Birth of Chemical Journals in Japan2006/03/27: No.1; Birth of Chemical Journals in JapanThe Chemical Society was established on April 8, 1878, 128 years ago. Twenty-four chemists, including those who had just graduated from the Faculty of Science, the Imperial University of Tokyo, and those who were still studying at school, participated in its establishment. In September 1898, the Department of Manufacturing Chemistry of the Science and Engineering College was founded at Kyoto Imperial University. Four professors including Mitsuru Kuhara (the first president of the Tokyo Chemical Society), Hikorokuro Yoshida, Kenjiro Oda and Iwata Nakazawa were in charge of respective courses, and all of them were members of the Chemical Society since its inauguration. The Chemical Society changed its name to the Tokyo Chemical Society in 1879, and the first edition of Vol. I of the " Journal of the Tokyo Chemical Society " was published in 1880, under its then president Iwata Nakazawa. In that edition, two papers entitled the " Analysis of Tea Manufactured in Japan " by Jintaro Takayama and the " Nomenclature Rules for Chemicals " by Yoshimasa Koga were printed. These were scientific papers written vertically, which appears novel to present-day readers. Incidentally, the year of 1880 was the time when Thomas Edison inaugurated the journal "Science." This coincidence helps to reinforce the tradition of chemical research in Japan. The Society of Industrial Chemistry was inaugurated in 1898 under the president at the time, Takeaki Enomoto, and the society commenced publication of the "Kogyo Kagaku Zasshi (Journal of Industrial Chemistry)" at the same time. Furthermore, the "Journal of the Tokyo Chemical Society" was renamed as the " Journal of the Chemical Society of Japan " due to the society changing its name in 1921, and the English edition of the " Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Japan " began in 1925. This journal contained several papers on Frontier Orbital Theory from Professor Ken-ichi Fukui, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1981. These papers serve as a source of encouragement and pride for Japan's chemists. After Japan's defeat in World War II, the Chemical Society of Japan and the Society of Industrial Chemistry merged in 1948; however, both journals continued to be published for some time. In January 1972, the two journals were merged, and the "Journal of the Chemical Society of Japan: Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry" was born. At the same time, the English journal for communications, " Chemistry Letters ", was inaugurated. Those were the times when Japanese chemists in academia and industry w ere working very hard and making concerted efforts to catch up to the level in advanced countries, such as Europe and USA.
- Tamejiro Hiyama: Professor at the Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University |
