[No. 41] Takashi Inozuka

The Faculty of Science and Technology at Keio University is a fun place.

Basketball, drinking, skiing, mahjong, the racetrack, and, oh yes, the research lab. That was my entire university life, and they are all fond memories.

I started playing basketball in junior high, and I was a player on the Faculty of Science and Technology Athletic Association basketball team for four years until my junior year? After that, I coached for three years until I graduated from graduate school, and I was very active in practices, games, and especially at drinking parties. I am without a doubt the "troublesome friend" mentioned in "Keio University Alumni Relay No. 38, Mr. Chichibu." Although, to me, he is the troublesome friend. I still can't give up basketball or drinking, and my "play basketball and then drink" lifestyle continues even now that I'm over 40.

In the winter, during busy years, I would hole up at ski resorts for more than 40 days a year, living a life immersed in skiing (I'll skip the stories about mahjong and the racetrack).

Now, to get to the main topic. Since I came from an affiliated high school, I was able to choose my preferred field, but for some reason, despite liking physics, I went into Stream 3 (the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Applied Chemistry). In my first and second years of university, I just couldn't get into chemistry and was wondering what to do, but my perspective changed when I encountered "chemical engineering."

You're probably wondering, "What is chemical engineering?" To put it simply, it's the field of study that considers "how to manufacture in a factory what has been created in a beaker experiment." It has strong physical elements as well as chemical ones, and I thought, "This is it," so I joined a chemical engineering lab without hesitation. In the lab, for three years, I worked on the theme of "flow characteristics of a two-dimensional bubble column," where I pumped air from the bottom of an acrylic container filled with an aqueous solution and observed what happened to the bubbles (I was taking measurements, too).

After completing my master's program, I joined Lion Corporation and was assigned to the Process Development Center. There, after researching microcapsules for two years, I spent eight years on process development for laundry detergents. It was here that I encountered "powder technology"—that is, "powder." I was captivated by the depth of "powder" and have been involved with it ever since. For example, even just mixing powders, subtle differences in physical properties can make a huge difference between "those that mix easily" and "those that are difficult to mix." It's also a field where theory alone is not enough and experience is crucial; many say it takes ten years to become a full-fledged powder technologist.

In 1999, I was transferred to the Pharmaceutical Research Center. Although I was a bit bewildered by the move from "detergents" to "pharmaceuticals," I was put in charge of "miniaturizing Bufferin." There were many challenges unique to pharmaceuticals, but I was able to fully utilize my knowledge of powder technology and chemical engineering. After that, wanting to make tablets easier to take, I wondered if it was possible to create a tablet that could be taken without water, dissolve quickly in the mouth, and have a pleasant feel (taste, texture). This led me to develop the technology for "orally disintegrating tablets." This technology, combined with a request from the planning department for "an antidiarrheal that can be taken without water for sudden diarrhea when out and about," led to the development of "Stoppa Antidiarrheal." Development was tough. A particular problem arose when we actually manufactured it in the factory: the tablets would chip during transport. If we made the tablets too hard, they wouldn't dissolve; if we made them too soft, they would chip. To solve this, I traveled to the factory in Toyama more than ten times before we finally found a solution. "Stoppa Antidiarrheal" didn't just steal users from the existing antidiarrheal market; it created a new, additional market. It became a hit product, even making it onto Nikkei Trendy's list of hit products (albeit at the bottom), and I had the opportunity to be interviewed for magazines and appear on TV. After that, we released other "orally disintegrating tablets" such as "Tomerumin," "Alfresh SP Tablets," and "Stoppa Antidiarrheal for Elementary and Junior High School Students." I am still developing various tablets today.

"Product development" is incredibly difficult while you're in the middle of it, but the product you're developing is like your own child, so you feel happy just to see it launched, and you're truly overjoyed if it becomes a hit. Finding a field of study that suits you at Juku's Faculty of Science and Technology and developing a hit product. Please consider this as one of your future options.