09/10/2026
This is Professor Kenzo Soai, aged 76!
In the photo, he is wearing his familiar white helmet and casually riding his old bicycle, complete with a rearview mirror, to go shopping at a nearby supermarket. It is an ordinary, everyday scene, just like that of many elderly people in Japan.
Yet few people would guess that this humble man is a scientist whose work has had a significant impact on the world.
During an ordinary shopping trip, he received a phone call from Sweden informing him of the exciting news that he had been awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Later that evening, his phone continued ringing with congratulatory calls, including one from Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Outside his home, reporters from major news organizations, along with neighbors and former students, gathered to celebrate the professor's achievement.
Despite suddenly becoming the center of attention, he remained calm, friendly, and humble.
Professor Kenzo Soai, affiliated with Tokyo University of Science, is renowned for his work on the Soai reaction, an important chemical reaction that has contributed significantly to research into molecular asymmetry — a phenomenon closely related to the question of why life on Earth predominantly uses one form of certain molecules rather than their mirror-image counterparts.
Behind groundbreaking scientific work that has earned admiration from researchers around the world is a man who continues to live a simple, everyday life, riding his bicycle to go shopping without making a show of his achievements.
Perhaps the most admirable thing about him is this contrast: on one hand, scientific contributions of international significance; on the other, a modest and down-to-earth lifestyle, just like that of anyone else.
Sometimes, greatness is not measured by outward appearances or luxury, but by the value a person quietly brings to the world.
Our deepest respect to this remarkable professor! 👏
