Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
“This is the mind of the researcher in Japan,” says Susumu Kitagawa, “Don’t switch off the light, even at night.” In this short conversation recorded the day after the announcement of his Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Kitagawa talks to the Nobel Prize’s Adam Smith about his approach to tackling grand challenges, and how to keep a lookout for the unexpected. He also explains how his perspective on research has a lineage that extends back to other Japanese Nobel Prize laureates Kenichi Fukui, Akira Yoshino and even Hideki Yukawa, the very first Nobel Prize laureate from Japan.
© Nobel Prize Outreach.
First reactions terms of use: nobelprize.org/ceremonies/streams-terms-of-use
“This is the mind of the researcher in Japan,” says Susumu Kitagawa, “Don’t switch off the light, even at night.” In this short conversation recorded the day after the announcement of his Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Kitagawa talks to the Nobel Prize’s Adam Smith about his approach to tackling grand challenges, and how to keep a lookout for the unexpected. He also explains how his perspective on research has a lineage that extends back to other Japanese Nobel Prize laureates Kenichi Fukui, Akira Yoshino and even Hideki Yukawa, the very first Nobel Prize laureate from Japan.
© Nobel Prize Outreach.
First reactions terms of use: nobelprize.org/ceremonies/streams-terms-of-use
