Cultivators: Kono Yasui

Womanica

Acast Creative Studios

History, Society & Culture, Education

4.3 • 920 Ratings

🗓️ 4 April 2025

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Kono Yasui (1880-1971) was a Japanese biologist and cytologist who became the first Japanese woman to receive a doctoral degree in science. Her academic and scientific career defied gender norms of the time and made important advancements in genetics.

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This month, we're talking about cultivators — women who nurtured, cross-pollinated, experimented, or went to great lengths to better understand and protect the natural world.

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn't help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we'll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Nicola Cochlin and for BBC Radio 4, this is history's youngest heroes. Rebellion, risk and the radical power of youth.
0:10.2	She thought, right, I'll just do it. She thought about others rather than herself.
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0:21.0	That resistance has to be mounted.
0:22.4	It has to be mounted now.
0:24.4	Follow History's youngest heroes, wherever you get your podcasts.
0:30.5	In Mississippi, Yazoo Clay keeps secrets.
0:34.3	Seven thousand bodies out there or more. A forgotten asylum cemetery. It was my family's
0:41.4	mystery. Shame, guilt, propriety, something keeps it all buried deep until it's not. I'm Larison
0:50.4	Campbell and this is under Yazoo Clay. Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
1:03.0	Hello, I'm Edie Allard, a senior brand studio producer at Wonder Media Network, and I'm so excited to be hosting this episode of Womeninica.
1:11.7	This month, we're talking about cultivators, women who nurtured, cross-pollinated,
1:17.0	experimented, or went to great lengths to better understand and protect the nature around them.
1:26.8	Within every plant, there is a world.
1:31.1	And within a small village in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan, there was a woman who dedicated her whole career to studying those worlds.
1:41.0	Spiderwort, castor beans, persimmons, and poppies were among the many species that this
1:46.4	womanican examined.
1:49.1	She was not just interested in what grew from the ground beneath her, but also how she could
1:53.4	break new ground and create new paths forward for women in science.
1:59.3	Today we are learning the life and legacy of Kono Yasui.
2:04.8	Kono was born in the small village of Sanbon Matsu, Japan in 1880. Her parents owned a shipping
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