Light

2025/03/28

Yasuhito Kodama

President and CEO of Kodama Sokusei Seika Co., Ltd., Member of Okayama Junior Mita-kai, 1978 Faculty of Law

Shine Muscat is a grape born at the Akitsu Branch of the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization's Fruit Tree Research Station in Hiroshima. It was originally created through repeated crossbreeding of several varieties, including Muscat of Alexandria. Experimental cultivation of Shine Muscat began in 1999 in Okayama, which is also a production area for Alexandria. Both past and present, Okayama has a climate suitable for grape cultivation, with plenty of sunshine, low rainfall, and mild temperatures. It is also blessed with soil called decomposed granite (masatsuchi), which contains no excess nutrients and allows for management using only the necessary fertilizers provided. Furthermore, the techniques for balancing the size of the tree and leaves with the spread of the roots—born from Okayama's unique greenhouse cultivation—and the skill to finish them as beautiful clusters have been refined by producers over many years. Additionally, by using the same bagging cultivation method as white peaches, we have pursued ease of eating with a sweet, high-quality flesh and thin skin. Through the application of these production techniques, Okayama's proud "Hareo" brand of Shine Muscat was born.

Okayama's climate, natural features, and the high production techniques of the farmers have come together to create each jewel-like grape.

Ryohei Tomizuka

Associate Professor, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Kanagawa University; 2009 Faculty of Letters, 2015 Master of Letters, 2021 Doctor of Letters

Many viewers who experienced "The Shining" only through the film likely felt a sense of disconnect with the title. In the original novel, the telepathy known as "the shining" possessed by Danny—the son of the family trapped in the hotel—and others is the key to the story. However, the film focuses on the madness into which his father, Jack, who is not a psychic, falls after becoming possessed by the power of the hotel.

Adults who have lost their power and the heart to believe in it are swallowed by madness. The documentary "ROOM 237," which revolves around the film, repeats this structure in an ironic way. In addition to not-entirely-unconvincing folklore that reads into the relationship between powder cans in the background and Native American domination, or cited animations and the Holocaust, one listens to the excited narrations of troubled fans who hallucinate connections to Apollo 11 moon footage or even the Minotaur within the work. As I listen, Jack Nicholson's famous expression comes to mind. However, I cannot simply look down on them and laugh. Yes, as I re-watch the film with eyes like saucers, waiting for an inspiration that won't come while facing my desk now, my expression is also...

Kayoko Kurimoto

Associate Professor, Faculty of Letters, Keio University

Since the keyword is "Light," I would like to talk about the residence of the protagonist of "The Tale of Genji," Hikaru Genji, in the Imperial Palace, in connection with my research on the Heian period Imperial Court.

Hikaru Genji was the second prince of the Emperor of the time and was raised in a building called the Kiritsubo in the inner palace (Kokyu), which was the quarters (tsubone) of his mother, Kiritsubo no Koi. He was demoted from the imperial family to the status of a subject, but even after reaching adulthood, he was permitted to live in this Kiritsubo.

In fact, during the Heian period, adult males permitted to use the buildings of the inner palace were limited to the Emperor, the Crown Prince, Princes born to the Empress, and powerful figures such as Regents (Sessho and Kanpaku). Exceptionally, there is an example suggesting that Prince Katsuakira—a prince of Emperor Daigo whose mother was a lower-ranking Koi rather than the Empress—was allowed to reside in the inner palace despite being the first prince because he could not succeed to the throne. In the case of Hikaru Genji, this event was likely used as source material. Although Genji was not the first prince, he was the Emperor's beloved son, and it is thought that the Emperor, feeling regret that he could not place him on the throne, granted him special treatment as a form of compensation.

Takasumi Tanabe

Professor, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University

Light is fast enough to circle the Earth seven and a half times in one second, and Einstein built the theory of relativity based on the "principle of the constancy of the speed of light," which states that the speed of light in a vacuum is invariant. Is it possible to stop or confine such high-speed light? In fact, while the speed of light in a vacuum is constant, it slows down in materials with a higher refractive index. Furthermore, if we create a small box surrounded by ultra-high-performance mirrors, it is possible to confine light. This research holds the potential to greatly change not only physics but also our lives. For example, the reason your smartphone gets hot is that the electric current used as a signal generates heat as it flows through the wiring. If optical circuits can be realized and signals replaced with light, such losses can be significantly reduced, and ultimate energy savings can be expected.

However, because light is so fast, it is difficult to retain information, and it is currently difficult to create memory like DRAM. Therefore, establishing technology to successfully confine light using microscopic optical circuits is important for realizing innovative optical signal processing.