Ume Tange

Ume (Umeko) Tange (1873-1955) was one of the first three women admitted to a Japanese university in 1913. She previously studied at a women's college. After graduating from university, she traveled to the US to study, gaining a PhD in chemistry from Johns Hopkins University in 1927, one of the first Japanese women awarded a doctorate in science. Tange returned to Japan to teach and do further research at RIKEN, studying vitamins, especially vitamin B2. She gained a second doctorate, in agricultural science, in 1940, from Tokyo Imperial University (now the University of Tokyo).

Ume Tange
Full-length photo of Ume Tange in a street, smiling.
Ume Tange, July 28, 1948
Born
Ume (Umeko) Tange

(1873-03-17)March 17, 1873
DiedJanuary 29, 1955(1955-01-29) (aged 81)
Alma mater
Known for
  • One of the first Japanese women admitted to university and to gain a science PhD
  • Laboratory experiments in nutrition
  • Studies of vitamin B2
Scientific career
Institutions
ThesisThe preparation and properties of the alophanates of certain sterols (1927, second doctorate 1940)

Early life and education

Ume Tange was the sixth child of seven siblings in a prosperous family in Kagoshima, southern Japan. She was born on March 17, 1873.[1] While playing with one of her sisters, Tange was injured when she fell on a chopstick, losing the sight in one eye.[1]

Tange began her career as a primary school teacher.[2] In 1901, when she was 28, Tange began studying home economics at a women's college, Japan Women's University.[1][3][2] After graduating, she worked as an assistant there, and became the first woman to pass the secondary teacher examination in chemistry.[3]

In 1913, she was one of the first three women admitted to university study in Japan, when she began studies at Tohoku Imperial University along with chemist Chika Kuroda and mathematician Raku Makita, despite controversy.[4][5]

Scientific career

Tange studied Japan's persimmon tannin while at Tohoku Imperial University.[6] After graduating, at 45 years of age, Tange went to the US to study, spending about 10 years there, including time at Stanford University and Columbia University.[3][2][1] Her studies there were sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Education and Home Ministry.[1] At Johns Hopkins, she was awarded a PhD in 1927, with a thesis entitled The preparation and properties of the alophanates of certain sterols.[7][8] Results of this work were published with Elmer McCollum in the Journal of Biological Chemistry in 1928.[9]

Tange returned to Japan and taught at Japan Women's University and in 1930 began studies of the vitamin B2 at the RIKEN Institute of Physical and Chemical Research.[2] This work led to her second doctorate, in agriculture, from Tokyo Imperial University in 1940.[10]

Tange published multiple scientific papers in the 1930s, including studies on dietary deficiencies in rats on fat-free diets,[11] vitamin B2 deficiencies in rats,[12] and the effects of fatty acids on nutrition.[13]

Honors
Monument to Ume Tange's birthplace, Kagoshima
  • Monument in her birthplace, Kagoshima (pictured).
  • Statue in front of the Yamakataya department store, Kagoshima.[14]
  • Tange Memorial Scholarship at Japan Women's University for students excelling in science studies.[3]
  • Biography published by The Chemical Daily (in Japanese) in 2011, Like White Plum Blossoms: Trajectory of Chemist Ume Tange.[15]

References
  1. "Ume Tange". web-japan.org. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  2. RIKEN (2019). A century of discovery : the history of Riken (PDF). Wako, Saitama: RIKEN. ISBN 978-4-9910056-4-0. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  3. "リケジョのパイオニア 丹下ウメ | 時代を切り拓く卒業生". Japan Women's University (in Japanese). Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  4. Kodate, Naonori; Kodate, Kashiko; Kodate, Takako (September 2010). "Mission Completed? Changing Visibility of Women's Colleges in England and Japan and Their Roles in Promoting Gender Equality in Science". Minerva. 48 (3): 309–330. doi:10.1007/s11024-010-9150-2. hdl:10197/4836. S2CID 55817182.
  5. Moon, Selena M (16 August 2019). ""As there are no precedents for women to enter the Imperial University, this is a serious incident that must be discussed thoroughly"". Selena M Moon. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  6. Furukawa, Yasu (3 July 2021). "Exploring the History of Chemistry in Japan". Ambix. 68 (2–3): 302–317. doi:10.1080/00026980.2021.1930675. PMID 34042020. S2CID 235215856.
  7. Sasaki, Keiko; Uchiyama, Yuri; Nakagomi, Sayaka (7 July 2020). "Study Abroad and the Transnational Experience of Japanese Women from 1860s–1920s: Four Stages of Female Study Abroad, Sumi Miyakawa and Tano Jōdai". Espacio, Tiempo y Educación. 7 (2): 5–28. doi:10.14516/ete.322. S2CID 224815419. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  8. Hull, Callie; West, Clarence J (October 1927). "Doctorates in chemistry conferred by American universities, 1926-1927". Journal of Chemical Education. 4 (10): 1303–1313. Bibcode:1927JChEd...4.1303H. doi:10.1021/ed004p1303. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  9. Tange, Ume; McCollum, E.V. (February 1928). "The Allophanates of Certain Sterols". Journal of Biological Chemistry. 76 (2): 445–456. doi:10.1016/S0021-9258(18)84088-1.
  10. 40 year history of Japan Women's University. Japan Women's University. 1942. p. 271. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  11. Tange, Ume (1932). "Dietary Deficiency of Fat-Free Diet for Rats". Proceedings of the Imperial Academy. 8 (5): 190–193. doi:10.2183/pjab1912.8.190.
  12. Tange, Ume (1939). "Studies on vitamin B2complex. 5. Further experiments on the effect of carbohydate on vitamin B2 deficiencies. Flavin synthesis in rats". Scientific Papers of the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research. 36: 471–481.
  13. Tange, Ume (January 1932). "A Study on the Effects of Fatty Acid on Nutrition". Bulletin of the Agricultural Chemical Society of Japan. 8 (10–12): 159–172. doi:10.1080/03758397.1932.10857017.
  14. "Doctor Tange Ume Statue (Kagoshima) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go". Tripadvisor. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  15. Arikawa, Yoshika; Miyazaki, Akane (November 2011). Shiraume no yoni : Kagakusha tange ume no kiseki. The Chemical Daily (Kagakukogyonipposha). ISBN 978-4-87326-594-0.
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