Abstract
Japanese primatology is characterized by a unique history among mammalian studies in Japan. In general, mammalogists initiated their studies by collecting specimens from the point of view of systematics, morphology, and physiology, and then investigated the adaptive significance of these traits from the aspect of ecology. In contrast, the Japanese primatologists initiated their studies with sociological perspectives. After World War II, Kinji Imanishi, based in the Department of Zoology, Kyoto University, started his field studies on feral horses (Equus caballus) at Cape Toimisaki in Miyazaki Prefecture. The aim of his study was to understand the species society and to thus trace the evolution of human society (Asquith 1991, 2000; Takasaki 2000). The concept of species society had developed from his study on mayflies skittering around the river in Kyoto and extended to all living things (Imanishi 1941). He began to consider the evolution of animal societies, and in particular, the evolution of human society through comparisons with other animal societies (Imanishi 1951a).
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