Broadening my horizons and deepening my knowledge through physics research. To one day contribute to my beloved hometown of Hokkaido.

Profile

From Hokkaido Nemuro High School, a public school in Hokkaido

From Nemuro City, Hokkaido. With the determination to "go out into the world, broaden my knowledge, and one day use it to help my hometown of Hokkaido," I enrolled in the Faculty of Science and Technology at Keio University. I pursued physics, a field I had been interested in for a long time, and in graduate school, I researched the properties of molecules using lasers at the Sasada Laboratory. Through research that forms the foundation for various fields such as astronomy, the environment, and living organisms, I developed a research mindset and approach of steadily accumulating results through trial and error. After graduation, I plan to return to Hokkaido and work for an automotive parts manufacturer.

[*] The student's academic year at the time of the interview (November 2017).

I'm from Nemuro in Hokkaido. Since you have to cross the sea to get to Honshu (the main island), people who don't leave Hokkaido really tend to stay. Nemuro, in particular, is a town at the eastern tip, so it seems many people don't leave their hometown. In my case, my father had graduated from a university in Tokyo, but also, a teacher at the Juku I attended since junior high school told me, "You should go to Tokyo at least once," so I naturally chose to go to a university in Tokyo. I love my hometown and want to make Nemuro a better place. To do that, we need people who contribute while staying in Nemuro, but we also need people who go out, learn, and bring something back. I believe I chose the latter path.

Since around junior high school, I had a vague dream of becoming a researcher. I've loved science magazines since I was a child and thought it would be interesting to do this kind of research. However, I was always good at science subjects and was the type to think things through carefully, so I had decided to go into a physics-related field. And this is also a bit vague, but I had the impression that "Keio is strong in science," so I took the entrance exam for Keio's Faculty of Science and Technology.

I had been studying diligently, but I'd say I really got serious starting from the day of the mock Center Test in my second year of high school. I became strongly aware of the fact that it was finally my turn. I had also retired from the table tennis club I belonged to, so from then on, my days were filled with studying. Also, I think it was a big help that I was in the countryside where, in a good way, there was nothing to do, so there were few temptations (laughs).

My impression was that there were more diverse people than I had expected. Especially in the first and second years, most faculties study together at the Hiyoshi Campus, so I was able to meet various students from both the humanities and sciences. It was a shock at first, coming from Nemuro, but the relationships I built at that time have become a valuable asset. Speaking specifically about the Department of Physics, my impression is that there are many independent-minded people. The academic scope is broad, and everyone is dedicated to their own areas of interest. I think being able to place myself among such strong individuals also contributed to my own growth.

Living in the men's self-governing dormitory. The self-governing dormitory is a place where, under the spirit of "learning while teaching, teaching while learning," male students from different faculties, academic years, hometowns, and nationalities live together in three-person rooms, supporting each other while sometimes inconveniencing one another, to create a living space through self-governance. The hierarchical relationships were strict, so I think I also learned proper etiquette. My purpose in coming here was to leave my parents' home and see the wider world, so being able to live and eat with people of various nationalities and ways of thinking was a great gain.

In my third year of undergraduate studies, there was a seminar led by Professor Sasada, who is now my academic advisor in my current laboratory. The topic was related to quantum computers, which I had been interested in since high school. At that stage, I still hadn't decided on a specific future goal, so I chose Professor Sasada's lab simply by following my interests. After that, as I gradually became more accustomed to the research, I decided to continue it by advancing to graduate school.

I am conducting research to investigate the properties of substances by shining light on them and detecting how that light emerges. Each substance has colors it "likes" and "dislikes"; it absorbs the colors it likes and transmits the ones it dislikes. Therefore, by observing how the applied light emerges, we can understand the properties of that substance. Conversely, by examining the light coming from an unknown substance, it's also possible to identify that substance. A clear example of an application is in astronomy. For example, we know that the sun contains helium and hydrogen. The reason we know this, without having gone there to check, is because we analyze the light that reaches us from the sun. Another example is the instant-read thermometer, which is also an application of this research.

My research is in a fundamental area, so I sometimes feel that the results are not easily communicated to others. However, the wide range of applications is a major attraction. The feeling that I am supporting the foundational part of various research fields—be it in astronomy, the environment, or biology—is what motivates me.

I have a job lined up with an automotive parts manufacturer in Hokkaido. It's not directly related to my current research, but the research process of forming a hypothesis, testing it through trial and error, and getting feedback is the same wherever you go. I believe my research experience will definitely be useful. The ability to return to Hokkaido to work, and the fact that the company has its headquarters on Honshu, which prevents my perspective from becoming too inward-looking, were also reasons I decided to join the company. My feelings for my hometown are always in my heart, so I hope to contribute to Hokkaido in various ways.