The Japanese Association of Botanical Illustration
The Japanese Association of Botanical Illustration is a nationwide organization of lovers of botanical illustration which has recently attracted interest among the general public. Presently, the number of members is above 330. Although some members are professional artists and elderly men who developed an interest in botanical illustration after retirement, women who enjoy botanical illustration along with housekeeping or other work, are more than half of the membership.
Our Association was founded in 1991 for the purpose of popularizing and expanding botanical illustration. Since that time we have been steadily progressing with cultivating mutual friendship between members. We publish newsletters four times a year, an annual bulletin "Kusakaya", and postcards and an illustrated catalog of our exhibition. We also have a study trip once a year that enhances our friendships while we appreciated the exhibitions, watching plants or attending a lecture. Furthermore we hold a traveling exhibit of our illustrations every year. It contains two different sections, one called "the planning section" has the same theme for the subject of illustration and another called "the general section" has a free theme. In the first planning section of the project, we worked on "endangered plants of Japan", and also additionally published "Endangered Plants of Japan: a Florileguim". In the meantime, we had a traveling exhibit for the original illustrations in the Florilegium, nationwide and in the USA. As a result we were pleased to receive an encouraging worldwide reputation.
We started to produce illustration of typical naturalized plants of Japan in 2005 and “Drawing of Alien Plants of Japan: A Collection” was published in 2009.
In February 2010, the memorial exhibition for the original works of these plants was held in Tokyo.
In this occasion the Korean botanical artists visited the exhibition and acceptable interaction between Japanese and Korean artists was engendered.
At present, planning to produce botanical drawings for Endemic plants of Japan is underway as a new theme.
In May 2011 the Japanese Association of Botanical Illustration will mark the 20th anniversary.
In the future we hope to operate the JABI for cultivating favorable interaction with fanciers of botanical art both nationally and internationally.
Our Idea, purpose and policy
The members of the Association intend to foster a love and 
understanding of nature through the creation and appreciation of botanical illustration.
Through devoting ourselves to nurturing the artistic and scientific skills of our members through a range of voluntary activities, we do our best for expanding botanical illustration to the general public.
Ours is a democratic group that engages in the academic and cultural enhancement as our principal purpose, without profit-making, political and religious action. Any individual member has an equal right.