「ノーベル賞、科学系は京大卒が10人となり最多 『まだ底力ある』」
「京都大学、やっぱり我々はまだきちんと底力を持っているんだなと、自分で言うのも変ですけれど、心から誇り高い気持ちでいっぱい」
— Asahi Shimbun via Yahoo! News Japan, news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/1ea6eebf935d4b11f4005bc819f1334265052448
Japan’s Academic Powerhouse Does It Again
Kyoto University, Japan’s famously independent-minded institution, has done it again — producing not one but two Nobel Prize laureates in 2025:
Shimon Sakaguchi (Physiology or Medicine) and Susumu Kitagawa (Chemistry).
With their wins, Kyoto University now boasts 10 Nobel laureates in the sciences — more than any other Japanese university.
That’s not just a number. It’s practically a cultural statement.
🧬 Freedom Over Formality
While many universities around the world chase structure, evaluation sheets, and performance reviews, Kyoto University prefers something different: chaos with purpose.
A former university president once said:
“Being far from the center of power allows us to let researchers pursue what they love freely. The yield may be low, but the few that succeed change the world.”
In other words, Kyoto U’s lab culture is less “corporate efficiency,” more “controlled anarchy.”
You might not always get results fast — but when you do, they’re Nobel-class.
☯️ A Tale of Two Laureates — Different Fields, Same Spirit
- Dr. Shimon Sakaguchi (Osaka University Specially Appointed Professor) — but a proud Kyoto alumnus — won for discovering regulatory T cells, the immune system’s peacekeepers that prevent self-attack.
- Dr. Susumu Kitagawa (Kyoto University Distinguished Professor) — the chemist who pioneered porous coordination polymers (materials that can trap gases) — once said, “It’s the age of gases.”
Together, they prove Kyoto’s formula: let curiosity lead, and excellence will follow.
🎓 Kyoto vs. Tokyo — The Friendly Rivalry
In Japan’s scientific landscape, Tokyo University often symbolizes order and elite tradition, while Kyoto University represents intellectual rebellion — the “punk band” of academia.
And punk seems to pay off: Kyoto leads with 10 Nobel laureates, while Tokyo trails with 6.
But unlike sports, this rivalry fuels progress for all of Japan’s science.
If Tokyo writes the rulebook, Kyoto doodles in the margins — and sometimes those doodles win Nobels.
🧪 Why It Matters Globally
Kyoto’s continued success reminds the world that creativity thrives in freedom.
Its researchers aren’t driven by short-term results but by long-term fascination — the kind that builds not just papers, but paradigms.
As one Kyoto professor joked,
“We’re not efficient, but we’re unpredictable — and that’s where discovery hides.”
Perhaps in an era of metrics and AI-generated papers, what science needs most is a bit of human disobedience.
🏆 Final Thought
From physicist Hideki Yukawa (Japan’s first Nobel laureate in 1949) to today’s awardees, Kyoto University’s tradition of freedom, eccentricity, and depth continues.
Maybe “底力” — that Japanese phrase for hidden strength — is more than pride.
It’s a reminder that in science, quiet persistence often beats loud ambition.
So here’s to Kyoto University — proof that sometimes, the best innovation policy is to get out of the way.
📚 References
朝日新聞 (Asahi Shimbun). 「ノーベル賞、科学系は京大卒が10人となり最多 『まだ底力ある』」
(Yahoo! News Japan)
Reuters Japan (2025). 「ノーベル生理学・医学賞、坂口志文氏ら３人 『制御性Ｔ細胞』特定」
Nobel Prize Organization (2025). Press Release: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025.
Short quotations from Japanese media are reproduced here under fair use for commentary and educational purposes, with full attribution and direct links to the original articles.
