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The story
On October 7, 2026, it was announced that the Nobel Prize in Chemistry would go to Kenso Soai of Tokyo University of Science and one other recipient. On 5ch’s Breaking News+ board, the big talking points were Soai’s background — he did both his undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Tokyo, but spent his entire research career at Tokyo University of Science, with an affiliation at Waseda University after retirement — as well as how to read his name (“Kenso” or “Kenzo”). There was also debate over the question “Is this the first Nobel laureate from a private university?”, with many posters pointing out that academically he’s a University of Tokyo graduate, splitting opinion on whether this can really be called an achievement for Tokyo University of Science.
[Breaking] Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to Kenso Soai of Tokyo University of Science and one other (NTV NEWS NNN) – Yahoo! News
Oct 7 (Wed), 18:56 JST
NTV NEWS NNN
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Academically (by degree), he's a Todai (University of Tokyo) man.
He's not actually the first private-university faculty member to win at the time of the award, though.
Graduate of the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Science and Graduate School of Science.
But as a researcher he seems to have spent his whole career at Tokyo University of Science.
After retirement he was also affiliated with Waseda.
Anyway, congratulations!
it's "Soai Kenso,"
apparently.
Going by the usual kanji-reading rules, shouldn't it be read "Kyouai"?
Apparently it's "Kenso."
Meanwhile Japan's useless humanities fields haven't won a Nobel in over 30 years.
When talking about Nobels in those fields, you always have to use the past tense.
Didn't a female doctor win the Medicine Prize for the malaria drug? (referring to Tu Youyou, who won for artemisinin)
Yang Zhenning (Chen-Ning Yang), of Yang–Mills theory fame, passed away last year at age 103.
Yuan T. Lee won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Though, he was born in Taiwan during the Japanese colonial era and only spoke Japanese until age 9. His master's advisor at National Tsing Hua University was a Japanese man, Hiroshi Hamaguchi.
The look on your faces after enduring the constant fear of being held back a year is just different.
Hahaha
I still have nightmares about not having enough credits.
I was enrolled for 7 years before I finally graduated lol
At least give us the Economics Prize.
I'd rather see a Fields Medal winner.
Don't need it — the Economics Prize gets rated pretty low anyway.
About the only thing people actually respect from it is the Black–Scholes equation.
I never heard that Kyoto Sangyo University's applicant numbers went up after Maskawa won.
No way it affects anything.
Everyone knows he's a Todai grad.
Any sensible exam-taker knows there's no way a Nobel laureate could come out of a "safety school for people who didn't get into a regional Imperial university" like Science University.
Japan has no track record in Economics or Peace, so tomorrow is the last chance.
It's not specifically aimed at Japanese nationals, but isn't the ICC a real contender for this year's Peace Prize?
Don't need Literature, Peace, or Economics.
Medicine, Chemistry, and Physics are plenty.
For the Peace Prize there's at least some chance for Akane-san, isn't there? (likely Tomoko Akane, ICC president)
It already overtook them 10 years ago when Omura-san won.
These days Meiji and Science University are basically the same level lol
Science:
https://www.keinet.ne.jp/exam/ranking/2027/h_kei_s07.pdf
Engineering:
https://www.keinet.ne.jp/exam/ranking/2027/h_kei_s08.pdf
Background and Key Points of Debate
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is typically announced in early October each year, and in 2026 it fell on October 7. Kenso Soai is a graduate of the University of Tokyo’s Faculty of Science and Graduate School of Science, but as a researcher he reportedly spent many years at Tokyo University of Science, with an affiliation at Waseda University after retirement. On the thread, opinions split over whether this achievement should be credited to Tokyo University of Science or to the University of Tokyo, where he actually studied — essentially a debate over academic background versus current affiliation. There is precedent for laureates whose alma mater differs from their affiliation at the time of the award, so it doesn’t necessarily translate directly into a boost in name recognition for the affiliated university. There was also brief confusion over whether his name is read “Kenso” or “Kenzo,” but the thread converged on “Kenso.” Separately, the Literature Prize is scheduled to be announced on October 8, and the Economics and Peace Prizes came up as fields where Japanese laureates haven’t appeared in many years.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Breaking News+) thread “Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to Kenso Soai of Tokyo University of Science and one other.”
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