06Ochi: Dr. Matsumoto, you came to our university in 2018 when you were the president of RIKEN and helped us conclude agreements regarding research cooperation and human resource development, as well as establishing a joint research base. Currently, I hear that you are increasingly active as the director of the International Institute for Advanced Studies, whose basic philosophy is to “conduct research for the future and happiness of mankind.” Iʼm looking forward to hearing about so many things today. First of all, what kind of child were you when you were young?Matsumoto: I was born in Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, China, but we moved to Yamatokoriyama City in Nara Prefecture, my current home city, when I was one year old, so I donʼt remember much about what it was like there. We lived at my grandfatherʼs house at first, but from around the age of five, our family of five ended up living in a rented residence with only one 10 m2 room due to certain circumstanc-es. Life was tough, and my mother was very strict about studying. I got scolded for scoring anything less than 100 on a test. If I showed a test score of 99, she would angrily say: “What happened to the one point? You must not have been paying attention in class!!” My study method was overnight cramming. Before the test, I studied by read-ing out loud and memorizing the contents of my textbook and notes.Ochi: She was very strict about your studies, I see. But I have to ask, you memorized not only what the teacher taught in the lessons but also all the notes and textbooks?Matsumoto: I didnʼt dislike studying, but I didnʼt particularly like it either. It's not something to brag about because I relied on my memory alone to do well on exams. It didnʼt have much to do with my abilities. When I was in elementary school, there was a girl who always took the initiative to do the cleaning that other people didnʼt want to do, and I remember thinking as a child that “she is an example of a truly wonderful person.” Later, I learned the word ■■■■■■, which translates to hidden virtues, and I believe that people like this girl who accumulate hidden virtues are the ones who truly support society.Ochi: You went on to attend Nara Womenʼs Higher Normal High School. Please tell me a little about your memories there and how you aspired to attend Kyoto University.A family photo during his Kyoto University days (Dr. Matsumoto, back row right, taken around 1961)Matsumoto: Nara Womenʼs Higher Normal High School had about 150 students per grade, and those who escalated up from the elementary school dressed themselves very fashionably. There were 27 girls out of 50 in my class. There was folk dancing during lunch break every day, and each grade would form a dance circle. I remember how all the boys were on their toes trying to pair with the girl that they liked. Since we were very tight on money, I gave up the idea of going to Tokyo due to living costs. I looked at Kyoto University and Osaka University, and chose Kyoto University because it was closer to Nara, where I lived. So I took the entrance exam for Kyoto University without knowing anything about the university or what can be studied there.Ochi: So the financial status greatly influ-enced your choices regarding university edu-cation during your time. Also, unlike today, when there is an abundance of various media, available information about universities must have been limited. What made you choose the Faculty of Engineering? Did you not con-sider, say, the Faculty of Medicine?Matsumoto: Well, it costs money to become a doctor, and it is difficult to find employment for science or literature majors. The Faculty of Engineering was advantageous for finding employment at the time, so I chose it for eco-nomic reasons. It was around the time when electronic computers were getting a lot of attention, so I decided to take the electronics engineering exam without giving it much thought.Ochi: You must have had other fields of study that you were interested in. But you chose the Faculty of Engineering to make your job search easier. What kind of campus life did you have at Kyoto University?Matsumoto: I attended class regularly. It took me three hours round trip to commute between Nara and Kyoto, and I was working part-time in Nara, so being at the university was my only free time. During my freshman and sophomore years, I was able to play base-ball and other games with my friends, but from my junior year onwards, the number of specialized lectures for my major increased and it became more difficult.Ochi: When I retired as a professor, my final lecture was titled “Fate is up in the air?” From what you said, when you had to make a decision, you did base it on economic consid-erations, but I also feel that you were relying on luck at the same time.Matsumoto: Exactly. The thing is, when I had to make a decision, so little information was available to me for reference. So how did these little bits of information come to me? By luck. When you think about it, luck depends on people. If you study a lot, or if you have well-educated parents, you are exposed to a myriad of information. But I didnʼt like to study very much, my father came home late every evening, and my mother never graduated college. For someone like me, informa-tion could only come from friends and teachers. If so, who you meet and befriend is pure “luck.”Ochi: So then, when you wanted to go to graduate school, on what information did you base your decision? Advice from your friends and teachers? You mentioned that you chose electronic engineering because you were interested in electronic computers, but in graduate school, you majored in research on space plasma.Matsumoto: Yes. I made that choice because I was fascinated by electronic computers, but when I tried it, I realized that it wasn't all that interesting. So, in graduate school, I went to ask about joining a laboratory on microwave engineering, but it was not possible because the professor in charge was transferring to an-other university. I was a bit lost, so I thought Iʼd just try one of the doors on either side of this laboratory. I blindly picked the door on the right, opened it, and there was Professor Kenichi Maeda (1909-1995). When I asked, “Would you take me as your graduate school student?” he said “Sure!” and this is how my research in radio engineering began.Ochi: So this professor behind that door just happened to be Professor Kenichi Maeda, Japanʼs leading radio engineer who was researching the ionosphere, the magnetosphere, the sun, plasma, and other fields deeply related to space. So that means you didnʼt actively seek out this research. My mother was stricter about studies than daily living“Luck” depends on close friends and teachersThe blind choice led to space radioengineering
元のページ ../index.html#7