Michiyo Tsujimura, Japan's first woman doctor of agriculture, researched the components of green tea.
Tsujimura was born in 1888 in Saitama Prefecture. After working at Jinjo Higher Elementary School as an assistant teacher, she then studied at Tokyo Prefecture Women’s Normal School, and later Tokyo Women’s Higher Normal School. At Tokyo Women’s Higher Normal School she studied under Kono Yasui and developed a strong interest in a life of scientific research. After graduating she worked as a teacher for seven years in Kanagawa Prefecture and Saitama Prefecture, then began a career as a researcher.
Hokkaido Imperial University, the school her professors recommended her to, did not accept women students at the time, so Tsujimura acquired a post in the Food Nutritional Laboratory of the Agricultural Chemistry Department as an unpaid assistant.
At Hokkaido Imperial University she focused mainly on research of silkworms.
In 1922 she transferred to Tokyo Imperial University to continue her research in biochemistry, but in the following year her laboratory burned down in the Great Kanto Earthquake, so she transferred to Riken. At Riken she conducted research under Professor Umetaro Suzuki, a doctor of agriculture famous for discovering vitamin B1. In her joint research with Seitaro Miura, she identified vitamin C in green tea, a discovery that contributed to an increase in green tea exported from Japan to North America. Tsujimura continued with her dedicated research to discover other components of green tea.
In 1929 Tsujimura succeeded in isolating and extracting catechin, a bitter component in green tea, for the first time in the world. In the following year she also extracted tannin in crystal form and determined its chemical structure, another bitter component in green tea. Her research results, collected in a paper titled, "On the Chemical Components of Green Tea," earned her a doctorate in agriculture from Tokyo Imperial University in 1932. She became the first woman doctor of agriculture in Japan.
Thereafter, Tsujimura continued with her research and became a professor at Ochanomizu University in 1949, as well as the first Dean of the Faculty of Home Economics. Apart from her own research, Tsujimura was a passionate teacher who worked for the education of following generations. After retiring from Ochanomizu University, she then provided instruction at Jissen Women’s University. After she passed away, Katsurakai, an organization created in her honor, put up a memorial stele in Toyohashi, the area where she spent her final years.
History
| 1888 | September 17, born in Okegawa-cho (current Okegawa City), Adachi-gun, Saitama Prefecture |
| 1909 | Graduates from Tokyo Prefecture Women’s Normal School. Enters the Division of Science, Tokyo Women’s Higher Normal School (age 20) |
| 1913 | Graduates from the Division of Science, Tokyo Women’s Higher Normal School （Photo）. Becomes a teacher at Kanagawa’s Yokohama High School for Women |
| 1917 | Becomes a teacher at Saitama Women’s Normal School |
| 1920 | Becomes an assistant at Hokkaido Imperial University. Enters the Food Nutritional Laboratory and begins researching nutrition of domestic silkworms (age 32) |
| 1922 | Transfers to the Medical Chemical Laboratory at the Medical College, Tokyo Imperial University, and continues biochemistry research |
| 1923 | The Medical Chemical Laboratory is completely destroyed in the Great Kanto Earthquake, Tsujimura transfers to Riken. [October] Becomes a research student of Riken, and researches food chemistry, nutritional chemistry and biological chemistry at the laboratory of Umetaro Suzuki, doctor of agriculture |
| 1924 | Begins research on vitamin C with Seitaro Miura. Publishes "On Vitamin C in Green Tea" in the Journal of the Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Agrochemistry, with Seitaro Miura |
| 1929 | Isolates catechin, a bitter component in green tea, for the first time |
| 1930 | Isolates formless tannin, a component more bitter than catechin, from green tea |
| 1932 | Receives Doctorate in Agriculture; doctoral thesis, "On the Chemical Components of Green Tea." Becomes the first woman doctor of agriculture in Japan (age 43) |
| 1934 | Discovers gallocatechin, a new type of catechin, from green tea |
| 1935 | Extracts tannin crystal from green tea. Registers patent on method of producing crystal vitamin C from plants. Patent No. 2544 (Riken) |
| 1942 | Becomes a junior researcher at Riken (age 53) |
| 1946 | Becomes a teacher at Women’s Gakushuin School |
| 1947 | Becomes a researcher at Riken (age 58) |
| 1949 | Becomes a professor at Ochanomizu University (age 60) |
| 1950 | Also takes position as professor at Tokyo Women’s Higher Normal School. Becomes the first Dean of the Faculty of Home Economics |
| 1955 | Retires from Ochanomizu University (continues as part-time lecturer until 1961). Becomes professor at Jissen Women’s University (age 66) |
| 1956 | Receives the Japan Prize of Agricultural Science for her work on green tea components (age 67) |
| 1963 | Retires from Jissen Women’s University. Becomes professor emeritus at Jissen Women’s University (age 74) |
| 1968 | Receives the Order of the Precious Crown of the Fourth Class (age 79) |
| 1969 | June 1, passes away at her niece’s home in Toyohashi at the age of 81 |
Catalog of Material
List of Academic Papers
List of academic papers by Michiyo Tsujimura [PDF]
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