While in London, Kumagusu met Sun Yat-sen, who was the revolutionary responsible for toppling the Qing Dynasty in China and forming the Republic of China in Taiwan. He had fled to London after his first attempt at a republican revolution failed. He and Kumagusu met on March 16, 1897, and they hit it off immediately, eating lunch together just about every day until Yat-sen left on June 30.

Take a look at Kumagusu’s journal. Yat-sen signed it before he left London with these Chinese characters, which mean “bosom friends met in a foreign land”. These words come from a Chinese folktale and bear a deep, joyful meaning: “In this wide world, somehow two people who share the same outstanding field of knowledge met and mutually accepted each other.” Yat-sen also gave Kumagusu two books, one of which was a pamphlet that Yat-sen created. The only copy of that book that still exists in the world is here at the Minakata Kumagusu Museum.

Three years after parting with Sun Yat-sen, Kumagusu ran out of money and had no choice but to return to his hometown of Wakayama. He was 33 years old at the time. Both of his parents had passed away while he was overseas, so the only one who came to meet him at the port in Kobe was his younger brother Tsunegusu. Tsunegusu was surprised to see his brother returning from abroad carrying a huge collection of specimens, wearing beaten up clothes that looked like mosquito netting, and with no degree despite having used up all of the money he’d been given for school.

Sun Yat-sen, who had now fled to Japan, was in Yokohama when he heard of Kumagusu’s return. After exchanging numerous letters with his bosom friend, he decided to travel all the way to Wakayama for a short, two-day reunion. Though Yat-sen would later escape to Japan once more, this would be their last encounter.

“Even relationships have seasons”

It is said that Kumagusu uttered these words when he learned of Yat-sen’s death.