and
Jokichi Takamine's Birthday
Today
is Bunka no hi in Japan: a
day to celebrate culture and the arts. There are art exhibits,
festivals, and parades, and schools and the government present awards
to deserving artists and also to those who achieve in science or
other areas of culture.
Interesting
note: I immediately assumed that the prizes would be awarded to
Japanese citizens for promoting Japanese culture and arts, but it is
not necessarily the case. Back in the late 1960s, for example, the
Apollo 11 astronauts (all Americans) were awarded by the emperor with
the highest award, the Order of Culture, for successfully landing on
and returning from the moon!
Also
on this day...
In
1854, Jokichi Takamine was born in Japan. He learned English as a
child from a Dutch family (and so always spoke English with a Dutch
accent), and although he received most of his education in Japan, he
went to Scotland for postgraduate work.
Takamine
became a chemist. In 1884 he traveled to the U.S., where he fell in
love with the woman who would be his wife. Later he emigrated to the
U.S. and continued his work in chemistry. He worked with creating
medicines and quickly became a millionaire.
Because
of Takamine, the mayor of Tokyo donated cherry blossom trees to
Washington D.C., and we can still see many of these gift trees still
growing in the Tidal Basin there.
Takamine's
most important discovery was made in 1901, when he isolated and
purified the hormone adrenaline. This was the first effective
medicine for asthma and the first “glandular hormone” ever
isolated.
I
wonder if Takamine ever received the Order of Culture...It would've
been a great birthday gift!
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