Oka Asajiro - Oka Asajiro

Biologist. Active from the end of the Meiji period to the beginning of the Showa period. Born in Kakezuka-cho, Iwata-gun, Shizuoka Prefecture (now Iwata City). After graduating from the Department of Science, Tokyo Imperial University in 1889 (Meiji 22), he studied in Germany, where he studied under Weissmann (University of Freiburg) and Leukard (University of Leipzig) and wrote a thesis on the body cavity and vascular system of leeches, earning his doctorate. After returning to Japan, he went on to study at Yamaguchi Higher Agricultural and Forestry School, and in 1897 became a professor at Tokyo Higher Normal School, where he remained until retirement. During this time, he published many papers on small aquatic animals such as leeches, sea squirts, bryozoans, and jellyfish, while also writing zoology textbooks and authoring the famous works "Lectures on Evolution" and "Lectures on Biology," playing a major role in popularizing biology, especially the theory of evolution. Furthermore, his collections of essays such as "Evolution and Life," "Anguish and Freedom," and "The Latest Theory of Genetics" were widely read, but he was also an outstanding critic of civilization and modern thinker, criticizing the absolutization of certain ideologies from the standpoint of evolutionary theory, rejecting moral education, advocating improvements to science education, and warning against the easy introduction of eugenics.

[Takehiko Nakane]

"The Collected Works of Asajiro Oka" 6 volumes (1968-1969, Yuseido Publishing)" ▽ "Lectures on Evolution, Volumes 1 and 2 (Kodansha Academic Library)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

生物学者。明治末期から昭和初期にかけて活躍した。静岡県磐田(いわた)郡掛塚町（現、磐田市）出身。1889年（明治22）東京帝国大学理科大学選科を卒業後ドイツに留学し、ワイスマン（フライブルク大学）、ロイカルト（ライプツィヒ大学）に師事してヒルの体腔(たいこう)と血管系に関する論文を書き学位を得た。帰国後、山口高等農林学校を経て、1897年東京高等師範学校教授となり、定年まで在職した。この間、ヒル、ホヤ、コケムシ、クラゲなど水生小動物を研究して多数の論文を発表するかたわら、動物学教科書を書き、名著『進化論講話』『生物学講話』を著して、生物学、とくに進化論の普及に大きな役割を果たした。また、評論集『進化と人生』『煩悶(はんもん)と自由』や『最新遺伝論』なども広く読まれたが、特定の主義主張の絶対化を進化論の立場から批判し、修身教育を否定、理科教育の改善を提唱し、また優生学の安易な導入を戒めるなど、文明批評家、近代思想家としても優れていた。

［中根猛彦］

『『丘浅次郎著作集』全6巻（1968～1969・有精堂出版）』▽『『進化論講話』上下（講談社学術文庫）』

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