Chika Kuroda(1884 — 1968)
Chika Kuroda
Japon, empire du Japon
5 min read
Chika Kuroda (1884-1968) was a pioneering Japanese chemist, one of the first women in Japan to earn a university degree in science. She made her mark with her research into the structure of natural pigments.
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- Born in 1884 in Saga, Japan.
- In 1916, became one of the first Japanese women to earn a Bachelor of Science degree.
- Conducted research on the structure of natural pigments such as shikonin (extracted from gromwell) and carthamin (extracted from safflower).
- Earned a Doctor of Science degree in 1929, becoming one of the first Japanese women to hold a doctorate in chemistry.
- Died in 1968 after a career in research and teaching.
Works & Achievements
Kuroda was among the first three female students at a Japanese national university, paving the way for women in higher scientific education.
She deepened her work in dye chemistry under William Henry Perkin Jr., one of the world's leading specialists in organic chemistry.
Work elucidating the chemical structure of the purple pigment from the murasaki root, the heart of her doctoral thesis.
She became one of the first Japanese women to hold a doctorate in science, and the first in chemistry.
Study of the red pigment from safflower (benibana), linking modern chemistry to traditional Japanese dyes and cosmetics.
At the Tokyo Women's Higher Normal School, she trained many female students and helped open the sciences to women.
Anecdotes
In 1913, Tohoku Imperial University in Sendai became the very first Japanese national university to admit women. Chika Kuroda was one of the three pioneers accepted. The Ministry of Education, astonished, sent a letter asking for an explanation of this decision it deemed extraordinary: studying science at university was at the time reserved for men.
Chika Kuroda became fascinated by shikonin, the purple pigment extracted from the root of a plant called murasaki (the gromwell). In ancient Japan, this purple was so precious that it was reserved for high-ranking nobles. By unlocking the molecular secret of this prestigious color, she connected modern chemistry to a tradition many centuries old.
Between 1921 and 1923, she travelled halfway around the globe to study at the University of Oxford, in England, under the chemist William Henry Perkin Jr. The coincidence is delicious: his father had invented the very first synthetic dye, mauveine, while Kuroda was busy taking apart natural dyes.
In 1929, thanks to her work on the structure of shikonin, she earned her doctorate in science. She became one of the very first Japanese women to hold this title, and the first in chemistry — a feat in a country where higher education had only just begun to open its doors to women.
Kuroda also studied carthamin, the red pigment drawn from the flowers of the safflower (benibana). This dye had long been used to make lipstick and to dye fabrics. Her work showed that traditional Japanese arts concealed a complex chemistry that science could at last explain.
Primary Sources
Documents from 1913 attesting to the admission of three female students (Chika Kuroda, Kono Yasui, Raku Makita) and the Ministry's official inquiry into admitting women to a national university.
Work in which Chika Kuroda established the chemical structure of shikonin, the purple pigment from the root of the murasaki plant, submitted for her doctorate in science.
Research articles detailing the isolation and analysis of red and purple dyes of plant origin, published in scientific journals of the time.
Key Places
Region in southwestern Japan where Chika Kuroda was born in 1884.
The first national university in Japan to admit women, where Kuroda studied chemistry and later defended her doctorate.
Site of her research stay (1921-1923) working with the chemist William Henry Perkin Jr.
Institution where she trained and then taught chemistry for much of her career.
Capital of Japan where Chika Kuroda spent the end of her life and died in 1968.
