Profile, Kiyoshi Saito
Graduated from university in Tokyo, joined a Japanese manufacturer.
Having acquaintance with Spanish language, transferred to its affiliate in Mexico. Spent 12 years in that affiliate, became independent and established his own company TOA-MEX, S.A. de C.V. in Mexico City. Throughout 48 years of living in Mexico, his work allowed him to travel all over the country, and discovered the impressive beauty of Mexican wild orchids. Started taking photographs as a hobby and at the same time collecting them. In 2020, published a collection of photographs “The Native Orchids of Mexico”, as a private edition.
For the articles of the Mexican orchids in Home Page,
During my 48 years stay in Mexico, I spent collecting wild orchids and taking their photographs. I did not study biological sciences, but since my childhood I have felt a great love for plants. In my spare time I have spent wonderful hours taking photographs and caring my orchids. In 2020 I published a collection of photographs, “The Native Orchids of Mexico”. In each of the published photographs, I tried to capture the exact moment and the clearest images. In the book, I have included 433 species out of about 1,300 registered in Mexico.
Unfortunately, the climatic change, and the deforestation in particular, has led to the extinction of many species and others are on the verge of extinction. This situation also motivated me to publish my book, as a legacy for the future.
I consider it extremely important to put an end to the destruction of nature and I hope that the governments concerned will take necessary steps to bring about change.
Last year I joined the orchid association “Japan Amateurs Orchid society”, as I had great interest in meeting Japanese orchid fans. It was a surprise to find out many of the members already owned many Mexican orchids.
I hope that my book will serve as a guide for the classification and the understanding of Mexican orchids.
September 2022, Kiyoshi Saito