Takashi Amano

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Takashi Amano (???, Amano Takashi, 18 July 1954 - 4 August 2015) was a professional track cyclist, photographer, designer, and aquarist. His interest in aquaria led him to create the Japanese company Aqua Design Amano.

Amano was the author of Nature Aquarium World (TFH Publications, 1994), a three-book series on aquascaping and freshwater aquarium plants and fish. He has also published the book Aquarium Plant Paradise (T.F.H. Publications, 1997).

A species of freshwater shrimp is named the "Amano shrimp" or "Yamato shrimp" (Caridina multidentata; previously Caridina japonica) after him. After discovering this species' ability to eat large quantities of algae, Amano asked a local distributor to special order several thousand of them. They have since become a staple in the freshwater planted aquarium hobby.

He also developed a line of aquarium components that are known as ADA, and his "Nature Aquarium" article series appeared monthly in both Practical Fishkeeping magazine in the UK, and Tropical Fish Hobbyist magazine in the US. He died in 2015 at the age of 61.

Video Takashi Amano

Aquarist

Takashi Amano wrote about freshwater aquascaping. He established a distinctive style of plant layout. He employed Japanese gardening concepts such as Wabi-sabi and Zen rock arrangement. His tank compositions sought to mimic nature in their appearance. Amano also made extensive use of Glossostigma elatinoides and Riccia fluitans as plant material, and used shrimp as a means of controlling the growth of algae.

He founded Aqua Design Amano Co., Ltd. in 1982, providing aquatic plant growing equipment. His photo books of what he called the "Nature Aquarium", Glass no Naka no Daishizen, published in 1992, followed by Mizu-Shizen eno kaiki, were translated into 7 languages.

Maps Takashi Amano

Photography career

Starting in 1975, Takashi Amano visited tropical rainforests in Amazon, Borneo and West Africa and pristine forests in Japan, creating a series of photos focusing on "untouched nature" with large-format cameras. He captured minute details of nature on extra large size films (up to 8×20 inches). His works have been introduced internationally through several exhibitions and publications.

Amano gave lectures on his photographic expeditions and his experiences in nature around the world, and he advocated for the environmental importance of tree-planting programs. He was a member of the Japan Professional Photographers Society, the Japan Advertising Photographers' Association, the International Environment Photographers Association, and the Society of Scientific Photography.

G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit

Two landscape photos of Takashi Amano were displayed at the 34th G8 summit Working Lunch / Outreach Working Session of Hokkaido Tokyo Summit held from July 7-9, 2008. The photos of a cedar forest on Sado Island taken with an 8×20 inches large format camera were exhibited on the 4.0×1.5m panels.