About - ITOH Takao

Itoh Takao

is professor emeritus at Kyoto University and, since 2006, special appointed professor at Nanjing Forestry University, Itoh Takao is a wood scientist, specialized in wood anatomy and wood formation. Towards the end of his career at Kyoto University, he dedicated his research to wood culture based on wood identification. An important work is the publication in 1988 of a database of archaeological wooden remains excavated in Japan. A revised edition, based on more than 4600 published wood identification reports, including the data of more than 400,000 excavated wooden remains, is now in press. Since his retirement in 2006, besides his appointment at Nanjing Forestry University, he works as a guest researcher at the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (Nara kokuritsu bunkazai kenkyusho). Another important project he is involved in is the publication, in both English and Chinese, of a microscopic atlas of Chinese wood species covering more than iooo tree species. This fundamental work will be an important base in the study of excavated wooden remains, Buddhist sculptures, and traditional wooden buildings for a broader understanding of wood culture in China.