Google Celebrates Tea Scientist Michiyo Tsujimura’s Birthday Anniversary

Meet the star of the latest Google doodle!

Internet giant Google Doodle proudly celebrates Japanese biochemist Michiyo Tsujimura’s birthday by offering a unique graphic on September 17th, 2021. Her pioneering study on the health properties of green tea made her receive a doctoral degree in agriculture. She has also won the Japan Prize for Agricultural Science. She is one of the notable tea scientists in the world. She figured out why green tea is bitter when steeped for too long. If you are curious to learn more about the Japanese educator Michiyo Tsujimura, you have landed at the right spot to uncover everything about her.

Who Was Michiyo Tsujimura?

Michiyo Tsujimura was a prominent Japanese agricultural scientist and biochemist. She was born on 17th September 1888 in Okegawa, Japan. Her research was mainly focused on green tea components. She became the first Japanese woman to earn a doctoral degree in agriculture. She studied at Tokyo Prefecture Women’s Normal School. In 1909, she graduated from Tokyo Women’s Higher Normal School. At 81, in 1969, Tsujimura passed away.

Michiyo Tsujimura and her achievements

Google gave special recognition to the tea scientist Michiyo Tsujimura on her 133rd birth anniversary with its doodle graphic. Her groundbreaking study helped her achieve a doctorate in agriculture. Being a woman scientist was not an easy career. Tsujimura began her career as a laboratory assistant at Hokkaido Imperial University without any wage. After some years, she joined the Tokyo Imperial University and Dr. Umetaro Suzuki, well-known for his remarkable discovery of vitamin B1. She started studying the biochemistry of green tea. They discovered that green tea is packed with significant amounts of vitamin C. It was the first ingredient to be caught under the microscope.

During the period of her study, Tsujimura discovered the reason which makes green tea bitter. She found that flavonoid catechin in green tea creates a bitter taste. She isolated the mixture in 1929. Then she extracted tannin in crystal from green tea. Her study paper on- ‘On the Chemical Components of Green Tea’ was published in 1931 which helped her become a doctor of agriculture from Tokyo Imperial University. She created a name for herself as an educator. In 1949, she joined as a professor at Ochanomizu University. From 1950 she became a professor at Tokyo Women’s Higher Normal School. Later, she became the Faculty of Home. Economics’ first dean. She received the Japan Prize for Agricultural Science in 1956.