Fagopyrum 41 (2): 65-66 (2024)
65
Obituary
Ohmi Ohnishi
By Yasuo YASUI, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
(yasui.yasuo.2a@kyoto-u.ac.jp)
DOI https://doi.org/10.3986/fag0043
Dr. Ohmi Ohnishi, Emeritus Professor at Kyoto University and a pioneering figure in the field of buckwheat genetics, 
passed away on November 5th, 2023, at the age of 80. His death is a significant loss to the global buckwheat research 
community. In 1980, Professor Ohnishi became one of the founding members of the International Buckwheat Re-
search Association (IBRA), significantly contributing to establishing and operating this vital group. Throughout his 
career, he was a driving force behind the publication of the IBRA’s journal, Fagopyrum, which has been crucial in 
fostering collaboration among buckwheat researchers worldwide.
Moreover, Professor Ohnishi devoted himself to advancing the genetics of common buckwheat and clarifying 
the origin of cultivated common buckwheat. I (author of this contribution, Yasuo Yasui) was fortunate to spend 
twenty years, from 1988 onwards, working alongside Professor Ohnishi at Kyoto University on the genetic research 
of buckwheat. I would like to share some anecdotes from that time, recalling our moments together.
Figures 1 and 2. Professor Ohmi Ohnishi at his home in Kyoto.  
In Figure 2 are in the background some plants of Fagopyrum escu-
lentum ssp. ancestrale.
In 1988, when I met Professor Ohnishi as a master’s 
student, he was working on developing chromosomal 
linkage maps for common buckwheat. The markers he 
used were isozymes and phenotypic mutations that he 
had discovered through sib-matings of common buck-
wheat. At that time, many researchers collaborated 
on developing linkage maps for crops such as corn and 
rice. Remarkably, Professor Ohnishi was working on the 
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common buckwheat linkage map by himself. He carried 
out electrophoresis from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, and then 
stained allozyme markers for 100 to 200 individuals to 
determine their genotypes until 7:00 pm. During breaks 
in the electrophoresis process, he conducted sib-mating 
experiments to detect mutations and the establishment 
of mapping populations. He maintained this routine 
daily, and I remember he often looked  a bit tired dur-
ing seminars and would frequently doze off. Although I 
do not handle as much work as Professor Ohnishi did, I 
seem to have taken after him in dozing off during semi-
nars and meetings.
After preparing the morphology and isozyme mark-
ers for common buckwheat himself, Professor Ohnishi 
surveyed the diversity of common buckwheat worldwide. 
His results showed that, with some exceptions in Europe 
and Nepal, the degree of population differentiation in 
common buckwheat is very low; there is vigorous gene 
flow as if all the populations around the world were one 
single genetic group. Furthermore, his most remarkable 
achievement was clarifying the origin of common buck-
wheat. In the 1980s, it was commonly believed that buck-
wheat originated in Siberia, while some researchers sug-
gested that Yunnan Province in China, where wild plants 
of the Fagopyrum genus thrive, could be the potential 
origin. Therefore, Professor Ohnishi explored the regions 
around Yunnan Province by himself and discovered the 
wild ancestral species of common buckwheat, F. esculen-
tum ssp. ancestrale, which had not been found by bota-
nists or crop scientists worldwide before. His energetic 
investigations continued until around 2010 after his re-
tirement, revealing that ancestrale also grows naturally 
in Sichuan Province and eastern Tibet. Using isozyme 
markers to study the diversity of ancestrale, he demon-
strated that cultivated common buckwheat originated in 
the east Tibet. Moreover, Professor Ohnishi discovered 
a self-fertile wild species, F. homotropicum, closely relat-
ed to cultivated buckwheat, enabling the development 
of self-pollinating cultivated buckwheat. The self-fertility 
gene from F. homotropicum is  actually utilized in coun-
tries like Canada and Japan.
In this way, Professor Ohnishi, throughout his life, de-
veloped genetic markers for common buckwheat and fur-
ther clarified the origin of cultivated buckwheat by eluci-
dating the genetic diversity within/among cultivated and 
wild buckwheat. Many researchers in the International 
Buckwheat Research Association (IBRA) refer to Professor 
Ohnishi’s papers and conduct research using the materials 
he discovered. Incredibly, Professor Ohnishi carried out 
this significant achievement almost entirely on his own. 
Undoubtedly, Professor Ohnishi is a giant in buckwheat 
research, and we must strive to surpass his achievements 
to advance the field of buckwheat research further. Lastly, 
there is a phrase that Professor Ohnishi has always said 
since I met him: “What is your question? Solving your 
question is what research is all about. The significance 
of your question drives your research.” Let us keep his 
words close to our hearts, surpass his achievements, and 
diligently advance buckwheat research! That would be our 
finest way to honor Professor Ohnishi’s legacy.
Figure 3: Cover page of journal Fagopyrum, 11 (1991) with the 
photo of in that time newly discovered Fagopyrum esculentum ssp. 
ancestrale