[No. 74] Shu Yamaguchi

For me, my six years at Keio University were an irreplaceable time when I learned the joy of chemistry and research and met wonderful mentors and friends. It was also a period of moratorium during which I found my own path.

My father is a Keio University alumni, and his love for the university is very strong, so I felt a sense of closeness to the Juku. At the time, I was an ordinary student preparing for university entrance exams, with a preference for the sciences and a love for chemistry and mathematics. I had a vague desire to become an engineer in the future but had no clear idea of what I specifically wanted to do. Amidst this, with the IT field being talked about as a growth area, I chose Department Group II* (Mathematical and Administrative Engineering).

Once I enrolled, everything changed. Unlike studying for entrance exams where you can solve problems by training on patterns, I attended lectures in mathematics in the general education curriculum and was shocked at my own lack of aptitude; I couldn't make heads or tails of it. On the other hand, I was completely captivated by Professor Kuniaki Tatsuta's organic chemistry and the biology course in general education taught by Professor Naohide Isono (a Keio University Professor Emeritus). By exposing myself to this environmental shift, a metamorphosis from "rote learning" to "true scholarship," I was finally able to see the direction I wanted to pursue.

I believe 1981 was the first year of admissions by department group. That year, an opportunity arose: a transfer exam was offered to those who wished to change their department group before advancing to the second year. Although I had been exempted from the entrance exam through admission by recommendation, I studied desperately for this transfer exam. I was successfully granted a transfer to Department Group III (Chemistry), and I shudder to think how my life might have turned out differently without that chance.

*Editor's note: At that time, admission was by department group, not by specific department.

The Department of Chemistry had just been established, and we were the first class of students. The professors were all fired up and had a powerful presence. There were 58 students in my year. In every lecture, the seats filled up from the front, and the atmosphere was full of energy. As the very first students, we were very close to our professors, and it was truly fortunate (though also demanding!) that we received such intensive guidance.

Professor Shosuke Yamamura (a Keio University Professor Emeritus) is my lifelong mentor. He has a pure love for natural product chemistry, is passionate, and is a strict research supervisor, but he is also a warm and kind person. I could hardly be called skilled at experiments, but I found research in natural product chemistry fascinating and became completely absorbed in it. I wonder how many times I slept over in the lab. We had two sofa beds bought for the professor's office. The capacity for overnight stays was two people. As the last train on the Toyoko Line approached, we would vie for the beds while checking on the progress of our classmates' experiments.

Professor Yamamura used to tell us, "Carve your name in the library, not on your tombstone." He meant that we should discover new findings in natural product chemistry, publish them as papers, and thus make a contribution.

I often talked late into the night with my classmates from the Yamamura Lab, like Shigemori (University of Tsukuba), Toshima (Ibaraki University), and Takeru Nakamura (Nara Institute of Science and Technology), as well as with members of the neighboring Tsuchihashi Lab (Reactive Organic Chemistry) like Matsumoto (Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences), Okuma (Hokkaido University), and Morita (Nippon Oil), and from the Iwata Lab (Theoretical Chemistry) like Hashimoto (Tokyo Metropolitan University) and Muto (Sony). In between our experiments, we would engage in lively discussions about our youth. Of course, most of it was casual talk, but everyone was serious about chemistry. Many of them remained in academia, and today, many are active in the academic world, holding positions such as professor or associate professor.

The theme of my master's thesis was to elucidate the true structure of the sex pheromone of the American cockroach, which was shrouded in mystery at the time. Although I was clumsy with my experiments, I managed to make up for it with sheer volume, thanks to the loving (!) scolding and encouragement from Professor Yoshikazu Shizuri, who directly supervised me. Solving mysteries is the real thrill of science. I felt a great sense of accomplishment when I finally synthesized the target compound after two years. However, I also remember my disappointment when, full of excitement, I presented it to the insects, only to have the cockroaches ignore it, proving it wasn't the true structure. In the end, I ran out of time and couldn't completely solve the mystery, but I was blessed with a great theme, and my three years in the lab resulted in four published papers. Even after finishing my thesis in February, I went to the lab every day, and the final paper was based on results from the two months after my thesis defense. I stayed in the lab until March 31, was sent off by my professors and junior colleagues, and went to the Kao entrance ceremony the very next day.

Inspired by my energetic classmates who wanted to "pursue chemistry," I thought and worried about what I could do to find fulfillment. Around my second year of the master's program, when I had to decide on my career path, I came across a Kao product called "Sanina." It was a product where, after using the toilet, you would use toilet paper sprayed with Sanina, an oil-based cleanser, which would leave no residue and be gentle on the skin. Since ancient times, through a winding path, humans have come to wipe with paper after using the toilet. However, wiping with paper doesn't completely remove the soil. I thought that "wiping with paper impregnated with liquid" was a groundbreaking idea that elevated our lifestyle habits. The names of the people who first started wiping with paper are probably not recorded. But the value of that act can be passed down to future generations. I came to want to develop products that would make someone say "thank you," by creating value. The new habit that Sanina aimed to create did not take hold due to the subsequent spread of warm-water bidet toilet seats, but it became a product that gave me a turning point in my life. (Warm-water bidet toilet seats are amazing products.)

I joined Kao because I wanted to be involved in *monozukuri* (manufacturing). At Kao, I was assigned to the product development Research Centers and Institutes for the household sector, including laundry detergents, where I remain to this day. For the first six years after joining the company, I was in charge of developing household cleaning agents. I improved Bath Magiclean to achieve both high cleaning power with rich lather during washing and quick foam-breaking properties during rinsing. This was achieved by utilizing hardness components like Ca2+ in tap water for switching, enabling high-speed rinsing by turning higher fatty acid salts into scum during the rinse cycle. This product went on to be widely supported by customers and became a standard cleaning agent for bathing areas in Japan.

From 1993, I spent 16 years developing laundry detergents. In 1996, I developed Zab, an ultra-compact detergent that was 3/5 the size of Attack (released in 1987). Although I believe I worked hard on the technical aspects of this job, I misjudged consumer needs, and it ended in a major failure.

In 2001, I developed Attack Micro-Particles, which aimed to dissolve as quickly as sugar or salt. I was inspired to work on this after seeing my mother pre-dissolve powdered laundry detergent in hot water before putting it in the washing machine when I was home for a visit. A reliable partner in research is a treasure. A senior colleague who was my collaborator resonated with the idea, and our formulation design team worked together with the senior colleagues' manufacturing process development team to achieve high-speed dissolution. The theme, which initially started with two or three people, grew into a major project involving a total of about 50 researchers. Being at the center of that work for about five years was tough but very rewarding. After its release, the product received strong support from customers, and to my great honor, I also received an award from the Research and Education Encouragement Fund (in 2003) from the Keio University alumni association.

From 2003, I was in charge of developing laundry detergents for Asia. In the ASEAN region, washing by hand is the mainstream custom, which was an impregnable fortress for Kao, as we had focused on detergents for washing machines. Since we had no understanding of the local laundry habits, we started by living there with the project members for several months to thoroughly learn about how people actually do their laundry, as well as their lifestyles, climate, types of dirt, and attitudes. It was a hands-on approach. We experienced firsthand what a heavy burden hand-washing was for local mothers, which led us to the concept of wanting to make it even a little easier and more enjoyable for them. We developed a hydration lubricating agent that makes hand-rubbing smoother and launched a product called Attack Easy in Thailand and Indonesia. This detergent is easy to understand through the five senses and has grown to become one of the flagship products of Kao's business in Asia today.

And since 2008, I have been in charge of developing professional-use (commercial) cleaning agents.

Professor Yamamura taught me to "carve your name in the library." However, contrary to my professor's teaching, I chose the path of *monozukuri* (manufacturing) to create things that would be used by consumers. I have not been able to directly apply the natural product chemistry I was taught, but thanks to the rigorous training I received, the methods and joys of research, as well as a chemical perspective, have become my backbone and are alive in my work in manufacturing. Even now, 23 years after graduation, I visit my professor's home every New Year's Day. He is very considerate even to an unworthy disciple like me, and we share a very enjoyable time as I report on my year.

This spring (March 2010), it was decided that my professor will receive the Nakanishi Prize (from the Chemical Society of Japan and the American Chemical Society), which is awarded for outstanding research achievements in natural product chemistry! I am very much looking forward to hearing his lecture at the award ceremony this week (Editor's note: this was written in March 2010), for the first time in a long while.