Childhood-Teen years (Life's journey of Kumagusu)

Life's journey of Kumagusu > Childhood - Teen Years

Childhood - Teen Years

It is said that Kumagusu was named after the god believed to live within the 800 years old camphor tree standing on the premises of the shrine (kuma means bear; gusu means camphor tree). The shrine, also known as the Komoru Kusunoki Jinja, has been widely attracting pilgrims because the fast-growing camphor tree represents fertility, safe and easy labor and growth. (Komoru means nursing babies as well as living within.) Traditionally, people in this region take newborn babies to the shrine for prayer and receive charms bearing their names. It is believed that children, like Kumagusu, who are given names by the god, can expect longevity and success in life.

Fujishiro Jinja Shrine,
Kainan City, Wakayama Pref.

Wakayama City:
The monument stands on his birthplace in Hashicho, Wakayama City.

Tokyo:
Kumagusu showed no interest in the lectures at Preparatory School of Tokyo University. He spent his time conducting research in the suburbs on his own. It was in this period that he was determined to become a great scholar like botanists Moses A. Curtis and Miles J. Berkeley and that he set his heart on a career as a naturalist.

See Exhibition 1 for more information

Minakata Kumagusu Museum Foundation
Banshoyama 3601-1 Shirahama-cho, Nishimuro-gun,
Wakayama Prefecture, Japan 649-2211
TEL/FAX 0739-42-2872