Herbarium, University of Tokyo (TI)

Herbarium, University of Tokyo (TI)

The Herbarium, University of Tokyo (TI) is the principal botanical collection of University of Tokyo located in Bunkyō's Hongo district, serving as a major repository for plant specimens central to research by scholars associated with Faculty of Science, University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, and international partners such as Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Smithsonian Institution, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Rijksherbarium, and Harvard University Herbaria. Founded in the late Meiji period amid exchanges with institutions like Kew Gardens, Botanical Museum Berlin, Tokyo Imperial University and contributors linked to figures such as Siebold and Joseph Dalton Hooker, the herbarium has accumulated historical collections used in taxonomic revisions, floristic surveys, and conservation policy advising alongside projects with Ministry of the Environment (Japan), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

History

The institution traces origins to botanical activities of Tokyo Imperial University staff and correspondents including Philipp Franz von Siebold, Tomitaro Makino, Keisuke Ito, and collectors connected to Comte de Bougainville-era networks, expanding through exchanges with Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Herbarium Hamburgense, National Museum of Natural History (France), and expeditions sponsored by Meiji government-era patrons; its development intersected with international events such as the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War, and scientific movements associated with Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace, and the International Botanical Congress. During the Taishō period and Shōwa period the collection absorbed private herbaria from botanists like Yoshimatsu Takeda, Ryōzō Kanehira, and specimens exchanged with Berlin-Dahlem Botanical Garden and New York Botanical Garden, while postwar reconstruction involved collaborations with UNESCO, Allied Occupation of Japan, and academic reforms at the University of Tokyo. Recent administrative changes reflect initiatives under leaders linked to programs such as Global 30 (University of Tokyo) and partnerships with institutes including National Museum of Nature and Science (Japan), Tohoku University, Kyoto University, and the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature.

Collections and Holdings

The holdings comprise extensive vascular plant collections, bryophyte sets, lichen herbaria, and mycological specimens from regions spanning Honshū, Hokkaidō, Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan under Japanese rule, Korea under Japanese rule era exchanges, and international floras covering Southeast Asia, Micronesia, Melanesia, Himalaya, Taiwan, and portions of Africa and South America gathered through collectors such as Tomitaro Makino, Tomitaro Sato, Emperor Meiji-era court botanists, and 19th-century correspondents like Francis Mason and Adrien René Franchet. Type specimens include names published in works by Makino Tomitaro, Svensson (botanist), and contributions to floras used by authors of regional monographs and checklists in the tradition of Flora of Japan and the Flora of China. The herbarium preserves historical field notebooks, correspondence with Joseph Dalton Hooker, Henderson (botanist), and specimen exchange records with Kew and Harvard University Herbaria, supporting nomenclatural research involving codes such as the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants.

Research and Academic Activities

Curators and researchers affiliated with the herbarium contribute to taxonomic revisions, phylogenetic studies, and biogeographic analyses in collaboration with faculty from University of Tokyo, postdocs from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, and visiting scholars from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Smithsonian Institution, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, and Botanical Research Institute of Texas. Research outputs include species descriptions, conservation assessments for entities recognized by the IUCN Red List, molecular systematics integrating methods from labs associated with RIKEN, National Institute of Genetics (Japan), and collaborations on digitization projects aligned with Global Biodiversity Information Facility and initiatives modeled after Index Herbariorum and JSTOR Global Plants. Training programs target graduate students in programs linked to Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, exchanges with Kyoto University, and joint fieldwork alongside institutions such as National Taiwan University and Hokkaido University.

Facilities and Services

Facilities provide climate-controlled storage, microscopy suites, and digitization stations used in specimen imaging compatible with networks like GBIF and repositories inspired by Biodiversity Heritage Library standards; laboratory partnerships extend to molecular facilities at RIKEN and imaging collaborations with National Museum of Nature and Science (Japan). Services include loan programs respecting policies used by Index Herbariorum members, on-site access for researchers from institutions such as Harvard University, Kew, Australian National Herbarium, and curatorial support for specimen curation, georeferencing, and taxonomic identification referenced against keys in works like Flora Japonica and comparative collections at Natural History Museum, London.

Outreach and Collaborations

Outreach encompasses exhibitions and public programs coordinated with University of Tokyo Museum, educational collaborations with Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Japan), citizen science partnerships echoing initiatives by iNaturalist and collaborative surveys with regional bodies such as Tokyo Metropolitan Government and conservation groups modeled on World Wildlife Fund projects. International collaborations include specimen exchange, joint expeditions with Kew Gardens, research consortia with Smithsonian Institution, and participation in databasing networks like GBIF and JSTOR Global Plants to increase accessibility for curators, taxonomists, and historians linked to institutions such as Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle and Rijksherbarium.

Category:Herbaria in Japan Category:University of Tokyo