Isao Ijima (飯島魁, Iijma Isao, July 24, 1861 – March 14, 1921) was a Japanese zoologist known for his studies of sponges (Porifera) — including his circumscription of the genus Staurocalyptusleeches (Hirudinea), flatworms (Turbellaria), birds, and fish.[1][2] Professor of Zoology at Tokyo Imperial University, he is considered the founder of parasitology in Japan and was the first President of the Ornithological Society of Japan.[1] Taxa named in his honour include Ijima's sea snake[3] and Ijima's leaf warbler.[4][5]

Isao Ijima
飯島魁
BornJuly 24, 1861
DiedMarch 14, 1921(1921-03-14) (aged 59)
Alma materImperial University, Tokyo
Occupations
EmployerTokyo Imperial University
Known forFounder of Parasitology

Biography edit

Born in Hamamatsu in 1861 into a samurai family of Hamamatsu Domain, at the age of fifteen he entered the Kaisei Gakkō [ja] school in Tokyo, before enrolling as a student in the Science College at the Imperial University, Tokyo in 1878.[1][2] There he studied under Edward Sylvester Morse and Charles Otis Whitman.[2] In 1879, together with Sasaki Chūjirō [ja], both having previously received training from and assisted Morse in his exploration of the Ōmori Shell Mounds, Ijima excavated the Okadaira Shell Mound; this is credited with being the first modern archaeological survey conducted solely by Japanese.[6][7][8] Upon graduation in 1881, as one of three from the first cohort in the Department of Zoology, he became an assistant in the College.[1][2] The next year he went to Germany to study zoology at the University of Leipzig, where he spent three years working under the direction of Doctor Rudolf Leuckart; he was awarded his Ph.D. in 1884.[1]

Returning to Japan in 1886, at the age of 25 he was appointed Professor of Zoology at the Imperial University, Tokyo, where he remained until his death.[1][2] In 1893, with the description of Parus owstoni (now Sittiparus owstoni or Owston's tit), he became the first zoologist from Japan to describe a bird.[9]: 276 [10] In 1903, he was involved in the establishment of Sakai Aquarium [ja] and in 1904 he was appointed the second director of the Misaki Marine Biological Station [ja].[2][11] In 1912, he was the founding president of the Ornithological Society of Japan.[2] In 1918, he published his influential A Manual of Zoology (動物学提要, Dōbutsu-gaku Teiyō).[2][12] In his personal life, Ijima enjoyed hunting, shooting, fishing, wine, and smoking a pipe.[1] He died in 1921.[1]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Yoshida, Sadao (1924). "Isao Ijima: The Father of Parasitology in Japan (With Potrait Plate)". The Journal of Parasitology. 10 (3). The American Society of Parasitologists, Allen Press: 165–167. ISSN 0022-3395. JSTOR 3270877.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h 日本鳥学会100年の歴史 [The 100-Year History of The Ornithological Society of Japan] (PDF). Japanese Journal of Ornithology (in Japanese). 61: 9 ff. 2012.
  3. ^ Beolens, B.; Watkins, M.; Grayson, M. (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Ijima, p. 129).
  4. ^ Beolens, B.; Watkins, M.; Grayson, M. (2014). The Eponym Dictionary of Birds. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4729-0573-4. 624 pp. (Ijima, pp. 274–275).
  5. ^ "Wildlife of Miyakejima Island|Natural parks in Tokyo". 東京都環境局. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  6. ^ 陸平貝塚 [Okadaira Shell Mound] (in Japanese). Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
  7. ^ Isomura, Yukio; Sakai, Hideya (2012). 国指定史跡事典 [National Historic Site Encyclopedia] (in Japanese). 学生社. p. 91. ISBN 978-4311750403.
  8. ^ 特別展 大森貝塚発掘130周年・区政60周年記念事業「日本考古学は品川から始まった-大森貝塚と東京の貝塚-」 [Special Exhibition: 130th Anniversary of the Excavation of the Ōmori Shell Mounds and 60th Anniversary of the Formation of the Ward "In Shinagawa Japanese Archaeology Began — the Ōmori Shell Mounds and the Shell Mounds of Tokyo"] (PDF) (in Japanese). Shinagawa Ward. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
  9. ^ Hachisuka Masauji (1942). 日本人の手によつて記録された鳥類 [List of Birds Described by the Japanese Authors]. Tori (in English and Japanese). 11 (53–54): 270–351. doi:10.3838/jjo1915.11.270.
  10. ^ Ijima, Isao (1893). "[Description of a New Species of Parus from Miyakeshima]". Dōbutsugaku zasshi. 5 (62): 445–446. (in Japanese).
  11. ^ "History (Taisho Period)". MMBS. September 1, 1923. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  12. ^ Utinomi, Huzio (October 30, 1976). "A Review of the Japanese Species of Alcyonium, with Descriptions of Two New Species and an Almost Forgotten Rare Species (Octocorallia, Alcyonacea)". Publications of the Seto Marine Biological Laboratory (in Latin). 23 (3–5): 191–204. doi:10.5134/175942. hdl:2433/175942. ISSN 0037-2870. S2CID 59425096. Retrieved October 9, 2021.