In cooperation with the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education’s Education for Developing Talents (Science and Mathematics) initiative, Kurokawa Field Science Center, where the School of Agriculture conducts practical farm training, hosted high school students participating in Meiji University’s research project program from August 4 to 6.
The initiative is designed to help students with strengths in science and mathematics develop their talents and to foster scientists and researchers who can play active roles in Japan and abroad. Kurokawa Field Science Center has hosted high school students every year since the initiative began in academic year 2022.
This year, four students from Tokyo Metropolitan Agricultural High School participated in a program entitled “Learning about the Murasaki plant featured in the Man’yoshu and shikon dyeing.” The instructors were ITO Zenichi, Senior Assistant Professor at the School of Agriculture; SAITO Yoshihiro, Visiting Professor at Kurokawa Field Science Center; SUMIDA Hiroaki, Researcher; and KOSHIDA Kaoruko, a second-year doctoral student in the Graduate School of Agriculture.
The high school students learned how to cultivate and harvest the endangered Murasaki plant and gained hands-on experience in making prototype cosmetics using Murasaki (shikon lip balm and shikon lip gloss); analyzing shikonin, the pigment found in shikon, and its derivatives using thin-layer chromatography and absorption spectroscopy; practicing shikon dyeing, traditionally regarded as a noble dyeing technique; and measuring the color of dyed fabrics. The students worked diligently on the activities.
Kurokawa Field Science Center will continue working with the local community to promote regional development and help achieve sustainable agriculture by leveraging advanced technologies.
Silk stole dyed with shikon