KIYOSHI KIIKUNI

Kiyoshi Kiikuni was born in 1962, in Ashiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, in western Japan. Kiyoshi's interest in minerals developed early. His hometown is located at the base of Mount Rokko, a popular hiking and sightseeing area, so he often went hiking with friends from elementary school and would pick up various treasures along the way, including quartz crystals. His father, possessor of the "collecting gene" (e.g., books, classical records, microscopes, fishing tools, etc.), owned some collectible mineralogy books with pictures of specimens. Those books were what hooked Kiyoshi on minerals. Among Kiyoshi's father's various hobbies was collecting old cameras, and he was especially proud of an old Leica. When Kiyoshi was a junior in high school his father gave him his first camera, a Nikkormat, as a Christmas present. Later, while living in Tokyo, he began trying to photograph some of his mineral specimens using an old Canon F1, and found that it was not so easy to do. He became fascinated..

Also known as: Key's Mineral Collection