Abstract
The history of chemistry in Japan is a chronicle of how the Japanese learned Western chemistry and contributed to its further development. The Meiji Restoration in 1868 is often credited as the starting point of Japan’s introduction to Western science. In fact, Japanese encounters with chemistry started earlier, in the early nineteenth century during the Tokugawa period (1603-1868). Medical doctors took the lead in the reception of chemistry because of their interest in the medicinal properties of chemicals. The development of manufacturing and military industries such as mining and smelting, pottery, brewing, dyeing, photography, and gunpowder manufacturing further stimulated Japanese interest in chemistry. Historical developments of chemistry in Japan thus reflected the process of Japanese modernization and industrialization that eventually led to its prosperity in the twentieth century.
Highlights
Yoshiyuki Kikuchi is an associate professor at the Department of British and American Studies, School of Foreign Studies, Aichi Prefectural University in Nagakute, Japan
Dr Siderer was a recipient of a fellowship in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from UNESCO and the Japanese Government
Udagawa Yōan coined a variety of chemical terms still used today, but arguably the most important of his coinage eventually became obsolete: seimi 舎密, meaning chemistry, included in the title of his opus magnum.[16]
Summary
Yoshiyuki Kikuchi is an associate professor at the Department of British and American Studies, School of Foreign Studies, Aichi Prefectural University in Nagakute, Japan Kikuchi obtained his PhD in History of Science, Technology and Medicine (2006) from the Open University, Milton Keynes, UK and did postdoctoral research at the Chemical Heritage Foundation (today’s Science History Institute) (2008-9), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2009-2011), Harvard University (20112012) and the International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden (2012-2013). He taught at the Graduate University for Advanced Studies (Sokendai), Hayama (2013-2016) and Nagoya University of Economics, Inuyama (2017-2020) before taking up the current position. He is currently vicepresident of the Japanese Society for the History of Chemistry and vice-chair of the Commission on the History of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, IUHPST/DHST
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