Career
His best-known work is the 1976 guide Nepenthes of Mount Kinabalu. Nepenthes kurata was named in his honour. Kurata has described a number of new Nepenthes species, including North. campanulata, North. eymae, North. mindanaoensis, North. peltata, North. rhombicaulis, and North. saranganiensis.
He also described North. pyriformis, which was subsequently recognised as a natural hybrid by Charles Clarke.
Other natural hybrids named by Kurata include North. × ferrugineomarginata, North. × kinabaluensis, and North. × kuchingensis.
