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The 2023 Kyoto Prize
Commemorative lectures by Kyoto Prize laureates are held in Kyoto. These lectures provide an opportunity to get to know not only the achievements of the laureates but also their views on life and personalities. The laureates, who have reached the pinnacles of their respective fields, talk about their research, art and life with various episodes. Please come and join us.
*Dr. Ryuzo Yanagimachi, the 2023 Kyoto Prize Laureate in Advanced Technology, passed away on September 28 JST. We would like to express our most sincere condolences.
The Kyoto Prize Commemorative Lectures on November 11 will take place with some changes to the program.
2023
11 /11 Sat
13:00 - 16:00
Place： Kyoto International Conference Center
Capacity：1,500 persons (FCFS)
Languages：Simultaneous interpretation is provided.
Admission Free
The 2023 Kyoto Prize Kyoto Prize Laureates
Lecture topics
Analysis and Assistance of Mammalian Fertilization: My 60-year Journey
Abstract of the lecture
*Due to the passing of the laureate, an alternative program for Advanced Technology will be held.
I was born and raised in Hokkaido, Japan, where I developed a love for nature. Although initially enrolled in an engineering college, I realized my passion was to pursue basic science to learn more about the beauty and secrets of nature and re-entered the School of Science at Hokkaido University. There, I became fascinated with the fertilization process of sea urchins. After studying fertilization of fish and life cycle of parasitic barnacles, I realized little was known about mammalian fertilization. Fortunately, I worked as a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. M.C. Chang, the father of mammalian in vitro fertilization, in the U.S.A. After joining the University of Hawaii, I conducted most of my research on mammalian fertilization and related subjects. Some of my basic studies, such as direct injection of sperm into eggs, contributed to understanding the hidden capacity of sperm and eggs and overcoming some human fertility problems.
Lecture topics
My Journey Through Physics and Mathematics
Abstract of the lecture
I present snapshots of my seventy-year journey through the world of science, first as a would-be engineer, then as a physicist and later as a mathematician and a mathematical physicist. In many encounters with colleagues in different areas of research I learned that mathematics and a mathematical perspective can be pivotal in developing our thinking about physics. This fundamental connection between mathematics and physics was not always accepted at the beginning of my career, and it was even vigorously denied by some mathematicians and physicists. I mention some of my work to illustrate the value of mathematical physics for theoretical physics and to pure mathematics, the first being the Polaron bound found with K. Yamazaki in Kyoto in 1957. Another is the "ice problem", where I calculated the number of ways to color a chess board with only three colors so that neighboring squares never have the same color.
Lecture topics
My Reality is Different
Abstract of the lecture
My Reality is Different: for the majority of humankind the quotidian experience of reality in the past and in the present are different from those who dominate and manipulate world views in an oppressive manner, but the paradigm for a future could be Different. As an artist I believe my path of life in all humility, is to contribute to the advancement of society and humankind. Our future in the 21st century urgently needs not only a greater balance between technology and human spirit, as Kazuo Inamori envisioned, but also a much-needed re-balance within the human spirit. For the last the cognizance of the feminine side, can manifest a new philosophical paradigm of thought that is urgently needed. I use the metaphor of the mythical figure of Cassandra who could foresee true prophecies but was never believed. This female side of the human psyche can open our eyes, and if therein the prognosis of the future is not suppressed, one can make sense of this life and steer it into a different, more humane direction, with the formulation of new civilizational values.
| 12:00 | Doors open |
| 13:00 | Opening Opening Address Shinobu Inamori-Kanazawa（President of the Inamori Foundation） |
| 13:05 | Kyoto Prize Commemorative Lecture in Basic Sciences Elliott H. Lieb “My Journey Through Physics and Mathematics” |
| 14:00 | Introduction of the Laureate in Advanced Technology Hidenori Akutsu (Director, Center for Regenerative Medicine, Research Institute, National Center for Child Health and Development) Atsuo Ogura (Deputy Center Director, BioResource Research Center, RIKEN) |
| 14:50 | Intermission（20 minutes） |
| 15:10 | Kyoto Prize Commemorative Lecture in Arts and Philosophy Nalini Malani “My Reality is Different” |
| 16:00 | Closing |
*The Commemorative Lectures will take place with some changes to the program for Advanced Technology to look back on the personality and the work of Dr. Yanagimachi.
*After each lecture, navigator Miki Sumiyoshi (former NHK announcer / freelance) will ask the laureates about the lecture and their views on life from the audience’s perspective.
Organized by Inamori Foundation
Supported by Kyoto Prefectural Government, Kyoto City Government, Kyoto Prefectural Board of Education, Kyoto City Board of Education, Kyoto Chamber of Commerce and Industry, The Consortium of Universities in Kyoto, The Kyoto Shimbun, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, The Asahi Shimbun, The Mainichi Newspapers, The Sankei Shimbun, The Yomiuri Shimbun, Jiji Press, Kyodo News, NHK, Kyoto Broadcasting System, α-STATION FM KYOTO
Contact
Please direct all queries to the secretariat of the Kyoto Prize in Congrès Inc.
E-mail: kyoto-prize-events@congre.co.jp