...Katō had left school early to help support the family by being a school teacher. They were struggling after her father died.

Her mother and 2 of her siblings had died when she was a baby: The house on the family farm caught fire after collapsing in a massive earthquake.

However, her stepmother, Kin, encouraged her to move to Tokyo & continue studying. After spending days at the door of Hokkaido University's president begging to be admitted, Katō became the uni's first woman student...

2/7

...Uni was hard. Women's schools hadn't prepared her enough. Classes were in several languages. Gender barriers were massive, and she was bullied. She had to keep teaching on the side.

Katō thrived nevertheless. Here she is in 1921 with teaching colleagues. That year, she graduated from uni & could leave teaching. She married & gave birth to her son.

Now she faced additional barriers as a married woman. Forging a scientific career with a marriage and children was another first in Japan...

3/7

... Katō's career in science began when she graduated & became an assistant at the Uni's department of agricultural chemistry.

This photo shows her with colleagues at Hokkaido University - Katō is the woman with the white shirt in the front row.

In 1924 and 1931 she gave birth to her 2 daughters. Her stepmother, Kin, lived with the family to help her manage work and family...

4/7