Google Doodle honors Tsujimura Michiyo, chemist and green tea researcher

Google Doodle pays tribute to Tsujimura Michiyo辻村みちよ, a Japanese chemist best known for her extensive research on green tea . He celebrates his 133rd birthday and in the Google Doodle we see her in her laboratory hard at work analyzing and extracting the chemical components of green tea. The letters in the word ” Google ” are formed from a variety of research components, including a tea bush, a cup of hot green tea, a jar, a pen, and a notebook.

Tsujimura Michiyo was born on September 17, 1888 (133 years ago) in the city of Okegawa in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. During his school years, Tsujimura was inspired to pursue a career in scientific research.

After graduating, Tsujimura briefly taught at two different schools for women before gaining a position at Hokkaido Imperial University in 1920. During her time at the university, her research focused on the nutritional value of silkworms.

In 1922, Tsujimura transferred to Tokyo Imperial University , but unfortunately the laboratory he was working in was destroyed by a major earthquake in 1923. Recovering from the disaster, Tsujimura transferred to another laboratory where he worked with Dr. Suzuki Umetaro , a doctor of agriculture famous for discovering vitamin B1.

During their time in this laboratory, Tsujimura Michiyo and her colleague Miura Seitaro discovered that green tea was a natural source of vitamin C. Their research contributed to a remarkable increase in the amount of green tea being exported to North America.

Delving deeper, Tsujimura gradually found and isolated more of the chemical composition of green tea, including catechin and tannin. She published these findings and more as her doctoral thesis in 1932, making Tsujimura Japan ‘s first female doctor of agriculture . Continuing his research, in 1935, he patented a way to extract crystallized vitamin C from plants.

After her research career, Tsujimura became a professor at Ochanomizu University and later at the Tokyo Women’s Higher Normal School, eventually becoming the first dean of the school’s School of Home Economics . Tsujimura Michiyo died on June 1, 1969, at the age of 80, and today in Okegawa there is a stone monument to her and her many achievements.

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