Carl von Linne and Carl Peter Thunberg

I learnt today that Japan's Emperor and Empress will make their first ever unofficial visit abroad together. They have been invited to Uppsala, Sweden from May 23 for the 300 year anniversary of Carl von Linne, the scientist, botanist, zoologist and geologist, who was also a skilled doctor, health worker and philosopher.

The Linnaean era is characterised by an ambition to catalogue, organise and give names to the whole natural world. Linnaeus attracted many disciples, who left a lasting impression in many locations.


One of them is Carl Peter Thunberg, who travelled to Japan in the 1770s on a Dutch ship. It was Thunberg who published the first flora that described the plants of Japan.

Thunberg arrived in Japan in the summer of 1775 and stayed one year, the maximum continuous term permitted for a European at the time. He traveled to Edo (modern Tokyo) where he became friends with the shogun's private physician, Katsuragawa Hoshu. They maintained a correspondence even after the Swede had returned to his homeland.

Here are some comments from Japan's Emperor about his feelings for Sweden and Thunberg.

Update: A specially made gold medal with a motif based on a drawing by Linne was given to the Emperor, according to Dagens Nyheter.