Each year in Kyushu, dozens of people gather at a seafront shrine to honor a British botanist who never visited the country but is credited with revitalizing its crucial seaweed industry.
Kathleen Drew-Baker made groundbreaking discoveries about the reproduction of nori seaweed — the crispy dried sheets that encircle sushi rolls — helping to kick-start its farming on a commercial scale.
Her studies at the University of Manchester allowed Japan to ramp up production in the difficult period after World War II, when small-scale growers were having trouble meeting demand.