[No. 179] Toshiyuki Hamura

I am currently engaged in education and research at the Faculty of Science and Technology at Kwansei Gakuin University. I specialize in organic chemistry. It's hard to believe that twelve years have passed since I moved to the Kansai region.

As I take up my pen for this article, I find myself looking back on memories from my younger days.

In high school, I was so interested in mathematics (regardless of my actual ability) that I submitted entries to the monthly academic contest in the magazine "Daigaku e no Sugaku." On the other hand, when it came to chemistry, I honestly wasn't that interested, despite the fortunate circumstance of having a chemistry teacher as my homeroom teacher for all three years (sorry, sensei!). However, during the summer of my third year, I attended a lecture by a chemistry teacher at S Preparatory School (it was about neutralization titration) and realized that chemistry was not a subject of rote memorization but a discipline that could be understood systematically. That's what made me fall in love with chemistry. For that reason, I enrolled in Category III, the chemistry track, at university.

One might have thought I would dive into my studies upon entering university, but for the first three years, I was completely absorbed in my tennis club activities. Especially in my third year, I took on central roles like court leader, and my days consisted of dashing to tennis courts in Kawasaki or Shinagawa as soon as my morning classes at the Yagami Campus were over. From a faculty member's perspective, I was a delinquent student, but the Department of Chemistry had such a close-knit, at-home atmosphere that during a student lab, my mentor, Professor Keisuke Suzuki, once remarked to me, "You weren't in my class today, were you?" Despite my club-centered life, I attended the organic chemistry lectures as much as possible. Professor Suzuki's "Organic Reaction Theory" course focused on understanding the essence of reactions from the perspective of why they occur. His explanations made perfect sense to me, and I gradually started to get excited whenever I saw benzene rings.

For my laboratory assignment, I knocked on the door of the Suzuki Laboratory. My new life began on March 1 of my third year. The senior students, who had been friendly and always smiling when they were teaching assistants in our student labs, were now completely silent and intensely focused on their research. Seeing this instantly dispelled any notion that this would be an extension of my club activities. The lab had a great sense of balance. We trained hard to win the Department of Chemistry's soccer tournament and discussed our futures at the "Gathering Around Mitsuru" on Saturday evenings (a gathering initiated by Professor Mitsuru Kitamura, now at Kyushu Institute of Technology). The balance between research and relaxation was excellent.

When I advanced to graduate school, Professor Suzuki transferred to Tokyo Tech, so I moved my research base to the Ookayama campus. My research themes were developing reactions using highly reactive molecules and synthesizing artificial molecules that were visually interesting (i.e., structurally intriguing). What I learned there was that reactions rarely proceed exactly as you design them. Most experiments don't work out, which can be disheartening, but I learned that instead of giving up, clarifying the reasons for failure is what leads to the next step.

When I approached my experiments with the spirit of "making the most of every stumble," unexpected results sometimes led to new research themes. Advice from discussions with professors visiting from overseas on lecture tours also provided breakthroughs. In research, there are "make-or-break" moments. In situations where a successful reaction means reaching the goal, and failure means... well, luck is important, but I feel that the enjoyment of the research itself is what's truly crucial.

In the lab, three of my peers and I advanced to the Doctoral Programs, and we grew together through friendly competition. I withdrew from the Doctoral Programs to become a faculty member and helped support the lab's operations.

In 2008, I was blessed with the opportunity to establish my own laboratory at my current institution, Kwansei Gakuin University. The university is located in Sanda, a city famous for its Yamadanishiki sake rice and a place rich in nature where one can enjoy the changing seasons. If I feel like it, I can easily pop over to a hot spring, which is a wonderful environment for an onsen lover like me. I often find myself strategizing the synthesis of target molecules while soaking absentmindedly in the hot water. In this new place, my fondness for benzene has only grown, and I am now energetically engaged in synthesizing new aromatic compounds with highly fused benzene rings and exploring their properties and functions.

I have had the pleasure of conducting research with unique and talented members at three universities: Keio University, Tokyo Tech, and Kwansei Gakuin University. The great thing about Keio is not just the intelligence of its individuals but also its strong sense of unity. I was able to strongly feel the same sense of togetherness in my research life that is born when we put our arms around each other's shoulders and sing "Wakaki-chi" during the Keio-Waseda rivalry matches. I intend to continue managing my laboratory with high aspirations and a sense of unity, all while maintaining the mindset of a Keio University alumni.