Japan

Some utterly mysterious sights

March 11, 2009

July 1929 By chance we made a stop that afforded us some utterly mysterious sights. In front of us was a field of peculiar plants. On closer inspection the plants turned out to be flax, but a kind of flax with white flowers, narrow petals and white seeds [Linum usitatissimum L. var. albiflorae Vav.]. All [...]

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Leaving Taiwan

January 20, 2009

1929 At the suggestion of the rector of the University of Taiwan I gave a lecture in English about the origin of cultivated plants. The audience of professors and students displayed an extraordinary interest and from their questions it was possible to judge that the gist of the lecture had been understood. In the waiting [...]

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Learning from Japan

December 5, 2008

1929 The enormous possibilities for growing rice in the Soviet Far East are entirely linked to the use of Japanese kinds of rice distinguished by extreme standards of early ripening. There is no other country in the world where so much has been done for the study of rice as in Japan, although the majority [...]

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Japan’s crops in Russia

December 3, 2008

1929 Within the field of agriculture a number of Japanese scientific results are also of primary importance for our own Soviet nation. If possible, we must soon adopt much from Japan. Our Black Sea coast is, indeed, a ‘second Japan’ with respect to climate and soils. A large amount of cultivated plants, originating from Japan, [...]

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Diversity in Japan

November 26, 2008

1929 The collection and study of the array of cultivated plants demonstrated before one’s own eyes the decidedly special character of the cultivated flora, which no doubt has originated independently from the ancient agricultural crops of southwestern Asia. Hundreds of plants seem to be endemic in China and Japan. The majority of these plants still [...]

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Radishes the size of suckling pigs

November 21, 2008

1929 One of the objectives of the expedition was to see the island of Sakurajima, the native land of the Sakurajima radishes, which are masterpieces of plant breeding. After reaching Kagoshima, where there is a small university, I talked to a professor of plant breeding with whom I went to Sakurajima the following day. The [...]

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Meeting Kihara and Kato

November 20, 2008

1929 In Kyoto I met the famous cytogeneticist Kihara, an extremely productive worker within the field of wheat genetics, whose work has led to discoveries of first-class importance. … The history of the earth is recorded in the layers of its crust; the history of all organisms is inscribed in the chromosomes. Hitoshi Kihara, 1946 [...]

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Japanese tea in Russia

November 19, 2008

1929 The peculiarity of the Japanese climate and the intensity of Japanese plant breeding have led to significant changes in cultivated plants introduced both from southeastern Asia, India and even America. Pumpkins [Curcurbita moschata [Duch.] Poir.], undoubtedly introduced from America, have been made small, fast-ripening and are covered with characteristic warts. Eggplants, apparently obtained from [...]

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Rice

November 14, 2008

The cultivation of rice reaches not only Sapporo but much farther north, as far, according to professors in Sapporo, as to 50-60 degrees northern latitude. These are the fastest-ripening kinds of rice. It was necessary to somehow obtain samples of it for cultivation of rice in the Soviet north. However, in contrast to Americans and [...]

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Cherries, chrysanthemums and more

November 13, 2008

1929 When I left Tokyo for the field, I found myself in the peculiar world of the East Asiatic cultivated flora. In general, Japan is characterized by a large amount of precipitation and a coastal, maritime climate. Conditions are favourable for agricultural crops. The country is mountainous; the volcano Fujisan, or Fujiyama, reaches an altitude [...]

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