Botany Day

What Is Botany Day?

Every April 24th is "Botany Day" (植物学の日, Shokubutsugaku no Hi) in Japan, also called "Makino Day." It commemorates the birth of Dr. Tomitaro Makino (牧野富太郎, 1862–1957), Japan's most celebrated botanist, who was born on the 24th day of the 4th month of Bunkyū 2 in the traditional calendar (May 22, 1862, in the modern calendar) in Sakawa, Tosa Province (present-day Kōchi Prefecture). The day keeps the date as written in the old calendar. Largely self-taught, Makino devoted his life to studying Japan's plants.

The Life of Tomitaro Makino

Makino's passion for plants began in childhood, exploring the forests and fields of his native Kōchi. Although he left elementary school, he studied botany on his own and was allowed to use the botany department of the University of Tokyo for his research. In 1889, together with Saburō Ōkubo, he gave a scientific name to a new species, Yamatogusa (Theligonum japonicum), publishing it in a Japanese journal — known as an early case of a new species being named by Japanese researchers in a Japanese publication.

He served for many years as a lecturer (not a professor) at Tokyo Imperial University, and received a Doctor of Science degree at 65 in 1927. Makino is said to have collected around 400,000 specimens in his lifetime, and the plants he named are said to number more than 1,500 — or about 2,500 including new varieties. His "Makino's Illustrated Flora of Japan" (牧野日本植物図鑑), first published in 1940, has been revised many times and is still in use.

A Life Devoted Entirely to Plants

Makino spent freely on books and specimens, and his family often lived in poverty; he was helped by supporters who recognized the value of his work. In his later years he named a bamboo grass "Sueko-zasa" after his late wife, Sueko. Even after illness kept him mostly at home from his early nineties, he kept working, publishing his autobiography in 1956; he died in 1957 at the age of 94.

Makino's Legacy Today

In 2023, Makino's life inspired the NHK morning drama "Ranman" (らんまん), whose protagonist Mantarō Makino was played by Ryūnosuke Kamiki, sparking renewed public interest in botany. The Kōchi Prefectural Makino Botanical Garden (高知県立牧野植物園), opened on Mount Godai in Kōchi City in 1958, the year after his death, honors his work, and about 400,000 specimens donated by his family are kept at the Makino Herbarium of Tokyo Metropolitan University. April 24th is a day to honor his spirit of curiosity and to notice the plant life that surrounds us every day.

Fun Facts

• "There is no such plant as a weed": These words are attributed to Makino, expressing his belief that every plant has a name.
• "Father of Japanese Botany": Makino is often referred to in Japan as the "Father of Japanese Botany" (日本の植物学の父).
• His name in science: The liverwort genus Makinoa, among other plants, bears his name.