Editing Primatology (section)

==Japanese primatology==
{{More citations needed section|date=November 2019}}

===Origins===

The discipline of Japanese primatology was developed out of animal [[ecology]]. It is mainly credited to [[Kinji Imanishi]]<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Matsuzawa|first1=Tetsuro|last2=McGrew|first2=William C.|date=22 July 2008|title=Kinji Imanishi and 60 years of Japanese primatology|journal=Current Biology|volume=18|issue=14|pages=R587–R591|doi=10.1016/j.cub.2008.05.040|pmid=18644329|s2cid=13572608|doi-access=free}}</ref> and [[Junichiro Itani]]. Imanishi was an animal ecologist who began studying wild horses before focusing more on primate ecology. He helped found the [[Primate Research Group]] in 1950. Junichiro was a renowned anthropologist and a professor at [[Kyoto University]]. He is a co-founder of the [[Primate Research Institute]] and the [[Centre for African Area Studies]].

===Theory===

The Japanese discipline of primatology tends to be more interested in the social aspects of primates.<ref name="BezeraDeMeloDaly2015"/> [[Evolution of eusociality|Social evolution]] and anthropology are of primary interest to them. The Japanese theory believes that studying primates will give us insight into the duality of human nature: individual self vs. social self.

One particular Japanese primatologist, [[Kawai Masao]], introduced the concept of ''[[kyokan]]''. This was the [[theory]] that the only way to attain reliable scientific knowledge was to attain a mutual relation, personal [[attachment (psychology)|attachment]] and shared life with the animal subjects. Though Kawai is the only Japanese primatologist associated with the use of this term, the underlying principle is part of the foundation of Japanese primate research.<ref name="Herzfeld2017">{{cite book |title=Great Apes: A Short History |first=C. |last=Herzfeld
|publisher=Yale University Press |year=2017 |pages=192}}</ref>

===Methods===
Japanese primatology is a carefully disciplined [[Subjectivity|subjective]] science. It is believed that the best data comes through [[Identification (psychodynamic)|identification]] with your subject. Neutrality is eschewed in favour of a more casual atmosphere, where researcher and subject can mingle more freely. Domestication of nature is not only desirable, but necessary for study.

Japanese primatologists are renowned for their ability to recognise animals by sight, and indeed most primates in a research group are usually named and numbered. Comprehensive data on every single subject in a group is a uniquely Japanese trait of primate research. Each member of the primate community has a part to play, and the Japanese researchers are interested in this complex interaction.

For Japanese researchers in primatology, the findings of the team are emphasised over the individual. The study of primates is a group effort, and the group will get the credit for it. A team of researchers may observe a group of primates for several years in order to gather very detailed demographic and social histories.

===Notable Japanese primatologists===

*[[Kinji Imanishi]]
*[[Junichiro Itani]]
*[[Kawai Masao]]
*[[Tetsuro Matsuzawa]]
*[[Toshisada Nishida]]
*[[Satsue Mito]]