Dr. Hiroshi Inoue was born on March 30, 1932, the second son of Mankichi and Hideko Inoue, in the small village of Inabu-mura, now Inabu, Kochi-shi, Nagaoka-gun, Kochi-ken, Shikoku, about 9 kilometers from Kochi-shi. After completing elementary and secondary school, Hiroshi was admitted to the Tokyo University of Education, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Biology, in April 1952. After four years of excellent scholastic achievement, he advanced to the master’s course at the same university. His graduation thesis was published in 1955 as “Studies on the genus Porella (Hepaticae) in the Chichibu-Okutama area, central Japan”.
Early in the summer of 1953, Hiroshi discovered a curious thalloid liverwort in the Chichibu Mountains, about 100 kilometers west of his campus. This species was later published as Treubia nana sp. nov. by Hattori and Inoue. His master’s thesis, entitled “The family Plagiochilaceae of Japan and Formosa, I & II”, was published in 1958. That same year, in collaboration with Professor Hattori, he discovered and described Takakia lepidozioides. In March 1961, Hiroshi received the degree of Doctor of Science for his work entitled “Studies in spore germination and the earlier stages of gametophyte development in the Marchantiales”.
By this time, Hiroshi’s scientific productivity was already remarkable. He had published many important bryological papers in the Journal of the Hattori Botanical Laboratory and elsewhere.
In November 1959, Hiroshi married Miss Toshiko Nakajima. They had two children, a daughter and a son.
In September 1961, Hiroshi obtained a position as Assistant in the Faculty, but in October of the following year he moved to the National Science Museum, Tokyo, as Scientist in the Botany Department. In August 1974, he was promoted to Chief Scientist of the Department; in June 1981, to Head of the Section of Cryptogams; and in October 1983, to Director of the Museum’s Botany Department.
Hiroshi also played an important role in several botanical and bryological societies. In January 1967, he was appointed secretary of the Japan Society of Plant Taxonomists. From April 1971 until his death, he served as an Editorial Member of the Journal of Japanese Botany, and from April of the following year until March 1988, as manager of the Bryological Society of Japan. From 1969 until his death, he was a member of the Bryological Committee of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.
In April 1981, he was elected Council Member of the Botanical Society of Japan, and in August of the same year, he was elected President of the International Association of Bryologists (IAB), after having served as First Vice-President in 1979–1980. In March 1987, he was appointed Council Member of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy. From the spring of 1963 until his death, Hiroshi also served as Council Member and Director of the Hattori Laboratory.
References: Hattori (1991) Journ. Hattori BOI. Lab. No. 70: i-iv (July 1991) DR. HIROSHI INOUE, 1932-1989
