England days

In September 1892, Kumagusu arrived in London. He spent his days visiting museums or zoos, and sometimes collecting specimens.

Kumagusu’s serious activities started in 1893. He submitted an essay to Nature, which was published under the title “The Constellations of the Far East.” This was his first article to be published in an academic periodical.

Thanks to an introduction from a friend, he was admitted to the British Museum and was able to devote himself fully to his studies. The result of this was his London Extracts. At the British Museum, he helped edit the Catalogue of Japanese Printed Books.

Consulting the books in the British Museum for over four years, Kumagusu constantly published the essays, which attracted the attention of Frederick V. Dickins, the registrar of the University of London. The two formed a strong friendship.

However, Kumagusu occasionally caused troubles at the library there, and in 1898 he was officially banned from visiting there. In 1900, in a difficult financial situation, he returned to Japan to his disappointment.

<strong>Nature and Notes and Queries</strong><br> In 1893, Kumagusu had his debut essay “The Constellations of the Far East” published in Nature, which was beginning to establish itself as a premier science magazine.<br> Furthermore, turning his attention from Asia to the world as a whole, in 1899 he began writing for Notes and Queries, a magazine of general humanistic interests.<br> Over his life, he wrote nearly 400 essays in English.
Nature and Notes and Queries

<strong>London Extracts</strong><br> This is a general title for Kumagusu’s notebooks that he used for his extracts from the British Museum, South Kensington Museum, and the Natural History Museum in London between 1895 and 1900.<br> He used 52 notebooks and made extracts from around 500 different documents in many different languages.<br> The notebooks are notable for including a large number of records from epic travelers of the past as well as works related to sexology.
London Extracts