was a Japanese pharmacist, best known for his study of

ephedrine Ephedrine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is often used to prevent low blood pressure during anesthesia. It has also been used for asthma, narcolepsy, and obesity but is not the preferred treatment. It is of unclear benefit in ...

Early life

Nagai was born in Myōdō District, Awa Province in what is now Tokushima Prefecture, as the son of a doctor and started studying ''

rangaku ''Rangaku'' (Kyūjitai: /Shinjitai: , literally "Dutch learning", and by extension "Western learning") is a body of knowledge developed by Japan through its contacts with the Dutch enclave of Dejima, which allowed Japan to keep abreast of West ...

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

at the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

Medical School of

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole Nanban trade, port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hi ...

''( Igaku-Denshujo)'' in 1864. While in Nagasaki, he made the acquaintance of

Ōkubo Toshimichi was a Japanese statesman and one of the Three Great Nobles regarded as the main founders of modern Japan. Ōkubo was a ''samurai'' of the Satsuma Domain and joined the movement to overthrow the ruling Tokugawa Shogunate during the '' Bak ...

Itō Hirobumi was a Japanese politician and statesman who served as the first Prime Minister of Japan. He was also a leading member of the ''genrō'', a group of senior statesmen that dictated Japanese policy during the Meiji era. A London-educated samu ...

, and other future leaders of the

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji o ...

Career

Nagai continued his studies at

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 ...

and became the first doctor of pharmacy in Japan. He was sent under government sponsorship to

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

in 1871 to study at the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...

. He was the only civilian in a group of military students sent to study in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, and he traveled by way of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and Great Britain. While in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, he resided at the home of Japanese diplomat

Aoki Shūzō Viscount was a diplomat and Foreign Minister in Meiji period Japan. Biography Viscount Aoki was born to a '' samurai'' family as son of the Chōshū domain's physician in what is now part of Sanyō Onoda in Yamaguchi Prefecture). He studi ...

. He was influenced by the

lecture A lecture (from Latin ''lēctūra'' “reading” ) is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical infor ...

s of von Hofmann, and received a doctorate with a study on

eugenol Eugenol is an allyl chain-substituted guaiacol, a member of the allylbenzene class of chemical compounds. It is a colorless to pale yellow, aromatic oily liquid extracted from certain essential oils especially from clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, ...

while working as an assistant at von Hofmann's laboratory. He decided to take up

organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Clayden, ...

in 1873. Nagai returned to Japan in 1883 to take up a position at the Tokyo Imperial University, and became

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 ...

of Chemistry and Pharmacy there in 1893. His research centered on the chemical analysis of various Japanese and Chinese traditional herbal medicines. While in Germany, Nagai married Therese Schumacher, the daughter of a wealthy lumber and mining magnate. On their return to Japan, she became a professor of

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is als ...

Japan Women's University is the oldest and largest of private Japanese women's universities. The university was established on 20 April 1901 by education reformist . The university has around 6000 students and 200 faculty. It has two campuses, named after the neighb ...

, and was active in introducing German foods and culture to Japan. In 1923, Nagai and his wife hosted

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

and his wife during their visit to Japan.日本の近代薬学の開祖　長井長義とは
徳島県製薬協会 His son, Alexander Nagai, served as a diplomat at the Embassy of Japan in Berlin until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. As first president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan (PSJ, founded in 1880); Nagai had an important impact on the propagation of chemistry and

pharmaceutical sciences Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links healt ...

in an industrializing Japan.

Death

Nagai died in 1929 in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

of acute pneumonia.

Scientific contributions

* Isolation of

from ''

Ephedra vulgaris ''Ephedra distachya'' is a shrub in the family Ephedraceae that stands about 25 cm to 50 cm high. The shrub grows in many parts of the world, including southern and central Europe and western and central Asia. Its local names include '' ...

'' in 1885. Nagai recognized it to be the active component of the plant. * Synthesis of methamphetamine from ephedrine in 1893. Methamphetamine was later synthesized in crystalline form in 1919 by Akira Ogata. * Isolation of

rotenone Rotenone is an odorless, colorless, crystalline isoflavone used as a broad-spectrum insecticide, piscicide, and pesticide. It occurs naturally in the seeds and stems of several plants, such as the jicama vine plant, and the roots of several mem ...

from ''

Derris elliptica ''Derris eliptica'' is a species of leguminous plant from Southeast Asia and the southwest Pacific islands, including New Guinea. The roots of ''D. elliptica'' contain rotenone, a strong insecticide and fish poison. Also known as ''derris powd ...

'' in 1902. Nagayoshi named the substance after the Japanese name for the plant, ''roten''. * Synthesis and structural elucidation of

in 1929.

References

*Lock, Margaret. ''East Asian Medicine in Urban Japan: Varieties of Medical Experience''. University of California Press; Reprint edition (1984). *Schultes, Richard Evans, ed. ''Ethnobotany: The Evolution of a Discipline''. Timber Press, Incorporated (2005). *W Pötsch. Lexikon bedeutender Chemiker (VEB Bibliographisches Institut Leipzig, 1989) ;Specific

External links

Pharmaceutical Society of Japan
(Japanese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Nagai, Nagayoshi 1844 births 1929 deaths Organic chemists People from Tokushima Prefecture University of Tokyo alumni Japanese expatriates in Germany Japanese scientists People of Meiji-period Japan Japanese inventors 20th-century Japanese chemists 19th-century Japanese chemists