was a Japanese

ecologist Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

and

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

. He was the founder of

Kyoto University , mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture , established = , type = National university, Public (National) , endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 1000000000 (number), billion USD) , faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff) , administrative_staff ...

Primate Research Institute is a Japanese research center for the study of primates. It was founded in 1967 by primatologists Kinji Imanishi and Junichiro Itani. The institute works toward understanding the biological, behavioral and socioecological aspects of primates, and ...

and, together with

Junichiro Itani is considered a founder of the discipline of Japanese primatology. He was an internationally renowned anthropologist and served as a professor emeritus at Kyoto University and president of the Primate Society of Japan. He died at age 75 of pneum ...

, is considered one of the founders of Japanese

primatology Primatology is the scientific study of primates. It is a diverse Academic discipline, discipline at the boundary between mammalogy and anthropology, and researchers can be found in academic departments of anatomy, anthropology, biology, medici ...

Early life and education

Kinji Imanishi was born and raised in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

, Japan. He majored in biology and was awarded Doctor of Science in 1939 from Kyoto Imperial University. His doctoral dissertation was titled "Nihonkeiryu-San Kageroumoku" (日本渓流産蜉蝣目, Mayfly from the Japanese mountain streams).

Research

Imanishi and his students did foundational research on the behavior and social life of semi-wild horses and later of

macaques The macaques () constitute a genus (''Macaca'') of sociality, gregarious Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The 23 species of macaques inhabit species distribution, ranges throughout Asia, North Africa, and (in barbary macaques ...

, identifying individuals and making detailed observations on them over generations. This has led to important insights into

animal culture Animal culture can be defined as the ability of non-human animals to learn and transmit behaviors through processes of social or cultural learning. Culture is increasingly seen as a process, involving the social transmittance of behavior among p ...

. Imanishi introduced the Japanese term ''kaluchua'' which was later translated by

Masao Kawai was a Japanese primatologist, who introduced the concept of '' kyōkan'' as a means of studying primates in his book ''Life of Japanese Monkeys'' (1969). Notes External linksInterview with Shigeru Miyamoto 1924 births 2021 deaths 2 ...

and others to refer to socially learned behaviors as "pre-culture". In 1957, Imanishi founded the journal

Primates Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter including huma ...

, which is the oldest and longest-running international primatology journal in the world. Imanishi's concept of ''species society'' is central to his views of the interconnectedness of things in nature. The world of species has been viewed as a social phenomenon, in which various individuals are continually contributing to the maintenance and perpetuation of the species society to which they belong.

Honours

''From the Japanese Wikipedia'' *

Asahi Prize The , established in 1929, is an award presented by the Japanese newspaper ''Asahi Shimbun'' and Asahi Shimbun Foundation to honor individuals and groups that have made outstanding accomplishments in the fields of arts and academics and have greatl ...

(1968) *

Person of Cultural Merit is an official Japanese recognition and honor which is awarded annually to select people who have made outstanding cultural contributions. This distinction is intended to play a role as a part of a system of support measures for the promotion of ...

(3 November 1972) *

Order of Culture The is a Japanese order, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japan's art, literature, science, technology, or anything related to culture in general; recipien ...

(3 November 1979) *Grand Cordon of the

Order of the Sacred Treasure The is a Japanese order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six classes, the lowest ...

(15 June 1992; posthumous) (Second Class: 29 April 1972)

Publications

* Imanishi, Kinji (1941): ''Seibutsu no Sekai'' (生物の世界). Kōbundō ** Imanishi, Kinji (2002) ''The World of Living Things'' * Imanishi, Kinji (1966): Ningen Shakai no Keisei (人間社会の形成). NHK Books * Imanishi, Kinji (1970): Watashi no Shinkaron (私の進化論). NHK Books * Imanishi, Kinji (198p): Shutaisei no Shinkaron (主体性の進化論). Chūkō Shinsho

References

1902 births 1992 deaths 20th-century Japanese zoologists Japanese mammalogists Kyoto University faculty Kyoto University alumni Primatologists Recipients of the Order of Culture Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd class {{Anthropologist-stub