On Oct. 7 the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced that three Japanese-born boffins had won the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work on blue light emitting diodes (LEDs). The winners—Dr. Isamu Akasaki (88) and Dr. Hiroshi Amano (54) of Nagoya University and Dr. Shuji Nakamura (60) of the University of California at Santa Barbara—were the first Japanese (or Japanese-born) winners of a Nobel Prize since Dr. Shinya Yamanaka won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2012. It also marks the first time that a Kyushu-born scientist has won a Nobel Prize. Dr. Akasaki was born in Chiran Town (now Minamikyushu CIty), Kagoshima in 1929. After graduating from Kyoto University in 1952, we went to work for Kobe Kogyo (now Fujitsu Ten, Ltd.) as a research scientist. In 1959, he joined Nagoya University as a research associate and worked his way up to the position of Professor, obtaining his Doctor of Engineering along the way. Source: Nishinippon Shimbun 10/9
