Photo/Illutration The main entrance of the Makino Botanical Garden. Opened to the public in April 1958, it boasts about 3,000 species of plants that are cultivated in the garden. Visitors can also enjoy the actual specimens collected and drawings left by Tomitaro Makino. (Photo by Lisa Vogt)

Tomitaro Makino, known as the "father of Japanese botany," once said, "Plants can survive without humans, but humans can’t survive without plants.”

“Hear, hear!” I say.

The Kochi Prefectural Makino Botanical Garden at Mount Godaisan consists of an herbarium where plant specimens are kept, a conservatory with rare varieties of foreign florae, a botanical garden, a greenhouse, permanent and seasonal exhibition halls and a museum cafe with a store.

The architecture, made of sustainable materials, blends harmoniously with its surroundings. The spiral-looking entrance area is especially striking. The facility honors the botanist’s life and showcases the wonders of the plant kingdom he so cherished.

I have never met a real living, breathing botanist. What exactly does a botanist do anyway? They study plants. OK, I kind of figured that much. But how do they pay their bills and make a living? Well, if there’s a will, and you’re exceptional, there’s a way.

Makino, the son of a wealthy sake brewer, was born in Kochi Prefecture in 1862. His parents died early and his grandmother raised him. Despite only having two years of formal schooling, Makino was thrilled by plant biology and spent most of his waking hours walking in nature, collecting and sketching plants.

Luckily for Makino, he had his grandmother, who bought him books of flora that he earnestly studied.

At 18, he wrote his first academic paper, and at 19, he left Shikoku and visited Tokyo to buy books and a microscope. As to be expected, he was inspired, went back to Kochi, packed his bags and ended up back in Tokyo.

When he was 24, Makino began making occasional trips to Tokyo, and he was often found in the botany study room of the Imperial University of Tokyo. Although he was not a registered student, he was granted access to the school’s research facilities.

A talented artist and perfectionist, he would study specimens under magnifying glasses and microscopes and create faithful illustrations with uncompromising attention to detail. I dare say no photograph today can do equal justice to his drawings. He was later employed by the university, working there for nearly 50 years.

On the other hand, he depleted his family’s fortune in pursuit of his passion. His profession didn’t help his financial situation. He married in 1890 and later had 13 children. His supportive wife financially helped the family to make ends meet.

Together, they built a house in the middle of Musashino forest (in today's Nerima Ward), where he lived, worked and stored his treasures until his passing at 94.

In 1940, after his term as a lecturer at the Imperial University of Tokyo ended, he published the encyclopedic work “Makino’s Illustrated Flora of Japan,” which is still the go-to tome for researchers and botanists.

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This article by Lisa Vogt, a Washington-born and Tokyo-based photographer, originally appeared in the May 1-8 issue of Asahi Weekly. It is part of the series "Lisa’s Wanderings Around Japan," which depicts various places across the country through the perspective of the author, a professor at Meiji University.

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