Reiwa Chemist Yōko Takatsukasa Reincarnation: Saving Japan with Plastic Material

The Phoenix's Trump Card

Thank you for your patience. Aramid fibers are here.

- Toshitsugu Utei

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April 1908

Itsuzō Hata and Seita Kumura, who had established the Teikoku Jinzō Kenshi in the original timeline, joined Teijin. Since its establishment, Teijin has been constantly striving to expand its facilities, and it has finally acquired research and development talent.

"Welcome to Teijin. My name is Yōko Takatsukasa, a Special Advisor. Please feel free to ask me anything from now on."

A young girl of just 10 years old stepped forward in front of the two and bowed her head.

'Is this the prodigious talent since the Meiji Restoration...'

The two couldn't help but be amazed. Yōko had inherited her father's gentle facial features and large eyes, making her a beautiful girl in the so-called "soft and lovable" style. By this time, her invention of nylon had become well-known in society, with headlines proclaiming her as a "genius girl" and "a formidable inventor surpassing men." Recently, her patent application for polycarbonate PC, a resin that is as transparent as glass and much more resistant to breakage, had been publicized, and she had become quite famous in the field of organic chemistry.

"I would like to entrust both of you with the development of new materials. Until now, I have been working alone, but it has become difficult to balance with my studies... So, for a while, the two of you will be my direct subordinates. I know it might be reluctant to work under such an inexperienced person like me..."

"No, we are newcomers, and we are extremely honored to be entrusted with the most important task of developing new materials."

"Your achievements, Takatsukasa-san, are highly regarded in our field of research. I believe age has no relevance to a scientist's abilities."

Hata and Kumura interjected modestly in response to Yōko's self-effacing remarks.

"...Can you really say that...? Thank you very much. Well then, let me show you the laboratory that we will assign to you," Yōko said, guiding them to the laboratory newly established by Teijin.

. . .

"This is our company's laboratory. Even though most of our budget is still allocated to the production department, it's not that impressive..."

Indeed, as Yōko had said, the Teijin laboratory at this time was rather modest. However, they had paid attention to the quality of the equipment, and most importantly, there were facilities that did not exist in Japan at that time, all thanks to Yōko's insistence.

"What's that large... thing with glass shutters, like a big box?"

"That's called a draft chamber... It might take some time to demonstrate, so shall we discuss the substances you want to create first?"

Yōko opened the lid of the device and ignited the burner inside. Then, she retrieved some documents from a drawer on the lab table and brought over chairs from the corner of the room, ushering them to sit down.

"This is the material we want to prioritize for practical use."

"Well... can something like this really be created?"

The structural formula Yōko showed them featured numerous aromatic (benzene) rings connected like chains through amide bonds.

"I'm considering this structure for PA66... You see, compared to PA66, you can tell that carbon chains have been replaced by aromatic rings, right?"