berkeley, and regional botanical gardens.
Category:Scientific societies based in Japan Category:Botany organizations Category:Natural history of Japan