Takuji Iwasaki was a Japanese meteorologist, biologist, ethnologist historian. He was a meteorologist at the IshigakiWeather Station, Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture. Initially, when weather forecasting was in its infancy, he had been badly criticized by local people when his forecast of a typhoon was incorrect. Nevertheless, his work as a meteorologist was better understood by locals later in his career, which endeared him to people.
Other names
Takuji was also known as 糸数原主人袋風荘主人,蝶仙、蝶翁. He was also called "天文屋の御主前", meaning master of the weather observatory, or "nahbera no ushumai".
Life
Takuji was born on October 17, 1869, to a family of samurai in Sendai, a city in the Miyagi Prefecture. He discontinued high school and became a trainee at the Central Meteorological Station. He also worked at the weather stations of Nemuro and Sapporo. Takuji was stationed at the Ishigaki Weather Observatory in the southern Ryukyu Islands 1899 when he married. In 1900, he became the second director of the observatory, and had remained in Ishigaki until his death. While he was stationed at the observatory in Ishigaki, Takuji studied various unrelated fields including society, traditions, and natural sciences related to Ishigaki. He became the director of Yaeyama Library, which later became the Yaeyama branch of the Okinawa Prefectural Library. He started the first kindergarten on the island, and took part in a venture enterprise of culturing black pearls in Kabira Bay with Mikimoto Kōkichi. One of Takuji's weaknesses was language. He only spoke a Sendai dialect, and up until his death, conversation with local people was very difficult. In 1932, Takuji retired from the Ishigaki Observatory but remained as a part-time worker. Then living in Tonoshiro, Ishigaki, he named his house "Fukurokaze Soh". He died there on May 2, 1937, at the age of 69. In 2001, Takuji was made an honorary citizen of Ishigaki.
Achievements
Takuji proposed that all buildings in typhoon-prone Ishigaki Island be built in concrete, including his observatory. This became a reality in 1915, and now almost all buildings in Ishigaki are erected in concrete. He observed every typhoon which hit Ishigaki Island, and during one storm in 1914, a small stone hit his right eye and he lost his sight in that eye. Takuji has been famous for his studies in the fields of biology. With the help of scholars such as Yasushi Nawa and Matsutoshi Matsumura, many new species were discovered, including several species called Iwasaki in Japanese. As for insects, Takuji discovered and named Iwasaki Ootoge Kamemushi, Iwasaki Kamemushi, Iwasaki Kusazemi, Iwasaki Kinsuji Kamikiri, Iwasaki Konoha, Iwasaki Shirocho, Iwasaki Zemi, Iwasaki Himeharuzemi, Iwasaki Herikamemushi, and Iwasaki Kusazemi. He also bred butterflies such as "Oogomadara" and Konoha Cho, and observed their behaviour. The Japanese name "Oogomadara" means "paper kite" or the "rice paper butterfly", Idea leuconoe, and is known especially for its presence in butterfly greenhouses and live butterfly expositions. The paper kite butterfly has its origins in Southeast Asia. Snakes named in honor of Takuji include Iwasaki Sedaka Hebi and Iwasaki Wamon Beni Hebi. He bred the poisonous Sakishima habu and devised ways to cope with the snake. Takuji had collected a number of folklore and local songs, and tried to introduce the culture of Ishigaki Island through Yanagida Kunio and Origuchi Nobuo.
