2017 Ochanomizu University Awards Ceremony

07.03.2018 Update

A ceremony to confer Ochanomizu University Awards named after Toshiko Yuasa, Chika Kuroda, Ikuko Koizumi, Kono Yasui and Michiyo Tsujimura took place on March 6. The Toshiko Yuasa Award (Yuasa Award) celebrates Dr. Toshiko Yuasa, a physicist who conducted outstanding experimental nuclear research and played a role on the international stage. The Chika Kuroda Award (Kuroda Award) honors Dr. Chika Kuroda, a chemist who conducted outstanding research related to the structures of natural pigments during her lengthy career. This award was established based on a donation from former professor of chemistry Koko Maeda to recognize female researchers examining the natural sciences.
While no candidates were eligible for this year’s Yuasa Award, the third Kuroda Award went to two recipients: Hisako Akiyama, a research scientist on the RIKEN Center for Brain Science’s Molecular Membrane Neuroscience team for research related to the discovery of novel glucosylated cholesterol and analysis of its physiological effects; and Emiko Uchikawa, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, for research related to structural analysis of dsRNA binding to antiviral pattern recognition receptors LGP2 and MDA5.
Three other awards presented on the day were created last academic year to honor the achievements of Ikuko Koizumi, Dr. Kono Yasui and Dr. Michiyo Tsujimura. Ikuko Koizumi studied in the U.S. after graduating from Ochanomizu University and advocated widely for improvements in women’s rights through social efforts. That included authoring a book entitled Theory of Coeducation. She also promoted educational and cultural interaction between Japan and China, and contributed to the establishment and development of J. F. Oberlin University after the Second World War.
Dr. Kono Yasui engaged in groundbreaking research from the earliest days of biochemistry in Japan, trained many female students at Ochanomizu University and its predecessors, and became first female doctor of science in Japan. Dr. Michiyo Tsujimura trained many female students after graduating from Ochanomizu University, conducted outstanding research related to the makeup of green tea for many years, and was active in her field as Japan’s first female doctor of agriculture.
The second Koizumi Award went to Professor Yukiko Sato of Nihon University’s College of Humanities and Science for collation and research related to illustrated storybooks (kusazoshi and gokan) from the late Edo period. The second Yasui Award was presented to associate professor Miho Yanagisawa of the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology Institute of Engineering’s Division of Advanced Applied Physics for biophysics research related to biomimetic cells, and the second Tsujimura Award went to Mo-House Representative Director Yuka Mitsuhata for developing specialized clothing for breast feeding to propose new postnatal lifestyle modes.
Many people connected with the respective awards attended the ceremony. Ochanomizu University President Kimiko Murofushi offered congratulatory remarks while conferring commendation certificates and supplementary plaques. Based on our accumulated history and traditions, our university will continue to train women as future leaders so that they possess wide-ranging vision and a richness of spirit.

2017 Ochanomizu University Awards Ceremony

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