Jokichi Takamine was born on November 3, 1854 in Takaoka, Japan. His father, Seichi, was a physician like many of his ancestors in the Takamine family. Unlike his contemporaries, Takamine learned English at an early age. He attended schools in Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo, graduating from the college of science and engineering at the University of Tokyo in 1879. That year the Japanese government selected Takamine as one of 12 scholars to pursue graduate studies in Scotland at Glasgow University and at Anderson College. He returned to Japan in 1883 and joined the department of agriculture and commerce.

In 1884 Takamine made his first trip to the United States to attend a Cotton Centennial Exposition, where he met his future wife, Caroline Field Hitch. They married in 1884 and had two children. The family moved to Japan, and Takamine continued to work for the department of agriculture and commerce as chief of the division of chemistry until 1887. At that time he formed his own company, the Tokyo Artificial Fertilizer Company, where he later isolated a powerful starch-digesting enzyme, Takadiastase, from a fungus.

In 1894 Takamine moved permanently to United States, settling in New York City. He opened his own private research laboratory but allowed Parke, Davis & Company to produce Takadiastase commercially. In 1901 he isolated and purified the hormone adrenalin in his laboratory, becoming the first person to accomplish this for a glandular hormone.

Throughout the rest of his life, Takamine traveled between the United States and Japan and made significant scientific contributions in both countries. He also worked to promote a better understanding between the two countries and was instrumental in Japan's donation of the cherry trees to Washington, DC. Jokichi Takamine died on July 22, 1922 in New York City.

1. Encyclopedia Britannica: Takamine, Jokichi

1. Higasi, K. Structural Chemistry. In Livermore, Arthur H. Science in Japan; The American Association for the Advancement of Science: Washington, DC, 1965; pp 239-266.