Hirase Sakugorō

Hirase Sakugorō (平瀬作五郎, February 12, 1856 – January 4, 1925) was a Japanese botanist and painter.

Born into a samurai family in Fukui, Hirase discovered the spermatozoids of the ginkgo in January 1894, before Seiichiro Ikeno discovered the spermatozoids of the cycad.

[1] He is a laureate of the Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy (1912).

Selections regarding Ginkgo biloba:

Hirase Sakugorō c. 1912
Monument for commemoration of 60th anniversary of the discovery of spermatozoon of Ginkgo biloba by Hirase Sakugorō, built in 1956 ( Showa 31年)