Kako Morita: A Japanese Artist and His Struggle to Survive as a Scientific Illustrator of Fishes and Other Natural History Specimens in Early 20th Century America

Kako Morita, a Japanese illustrator and artist, illustrated natural history specimens for a wide range of American biologists in the early 20th century, most notably fishes for David Starr Jordan, with many appearing in U.S. Bureau of Fisheries publications. Although biographical information is incomplete, significant portions of Morita’s travels and his contacts with different organizations and biologists in the United States are reconstructed. During his first visit to the United States in 1902–03 he was employed as an assistant artist at Stanford University in California where Jordan was president. Morita then briefly returned to Japan only to come back to the United States and spend 1904–05 in Minnesota where he illustrated birds and possibly fishes for the Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota. His residence in Minnesota was interrupted by a brief stay in Chicago in late 1905 where he taught art. In early 1906, Morita was in Milwaukee, Wisc., but there is no information on what he did there. His trail picks up again in early 1908 when, under the direction of the ichthyologist Bashford Dean, he painted several fish-related watercolors for the American Museum of Natural History. Also in 1908, Morita painted mammals for the U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey based in Washington, D.C., and drew birds for the spouse of one of the Survey’s employees. More significantly, Morita began working with various scientists at different laboratories that comprise the Carnegie Institution of Washington. These included Charles B. Davenport, director of the Station for Experimental Evolution in Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.; David T. MacDougal, director of the Desert Laboratory in Tucson, Ariz.; and Alfred G. Mayer (later Mayor), director of the Marine Biological Laboratory in the Dry Tortugas, Fla. Morita returned to Japan in 1912, and there is evidence he came back to the United States in 1913 and 1918. The former date appears to be about when Morita illustrated a monograph on the fishes of Peru by Barton W. Evermann and Lewis Radcliffe, the former a protégé and collaborator of Jordan. Morita’s activities after 1918 are not known except for an incident in 1930 when he attempted to enter the United States at the Port of Seattle, Wash., but was debarred and sent back to Japan. This clearly bothered him, and he stated as much in print. Although Morita travelled widely in the United States and worked with many organizations and scientists, Jordan was the one constant in his American experience providing him with introductions and friendship as Morita clearly struggled to survive as a natural history illustrator.