Imanishi Kinji

Imanishi Kinji

Imanishi Kinji ( Japanese 今 西 錦 司 ; January 6, 1902 , † June 15, 1992 ) was a Japanese ecologist , entomologist , anthropologist , evolutionary biologist and philosopher . He was the founder of the Institute for Primate Research ( Reichōken ) of Kyōto University (full name Kyōto Daigaku Reichōrui Kenkyūjo ( 京都 大学 霊 長 類 研究所 ), English Primate Research Institute ) and together with Itani Jun'ichirō one of the founders of Japanese primatology .

biography

Imanishi's thinking was influenced by the writings of the German-Baltic zoologist Jakob von Uexküll and the Russian writer Pyotr Alexejewitsch Kropotkin . Likewise, in his way of thinking and approaching traces and influences of the well-known Japanese philosopher Nishida Kitarō , the spiritual father of the Kyoto school , one can recognize.

Imanishi first began his behavioral research on horses living in the wild, but after some time changed his subject of study and concentrated increasingly on the observation of primates, especially on the behavior of Japanese macaques on the Japanese island of Kōjima . Imanihsi was one of the first scientists to observe macaques washing potatoes in the sea and passing this "tradition" on to other animals. Imanishi was the first scientist to describe this action as a "socially transmitted, adaptive behavior", which could therefore also be viewed as a cultural development among monkeys. Imanishi was therefore also considered to be a pioneer and co-founder of behavioral research on primates, which was influenced by the Far East . The methods he used in this area were used as the basis for general research on primates. So he rejected the dualism that had prevailed until then, which was drawn between humans and great apes. Imanishi also refused to label his experimental animals with just a number, as was customary to date, but gave this name. This approach was also based on the fact that he assumed that each of his experimental animals had its own personality and thus viewed it as an individual who differed from the same species due to different character traits. Imanishi was one of the first primatologists to transfer his anthropomorphic view of primates. One of the main focuses of his work was to find out how human society and its special family structures came about; he saw in the internal group structures in macaque populations an important basis for such an emergence.

With this approach, which was unusual at the time, Imanishi anticipated assumptions that were later taken up by the well-known anthropologist Louis Leakey and could be proven by several other behaviorists such as Jane Goodall , Frans de Waal or Desmond Morris .

In 1979 Imanishi was awarded the Order of Culture .

Publications

• Sangaku Seisatsu ( 山岳 省察 ). Kōbundō, Tokyo 1940
• Seibutsu no Sekai ( 生物 の 世界 ). Kōbundō, 1941
  • The world of living things . Iudicium, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-89129-651-7
• Ponape -tō (ポ ナ ペ 島 ). Shōkōshoin, Tokyo 1944
• Sōgenkō ( 草原 行 ). Takefu 1947
• Yūbokuron sono hoka ( 遊牧 論 そ の ほ か ). Akitaya, Osaka 1948
• Ningen Izen no Shakai ( 人間 以前 の 社会 ). Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo 1951
• Iwana to Yamame ( い わ な と や ま め ). Nihon Ringyō Gijutsu Kyōkai, Tokyo 1951
• Ningen ( 人間 ). Mainichi Shimbunsha, Tokyo 1952
• Daikōanrei refueling ( 大興安嶺 探 検 , "Expedition into the Great Hinggan Mountains "). Mainichi Shimbunsha, Tokyo 1952
• Mura to Ningen ( 村 と 人間 ). Shinhyōronsha, Tokyo 1952
• Himalaya to Kataru ( ヒ マ ラ ヤ を 語 る ). Hakusuisha, Tokyo 1954
• Nihon Dōbutsuki ( 日本 動物 記 ). Volumes 1-4, Kōbunsha, Tokyo 1955-1958
• Karakoram ( カ ラ コ ラ ム ). Bungei Shunjū Shinsha, Tokyo 1956
• Seibutsu Shakai no Ronri ( 生物 社会 の 論理 ). Rikusuisha, Tokyo 1958
• Dōbutsu Shakai Kotai ( 動物 の 社会 と 個体 ). Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo 1959
• Gorilla ( ゴ リ ラ ). Bungei Shunjū Shinsha, Tokyo 1960
• Africa-tairiku ( ア フ リ カ 大陸 ). Chikuma Shobō, Tokyo 1963
• Jinrui Sosen Saguru ( 人類 の 祖先 を 探 る ). Kōdansha, Tokyo 1965
• Ningen Shakai Keisei ( 人間 社会 の 形成 ). NHK, Tokyo 1966
• Watakushi no Shizenkan ( 私 の 自然 観 ). Chikuma Shobō, Tokyo 1966
• Nihon Sangaku Kenkyū ( 日本 山岳 研究 ). Chūōkōronsha, Tokyo 1969
• Watakushi no Shinkaron ( 私 の 進化論 ). Shisakusha, Tokyo 1970
• Yama to refuel ( 山 と 探 検 ). Bungei Shunjū, Tokyo 1970
• Shizen to Yama to ( 自然 と 山 と ). Chikuma Shobō, Tokyo 1971
• Dōbutsu no Shakai ( 動物 の 社会 ). Shisakusha, Tokyo 1972
• Sekai no Rekishi 1 . ( 世界 の 歴 史 1 ). Kawade Shobō Shinsha, Tokyo 1973
• Soko ni Yama ga Aru ( そ こ に 山 が あ る ). Nihon Keizai Shimbunsha, Tokyo 1973
• Jinrui no Shinkashi ( 人類 の 進化 史 ). PHP Kenkyusho, Tokyo 1974
• Imanishi Kinji no Sekai ( 今 西 錦 司 の 世界 ). Heibonsha, Tokyo 1975
• Sangaku Shōsatsu ( 山岳 省察 ). Taishūkan Shoten, Tokyo 1975
• Shinka to wa Nani ka ( 進化 と は 何 か ). Kōdansha, Tokyo 1976
• Watakushi no Reichō Ruigaku ( 私 の 霊 長 類 学 ). Kōdansha, Tokyo 1976
• Darwin-ron ( ダ ー ウ ィ ン 論 ). Chūōkōronsha, Tokyo 1977
• Jinrui no Shinka to Mirai ( 人類 の 進化 と 未来 ). Daisan Bummeisha, Tokyo 1977
• Shizen to Shinka ( 自然 と 進化 ). Chikuma Shobō, Tokyo 1978
• Yama to Zuhitsu ( 山 の 随筆 ). Ōbunsha, Tokyo 1979
• Shutaisei no Shinkaron ( 主体 性 の 進化論 ). Chūōkōronsha, Tokyo 1980
• Jinrui no Shūhen ( 人類 の 周 辺 ). Chikuma Shobō, Tokyo 1981
• Shizengaku no Teishō ( 自然 学 の 提 唱 ). Kōdansha, Tokyo 1984
• Himalaya e no Michi ( ヒ マ ラ ヤ へ の 道 ). Chūōkōronsha, Tokyo 1985
• Shizengaku no Tenkai ( 自然 学 の 展開 ). Kōdansha, Tokyo 1990

A large number of these works were reprinted several times. Furthermore, from 1974 to 1975 Kōdansha published a 10-volume complete edition called Imanishi Kinji Zenshū ( 今 西 錦 司 全集 ) and from 1993 to 1994 also Kōdansha published an updated 13-volume complete edition of the same name plus an additional volume.

Web links

• The Kinji Imanishi Digital Archive
• Kyōto University Primate Research Institute
• Biography of Imanishi and other Japanese primatologists [1]

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Frans de Waal : The monkey and the sushi master . Hanser, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-446-20238-2

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Imanishi is the family name, Kinji the first name.