An exhibition commemorating Japanese-born chemist Jokichi Takamine (1854-1922), whose most notable achievement was the isolation of adrenaline, will take place Dec. 1-17 in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture.
Takamine's grandson, Jokichi Takamine III, 77, will fly in from his home in Los Angeles for the exhibition at a city cultural center. He said about 30 items including diaries, microscopes and his death mask will be put on display.
The late Takamine, born in Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, spent his boyhood in Kanazawa, graduated from the Imperial University of Tokyo in 1879 and took up government service. In 1890, having studied and worked overseas, he took up residence in the United States, where he later married.
His 1900 discovery of adrenaline, now called epinephrine, was the first pure hormone to be isolated from natural sources. Takamine is also known for the production of the starch-digesting enzyme Taka-Diastase.
Los Angeles-based Japanese journalist Nobuko Iinuma will bring to the exhibition albums carrying lists of telegrams and flowers that his family received from around the world after his death.