was a Japanese entomologist and anthropologist. His academic training, at Hokkaido Imperial University, was in entomology, and he became a faculty member in the

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

Department at that institution. His emphasis within entomology was on Coleoptera, his doctoral work (completed circa 1932) concerning a Japanese billbug (Okada, 1964). He performed taxonomic work in Coleoptera as well, describing a new genus of Lycid beetle, ''Benibotarus'' (ITIS). His academic work in biology was interrupted due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and he left Hokkaido University in 1944 (Okada, 1964). During this time, he took up the study of anthropology, following in the footsteps of his father, Tsunekichi Kōno (d. 1930). Both father and son studied the Ainu of

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The lar ...

, and Hiromichi amassed an important collection of Ainu material (Beardsley, 1959; Okada, 1964).

References

* * * * Japanese entomologists Japanese anthropologists 1905 births 1963 deaths 20th-century Japanese zoologists Hokkaido University alumni 20th-century anthropologists {{Anthropologist-stub