The Showa Emperor himself had an interest in botany, even going so far as to have a botanical research institute in his Akasaka Regency Palace. It’s said that he found 10 varieties of slime mold in the palace, which was what piqued his interest. In February 1926, Hirotaro Hattori, botanist at the regency palace, invited Kumagusu’s pupil Shiro Oguro to present slime mold specimens before the emperor. Oguro entrusted the selection of the specimens to Kumagusu’s expertise, and over 10 months he collected 90 specimens to show to the emperor, who was at that time the crown prince regent.

Kumagusu’s selection left a major impression on Crown Prince Hirohito, so much so that later, he received the honor of being invited to give an imperial lecture during the newly ascended emperor’s Imperial Visit to Wakayama. For someone with no credentials or rank to be asked to give an imperial lecture was extremely unusual. In a letter from Naval Admiral Hiroharu Kato, which is on display, he wrote that the emperor knew more about Kumagusu than he did about Kato, and that the emperor’s intentions for his visit were to go to Kashima and to visit Kumagusu. Kumagusu must have been very honored.

On June 1, 1929, the fourth year of his reign, the Emperor Showa entered the Tanabe Bay on the battleship Nakado. 62-year-old Kumagusu, in his well-loved and oft-patched frock coat, escorted the emperor to Kashima Island in a fishing boat. When the emperor looked to Kumagusu, he would remove his hat and bow his head. Kumagusu, of course, returned the gesture, bowing deeply, to which the emperor would bow again. This sequence apparently repeated itself several times.

The emperor climbed all the way to the top of the mountain on Kashima Island to collect slime mold. Kumagusu, whose legs couldn’t handle the journey, unfortunately had to stay behind. Upon returning from the mountain, the emperor is said to have uttered lamentations about evidence of logging on the island. Without knowing anything about slime mold, those who had been expecting the arrival of the emperor had gone to the trouble of cleaning up the island, and had cleared all of the dead logs on which the slimes love to grow. In the end, the emperor could gather nothing.

Back on the battleship, Kumagusu began his imperial lecture. He took up 25 minutes of the emperor’s time in the blink of an eye, but the emperor didn’t mind the lost time and directed him to continue. Kumagusu had collected specimens from the Tanabe Bay in the big taffy box that’s on display. Originally he was supposed to use a box given to him that was made of paulownia wood, but it is said that the emperor found the taffy box amusing, saying “Isn’t it fine as it is?”

The first specimen that Kumagusu introduced to the emperor was the Uga, on display here. The Uga is a legendary fish of sailor lore from the area of Tanabe Bay. It’s long like a snake, with beautiful white and red patterns, a tail that is divided into three, and rosary-like beads that help it swim. Or so they say, but very few have had the privilege of seeing it. Even if a sailor were to catch one, he would only cut off one of its tails to use as an offering to the guardian deity of the ship, as a prayer for a good catch. The fishing family that lived in the house where Kumugusu was staying undoubtedly knew that he loved rare wildlife. Nowadays, we can tell that this “Uga” is the tail of a yellow bellied sea snake, with a type of acorn barnacle attached to it. With seaweed stuck to the barnacle, it does look as if it is a creature with three tails.

One year after the imperial lecture, Kumagusu wrote a waka poem to commemorate the Emperor’s visit, which was engraved on a stone pillar erected on Kashima Island.

“Oh breeze from the inlet
Do you realize the branches you are blowing through?
This is a forest praised by the emperor!”

Within the poem, Kumagusu expresses pride for the nature of the island, and respect for the emperor. The poem we introduced in the prologue of our guide, uttered by Emperor Hirohito after Kumagusu’s death 33 years later, is like a complementary song.

“Through the rain I can see the dim figure of Kashima in the distance
Which reminds me of Kumagusu who was born in Wakayama”

The two pillars with these poems engraved on them stand on opposite sides of the bay, on this guardian mountain and on Kashima Island, as if their songs echo between them.