Chosun Ilbo ran an October 13 overseas feature on the ‘power of otaku’ behind Japan's Nobel record. This year's co-winner of the chemistry prize, Kenso Soai of the Tokyo University of Science, has put the traits of Japanese basic science back in view.
This year's Nobel announcements began with medicine on October 5, followed by physics on the 6th, chemistry on the 7th, literature on the 8th and peace on the 9th. The chemistry prize was shared by France's Henri Kagan and Japan's Kenso Soai. According to Segye Ilbo, Soai is 76 and an emeritus professor at the Tokyo University of Science.
광고 문의 · 300×250In 1995 Soai first demonstrated asymmetric autocatalysis, the so-called Soai reaction, in which a tiny imbalance in a nearly equal mixture drives one mirror-image form to amplify itself. Segye Ilbo reported that it is seen as a clue to the origin of chemical asymmetry, with hoped-for uses in drugs and new materials.
An attitude visible in his remarks
Soai likened the search for a reaction to wandering in the dark with a headlight, and said the field has many outstanding researchers, which made the prize more of an honor. He reportedly told only one student of the news, by text message. Such long devotion to a single subject resembles the ‘otaku’ style of immersion, which appears to be the feature's premise.
By Segye Ilbo's count, this is Japan's 32nd Nobel Prize (31st by individual) and its 10th in chemistry; last year's chemistry prize went to Susumu Kitagawa of Kyoto University. We could not access the full text of the Chosun feature, so we could not confirm the specific arguments or examples linking otaku culture to research results.
A third view: inside and outside Japan, some credit long-term basic-research support and a culture of deep focus for the string of prizes, while others worry about funding structures and the treatment of young researchers. We do not treat otaku culture as a proven cause of the prizes and present it only as one interpretation.
