was a Japanese

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

from

Gifu Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,991,390 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture to the northwest, F ...

Personal history

Nawa was born in the Motosu District of Gifu Prefecture (present day city of

Mizuho Mizuho () literally means "abundant rice" in Japanese and "harvest" in the figurative sense. It was also an ancient name of Japan. It might refer to: Places * Mizuho, Gifu, a city in Gifu * Mizuho, Tokyo, a town in Tokyo * Mizuho Plateau in A ...

) and had a strong affinity to bugs even in his youth. In 1878, he entered into the Gifu Agricultural Learning Center (which later became the Gifu Prefectural Agricultural School and is now the Gifu Prefectural Agricultural High School) and stayed on at the school as an assistant after he graduated in 1882. On April 24 of the following year, 1883, he discovered a new butterfly in the present day Kanayama-machi in the city of

Gero Gero I ( – 20 May 965), sometimes called the Great ( la, magnus),Thompson, 486. Also se was a German nobleman who ruled an initially modest march centred on Merseburg in the south of the present German state of Saxony-Anhalt, which he expande ...

.''Gifu City Walking Map''. Gifu Lively City Public Corporation, 2007. He called the new butterfly the ''Gifu Butterfly'' (''

Luehdorfia japonica The Japanese luehdorfia (''Luehdorfia japonica'') is a species of butterfly in the subfamily Parnassiinae of Papilionidae. It is found only in Japan. It was discovered by Yasushi Nawa in Japan's Gifu Prefecture in 1883.''Gifu City Walking Map'' ...

''). In 1886, Nawa entered into Tokyo Imperial University (now

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

) and earned his junior high school teaching license in half a year, after which he began teaching at junior high and elementary schools in Gifu Prefecture. After a decade of teaching, he founded the Nawa Insect Research Center in 1896, where he studied protection of beneficial insects, extermination of harmful ones and

termite Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattode ...

control. Finally, in 1919, he established the

Nawa Insect Museum The is a museum in the city of Gifu, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by the Nawa Insect Research Center. History Yasushi Nawa, the man who discovered the Gifu Butterfly and is known as "The Insect Man," opened the Nawa Insect Research ...

, which is currently located in

Gifu Park is a public park located at the base of Mount Kinka in the city of Gifu, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. Inside the park, there are many attractions, including Gifu Castle, Mount Kinka, the Mt. Kinka Ropeway, the Gifu City Museum of History, the Eiz ...

in the city of

Gifu is a city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. During the Sengoku ...

.Nawa Insect Museum homepage
Nawa Insect Museum. Accessed February 18, 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nawa, Yasushi 1857 births 1926 deaths People from Gifu Prefecture Gifu Japanese entomologists

Personal history

See also

References