was a Japanese
metallurgist
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys.
Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...
and inventor. He discovered that aluminum restored
magnet
A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, ...
ism to non-magnetic
nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow to ...
steel. He invented
MKM steel
MKM steel, an alloy containing nickel and aluminum, was developed in 1931 by metallurgist Tokushichi Mishima (三島徳七). While conducting research into the properties of nickel, Mishima discovered that a strongly magnetic steel could be cre ...
, which was an extremely inexpensive magnetic substance that has been used in many applications. It is also closely related to the modern
Alnico
Alnico is a family of iron alloys which in addition to iron are composed primarily of aluminium (Al), nickel (Ni), and cobalt (Co), hence the acronym ''al-ni-co''. They also include copper, and sometimes titanium. Alnico alloys are ferromagnetic, ...
magnets. He later became a professor at the
Tokyo Imperial University
, abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...
. After his death, his remains were buried in the
Tama Cemetery
in Tokyo is the largest municipal cemetery in Japan. It is split between the cities of Fuchu and Koganei within the Tokyo Metropolis. First established in April 1923 as , it was redesignated Tama Cemetery in 1935. It is one of the largest green ...
in Tokyo.
Honours
*
Award of the Imperial Academy (1945)
*Order of Culture (1950)
*Medal of Honor with Blue Ribbon (1950)
*Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (19 November 1975; posthumous)
On April 18, 1985, the
Japan Patent Office
The is a Japanese governmental agency in charge of industrial property right affairs, under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The Japan Patent Office is located in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo and is one of the world's largest pa ...
selected him as one of
Ten Japanese Great Inventors
The system of industrial rights in Japan celebrated 100 years of its existence in 1985. In celebration of the one-hundredth anniversary of the Japanese system of industrial property rights, the Japan Patent Office selected ten great inventors wh ...
.
References
External links
* http://www.freepatentsonline.com/2027997.pdf
* http://www.jpo.go.jp/seido_e/rekishi_e/tokushi_mishima.htm
1893 births
1975 deaths
20th-century Japanese inventors
Japanese metallurgists
Laureates of the Imperial Prize
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