Kenso Soai’s High School Shaped Nobel Laureate’s Path to Chemistry Prize
Kenso Soai, a 76-year-old professor emeritus at Tokyo University of Science, is set to receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in December. His former school in Hiroshima says its open atmosphere and encouragement of student initiative may have helped shape the scientist behind the Soai reaction.
Kenso Soai, a professor emeritus at Tokyo University of Science, will receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry at a ceremony in Sweden in December, and his Hiroshima high school says its open culture may have helped shape his path. The 76-year-old’s research could help scientists investigate the origin of life.
His work, known as the Soai reaction, is a form of asymmetric autocatalysis. It has been recognized as groundbreaking basic research.
Soai graduated from Hiroshima University Junior and Senior High School, a coeducational national school with a six-year junior and senior high school program. School officials say it has long emphasized freedom, independence and self-discipline.
Vice Principal Takeshi Akamatsu described the school as relaxed and open, with room for students to follow their interests. The school hopes that environment contributed to Soai’s success.
Many of the school’s teachers hold master’s degrees. Even when Soai attended, teachers pursued research alongside their teaching duties.
“Seeing teachers so dedicated to their research may have inspired Soai as well,” a school representative said.
The representative said the school hopes students will draw pride from Soai’s achievement while continuing to explore their own interests.
More than 90% of past Japanese Nobel laureates, 29 in total, graduated from public high schools, according to the figures cited in the account. About 65% of high school students in Japan attend public schools.
The school began in the late Meiji era as a junior high school affiliated with the predecessor of Hiroshima University. Its alumni association, the Acacia Association, has more than 10,000 members.
Katsunori Nishihara, a graduate of the school’s affiliated elementary, junior high and senior high schools, now teaches Japanese there. He said the university connection brought in faculty with academic backgrounds and recalled an open, supportive environment.
“I hope we can continue providing an education that allows every child’s potential to flourish, regardless of where they start, and helps them grow in whatever direction their interests lead,” Nishihara said.
Hiroshima Governor Mika Yokota, also an alumna, recalled the school’s freedom and said she founded a drama club as a student. “The atmosphere was very open and free-spirited, and I had many friends who were unique and full of personality,” she said.
Soai’s prize will bring the number of Nobel laureates who graduated from the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University to 10 each, tying them for first place. Nagoya University follows with three.
Every Japanese Nobel laureate who graduated from a Japanese university attended a national university; none has graduated from a private university.
