Primate Research Institute

The Primate Research Institute ( Japanese 京都大学霊長類研究所 , Kyōto Daigaku Reichōrui Kenkyūjo , dt. "Institute for Primate Research of the University of Kyoto"), is the national Japanese research center on primates of the University of Kyoto . The institute was founded in 1967 by the two primatologists Kinji Imanishi and Jun'ichirō Itani . The research areas include the biology , behavior and sociobiology of primates as well as the evolution and development of humans. The current director of the institute is the well-known primatologist Tetsurō Matsuzawa .

The research institute is located in the city of Inuyama in the north of Aichi Prefecture on the island of Honshu . Attached to the research institute is the field laboratory on the island of Kōjima , which achieved fame because Japanese macaques could be observed there for the first time during a “cultural” act, the washing of potatoes.

history

The institute initially consisted of two sub-areas. The first area was headed by Kinji Imanishi, who specialized in researching and observing non-human apes in their natural habitats. The second area was led by Toshihiko Tokizane from the University of Tokyo , who did brain research on non-human apes .

The foundation goes back, among other things, to a proposal by the Physics Nobel Prize winner Shin'ichirō Tomonaga . Tomonaga was President of Japan's Science Council in 1964 when he advised then Japanese Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda to establish a national research institute for primates. Japanese researchers at this time already had many years of experience in researching primates, which led, among other things, to a special branch of behavioral research on primates, which assumes a more anthropomorphic approach to animals. There are four departments:

Department of Evolution and Phylogeny
Department of Ecology and Sociobiology
Behavioral and Brain Research Department
Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology

Web links

35.385059 136.957329Coordinates: 35 ° 23 '6.2 " N , 136 ° 57' 26.4" E