Famous Japanese Chemists

Japanese chemist Ei-ichi Negishi won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his pioneering research on using palladium as a catalyst in cross couplings in organic synthesis, now known as the Negishi coupling. He spent most of his teaching career at Purdue University and also taught at the Syracuse and Hokkaido universities.

Ryoji Noyori is a Japanese chemist best known for winning the 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with William S. Knowles. They won the award for analyzing chirally catalyzed hydrogenations. Over the course of his career, Ryoji Noyori has also received other prestigious awards like the Asahi Prize, Japan Academy Prize, Lomonosov Gold Medal, and King Faisal International Prize.

Nobel Prize-winning Japanese organic chemist and marine biologist Osamu Shimomura is remembered for discovering the green fluorescent protein, or GFP. He was also associated with Princeton University and the Marine Biological Laboratory as a researcher and faculty member. He was named to the US National Academy of Sciences, too.

Akira Suzuki is a Japanese chemist best known for publishing the Suzuki reaction for the first time in 1979. In 2010, he was honored with the prestigious Nobel Prize for Chemistry along with Ei-ichi Negishi and Richard F. Heck. Akira Suzuki has also won other prominent awards, such as the Japan Academy Prize and Korean Chemical Society Award.

Nobel Prize-winning Japanese chemist Kenichi Fukui, best known for his research on frontier orbitals in chemical reactions, was initially hesitant to take up chemistry, as he hated memorizing equations. Following his stint at Kyoto University, where he studied engineering and earned a PhD, he developed an affinity for the subject.

Hideki Shirakawa is a Japanese engineer, chemist, and Professor Emeritus at Zhejiang University and the University of Tsukuba. Renowned for his discovery of intrinsically conducting polymers, Shirakawa won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2000 along with Alan Heeger and Alan MacDiarmid. Hideki Shirakawa has also worked as a professor at the University of Tsukuba.

Jokichi Takamine was a Japanese chemist best remembered as the first person to isolate epinephrine in 1901. He is credited with founding the Tokyo Artificial Fertilizer Company in Japan as well as the Nippon Club of New York City in the USA. Jokichi Takamine's life and career inspired a couple of films, namely Sakura, Sakura and Takamine.

Akira Fujishima is a Japanese chemist best known for his contributions to the research of superhydrophilic and photocatalytic properties of titanium dioxide. He is also known for his association with the Tokyo University of Science, where he is currently serving as president. Akira Fujishima is the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Asahi Prize. 

Kenichi Honda was a Japanese chemist best remembered for winning the Japan Prize in 2004 for his contribution to the discovery of photocatalytic properties of titanium dioxide. Kenichi Honda also worked as a lecturer and professor at prestigious institutions like Kyoto University and the University of Tokyo. From 1996 to 2004, he was the president of the Tokyo Polytechnic University.