Nowadays the word “eco-friendly” is a hot topic around the world, but in Japan the eco-friendly movement is said to have begun more than 100 years ago with Kumagusu. Isn’t that amazing on its own?

In Japanese religious beliefs, there was something known as a “totem”. People believed that there was a being that held a mysterious connection with their families, and in every generation someone’s name would incorporate the name of that being. If nothing major happened to that family, there would be no need to kill the being. Both the kuma” and gusu” parts of Kumagusu’s name were the names of the totem: “kuma”, meaning “bear”, and “gusu” meaning “camphor tree”. Therefore, to Kumagusu, animals and plants were not different from him; they were, in fact, his very being. Destroying the environment was, in his opinion, the same as destroying his own body.

In Wakayama in 1906, a movement to consolidate shrines was rapidly gaining momentum. Shrine Consolidation was a nationwide policy initiated after the Russo-Japanese War that reorganized the many shrines of the country, with the aim of reducing subsidiary aid and the burden on priests. This resulted in gradual destruction of the beloved shrine forests where Kumagusu gathered slime mold. Enraged, Kumagusu began his anti-shrine consolidation activities, writing letters expressing his views to people in power in every corner of the country, and asking for their understanding and cooperation. Yanagita Kunio, who at the time was a high-level bureaucrat, received one such letter.

One of the photos on display was taken on January 28, 1910, as part of a PR campaign for the anti-shrine consolidation movement. In it, Kumagusu, who was 42 years old at the time, stands semi-naked in front of a forest in the dead of winter. He looks as if he is a wild man who lives in nature. Back when Kumagusu had lived in America, where newspaper technology had advanced to include photographs, he had understood the power a picture can have over people. He also understood the importance of getting information out.

Unfortunately, his anti-shrine consolidation movement didn’t progress very smoothly. In August 1910, summer classes began in Kii Province, and Kumagusu applied to meet with those who supported shrine consolidation directly. When he was told at reception that he must wait, a slightly drunk Kumagusu shouted, “While I’m waiting they’re going to run away!” and with all his fury threw his cloth bag into the lecture hall. He was arrested and charged with trespassing, and kept in custody for 17 days. The notes he took from that time are referred to as his “Prison Diary in Tanabe”. Even while in prison Kumagusu copied books and scriptures, and looked for fungi. In fact, when the jailor went to release him after he was acquitted for lack of evidence, he is said to have refused to leave, saying, “No one comes here, it’s quiet, and the air is cool. Let me stay a little longer!”