3 Japanese scientists receive Nobel awards

Thursday 11th December, 06:24 AM JST

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

› Login to comment

13 Comments

Athletes at 08:35 AM JST - 11th December

It was a proud moment for descendents of Sun Goddess. Goddess is smilling on the heaven.
herefornow at 09:01 AM JST - 11th December

I read in the Daily Yomiuri yesterday that one of the three, I believe it was Kobayashi, said his career would have been enhanced if he could speak English, so he could better communicate with his colleagues worldwide. Do you think there is any chance that the education powers that be here will take note of that and actually commit to teaching/learning English properly? (And, I have no axe to grind here, as I have no connection to English education/teaching.) Probably not, as they think that having three Nobel prize winners supports the way the system works here.
Pukey2 at 09:08 AM JST - 11th December

Yes, a wonderful achievement and something to inspire the kids in Japan. And all NHK could ask one of them was if he would dance at the ball. Eyes rolling.
malfupete at 09:19 AM JST - 11th December

I thought the one scientist, Shimomura, is indeed an american citizen. Why do these news agencies keep saying he's japanese... when immigration law here states that one cannot be of dual nationalities.
soldave at 10:10 AM JST - 11th December

maifupete - If you are famous and successful then you become Japanese. If you start to fail then you become a foreigner.

That happens outside Japan too in some sports.
Samuraiiki at 10:15 AM JST - 11th December

How much money did Japan contribute to the Nobel Foundation?
prayudyanto at 10:55 AM JST - 11th December

It would be greater if those scientist will orientated for poor people, which is the biggest part of the world
a11jc at 11:50 AM JST - 11th December

I’m really proud of Japan, because three Japanese received Novel Awards!! I’m really happy to hear this news. They gave huge dream and hope to children all over the world. Professor Masukawa said “I can not speak English. I speak only Japanese.” His words made a deep impression on me because almost people (especially Japanese) are ashamed that they can’t speak English fluent. But he said “I can’t speak English” stately. I thought it is not so easy thing. And he also said, “My dream is write paper in Japanese and he wants to have read it people all over the world.” He has a proud as Japanese. Recently, I often heard about children’s achievement are falling in Japan. Prof. Shimomura said “Not only sit in front of TV, but also go out and learn from nature.” I think this is the most important thing in Japan now.
Maff at 01:13 PM JST - 11th December

Although he lives in the U.S., Shimomura has not naturalized.
Stonefish at 02:42 PM JST - 11th December

So his dream is to have people read his paper in Japanese all over the world? So his dream is for Japanese to be an international language?

Well that will never happen if the world follows his example in relation to the learning of an international language - i.e. English.

SO he will understand when the nobel laureates of the future get up on stage and stammer "nihongo dekinai!" or state "If they ask me to read the speech in Japanese I wont accept it".
onibaku at 05:28 PM JST - 11th December

Ok guys, I agree that Japanese people don't speak very well English and that they should learn some foreign languages... but what about Americans? I guess that most of the people writing here are Americans (of course there will be some smartass answering that he's not, but from what I could guess from the comments, most readers are), so it's easy for you to tell the world to learn your language when you're probably the industrialized country with the lowest proficiency in foreign languages. Consequently, learn some languages before being so quick to point the finger at Japanese people!! English is not the only language on Earth, and it's not better than any other language, so I really don't see why the entire world should learn your language. Everyone should learn some foreign languages, but not always English/American. What's more, that would help preserve the many languages that will probably disappear in the next decades.

"La critique est aisée, mais l'art est difficile."

(or a quote that better suits Americans who seem to adore the Bible - with tongue in cheek :-P - : Matthew 7:5 in the King James reads: Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.)
samsarks at 11:50 PM JST - 11th December

''onibaku''you are right.why do europeans and americans think speaking and reading english is a must for everyone.i regret that my ancestors where not that intelligent about picking up english as the medium of instruction in my country.culture is meant to be preserved and if i was i japanese i would not have bothered to even learn english for it is of no use.learning to speak english is neo-colonialism.KUdo's my japanese nobel laureates and may you inspire this current japanese kids
Stonefish at 08:39 AM JST - 12th December

Unless you want to invent an entirely new language, then there will have to be one language that will be used in international communication. Yes we can all learn each other's languages and by rights we should be all multi-lingual, and people are free to lament the injustice of it all, but generally nature and society does not afford us the luxury of such an inefficient approach to communication. What we want to do, at the end of the day, is communicate.