Famous Japanese Physicists

Hideki Yukawa was a Japanese theoretical physicist who won the prestigious Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy in 1940. In 1949, Yukawa became the first Japanese to be honored with the Nobel Prize. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his prediction of the pion. The Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics was inaugurated in 1952 to honor Yukawa's achievements.

Japanese-American physicist Yoichiro Nambu won the Nobel Prize for discovering spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics. He was associated with the faculty of the University of Chicago since the 1950s till his death in 2015. He also received the prestigious Wolf Prize and the Max Planck Medal.

Nobel Prize-winning Japanese physicist Takaaki Kajita is best known for his research on the oscillations of neutrinos. He has been associated with the faculty of the University of Tokyo and has also led the Science Council of Japan as its president. He completed his doctoral thesis under Nobel laureate Masatoshi Koshiba.

Tomonaga Shin'ichirō was a Japanese physicist whose role in the progression of quantum electrodynamics earned him the prestigious Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965. He won the award along with Julian Schwinger and Richard Feynman. Over the course of his career, Tomonaga Shin'ichirō was also honored with several other awards, such as the Asahi Prize and the Japan Academy Prize.

Nobel Prize-winning Japanese physicist Reona Esaki, also known as Leo Esaki, is remembered for his pioneering research on superconductivity. He devised the Esaki diode, or tunnel diode, too. Initially associated with IBM’s research laboratories in the US, he later moved back to Japan and headed scientific institutions.

Isamu Akasaki was a Japanese physicist and engineer. Isamu, who specializes in semiconductor technology, won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014 along with Shuji Nakamura and Hiroshi Amano. Isamu Akasaki also won other prestigious awards like the Kyoto Prize, IEEE Edison Medal, Charles Stark Draper Prize, and Asia Game Changer Award.

Amano Hiroshi is a Japanese physicist, inventor, and engineer. Amano, who specializes in semiconductor technology, won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014 alongside Shuji Nakamura and Isamu Akasaki. They received the award for inventing blue LEDs. Over the course of his career, Amano Hiroshi has also been honored with several other awards, such as the Asia Game Changer Award.

Koshiba Masatoshi was a Japanese physicist best remembered for co-founding neutrino astronomy. He played an instrumental role in detecting solar neutrinos, for which he was honored with the prestigious Nobel Prize in Physics in 2002 along with Raymond Davis Jr. Koshiba Masatoshi also won several other awards, including the Asahi Prize, Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics, and Nishina Memorial Prize.

Kobayashi Makoto is a Japanese physicist who won one-fourth of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2008. Kobayashi has also received other prestigious awards such as the Nishina Memorial Prize, Sakurai Prize, and Asahi Prize.

Toshihide Maskawa was a Japanese theoretical physicist best remembered for his work on CP-violation. He won one-quarter of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2008. He also won other prestigious awards, including the Nishina Memorial Prize. Toshihide Maskawa is also remembered for his association with the Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, where he served as director from 1997 to 2003.

Sin-Itiro Tomonaga was a Japanese physicist who played an important role in the progression of quantum electrodynamics, for which he received the prestigious Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965. He shared the award with Julian Schwinger and Richard Feynman.