was a Japanese organic

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...

Biography

Hirata was born in Yamaguchi, Japan in 1915. He received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

from 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 ...

(now the University of Tokyo) in 1941, and then joined the faculty there as a Lecturer of Chemistry. In 1944, he moved to Nagoya University as an

Assistant Professor Assistant Professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States and Canada. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doctoral degree A docto ...

in the Department of Chemistry. In that same year, he was promoted Associate Professor. He received his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

from Nagoya University in 1949, and was promoted to

Full Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

in 1954. In 1955, Hirata met a recent graduate from Nagasaki Pharmacy School, a young

Osamu Shimomura was a Japanese organic chemist and marine biologist, and Professor Emeritus at Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and Boston University School of Medicine. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2008 for th ...

. He invited Shimomura to work in his lab, which he did, in April 1955. Hirata tasked him with purifying crystallizing Cypridina luciferin for the purpose of determining its structure. He completed the difficult task after three months, and Hirata awarded him with a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

, despite him not being a doctoral student. In 1979, Hirata moved to

Meijo University is a private university in Japan. Its main campus is in Tempaku-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, and it has two other campuses in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. It had two faculty members who were Nobel laureates as of 2021. History The name Meijō ...

, staying there for ten years before retiring.

Research

Hirata's best known research was that involving toxic compounds, including

tetrodotoxin Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a potent neurotoxin. Its name derives from Tetraodontiformes, an order that includes pufferfish, porcupinefish, ocean sunfish, and triggerfish; several of these species carry the toxin. Although tetrodotoxin was discovere ...

pandalytoxin, his research of the bioluminescent compound ''Cypridina'' luciferin from the ''

vargula hilgendorfii ''Vargula hilgendorfii'', sometimes called the sea-firefly and one of three bioluminescent species known in Japan as umi-hotaru (海蛍), is a species of ostracod crustacean. It is the only member of genus '' Vargula'' to inhabit Japanese wate ...

'', also known as the sea firefly, and his work on bioactive compounds of plant origin, including

anisatin Anisatin is an extremely Toxicity, toxic, Insecticide, insecticidally active component of the Japanese star anise, Shikimi plant. The lethal dose is 1 mg/kg (i.p.) in mice. Symptoms begin to appear about 1–6 hours after ingestion, beginning ...

, dendrobine, and daphniphylline.

Awards and honors

* 1941 Chunichi Culture Prize * 1965

Asahi Prize The , established in 1929, is an award presented by the Japanese newspaper ''Asahi Shimbun'' and Asahi Shimbun Foundation to honor individuals and groups that have made outstanding accomplishments in the fields of arts and academics and have greatl ...

* 1965

Chemical Society of Japan The (CSJ) is a learned society and professional association founded in 1878 in order to advance research in chemistry. The mission of the CSJ is to promote chemistry for science and industry in collaboration with other domestic and global societ ...

Award * 1977 Japan Academy Prize * 1977 Fujihara Award * 1987 Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd Class * 1990 Person of Cultural Merit * 1996

Nakanishi Prize The Nakanishi Prize, named after Japanese chemist Koji Nakanishi, is an award in chemistry given alternately by the Chemical Society of Japan and the American Chemical Society. Purpose "To recognize and stimulate significant work that exten ...

* 2000 Order of the Rising Sun

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirata, Yoshimasa Japanese chemists 1915 births 2000 deaths