Chika Kuroda, Japan's first woman bachelor of science, left a record of achievements in the field of chemistry.
Kuroda was born in Saga Prefecture in 1884. Born to a progressive father, she graduated from the Women’s Department of Saga Normal School and worked as a teacher there for the mandatory one year. She then entered the Division of Science at Women’s Higher Normal School in Tokyo, which was the highest level for women at the time. Her reason for choosing the subject of science was because she concluded she’d only be able to conduct lab experiments at school. By the time she graduated she had developed an interest in chemistry and wished to move on to a higher level of scholarship. The Imperial Universities, however, did not open their doors to women until 1913, when Tohoku Imperial University decided to accept its first women students.
Kuroda had already completed the graduate course of Women’s Higher Normal School and was working as assistant professor when she took the examinations for the Chemistry Department of the College of Science, Tohoku Imperial University, with a recommendation from a former teacher. Two women, including Kuroda, and seven men were accepted. Kuroda was 29 years old when she became one of Japan’s first female Imperial University students. Both society and the press went into an uproar, and the Ministry of Education sent Tohoku Imperial University a letter expressing displeasure at its decision to accept women.
Kuroda’s encounter with Professor Riko Majima at Tohoku Imperial University had a great impact on her career as a chemist. Her greatest interest was in organic chemistry, Professor Majima’s specialty, and she conducted her graduation research under his guidance. When she expressed her desire to research natural pigment structures, he gave her the theme of researching the structure of Tyrian purple, a pigment found in the purple gromwell plant.
This was the beginning of Kuroda’s lifetime work on natural pigments. She first had to learn the importance and difficulties of obtaining crystals when researching natural substances. She conducted her research on structures of pure pigment crystals with great effort and passion.
In 1918 she presented a paper on the structure of a pigment she named Shikonin, and made an oral presentation at the Tokyo Chemical Society. This was the first presentation by a woman bachelor of science, and it is said that Japanese society made a big fuss.
She went on to study in the UK for two years from 1921, as an international student sent by the Ministry of Education. After returning to Japan, she worked as a professor at Women’s Higher Normal School, and also conducted research on the pigment structure of safflower, a beautiful color used by many women for cosmetics, at the Majima Laboratory of the newly established Riken.
After five years of research, in 1929, she discovered the structure of carthamin, and with this paper earned a doctorate of science, the second woman in Japan to do so after Kono Yasui.
Kuroda was blessed with many wonderful teachers. She always treasured the words given her by Professor Nagayoshi Nagai when taking the examinations for Tohoku Imperial University: "Chemistry is a science of substances, so you must be familiar with substances." The history of her devotion and glorious achievements still continues to offer unspoken guidance to following generations. She donated the celebratory money received at her retirement ceremony to the school as part of the "Yasui-Kuroda Scholarship," which continues to encourage young researchers to this day.
