Interview with the faculty staff in the Graduate School of Science, The University of Osaka
My Connection with Hideki Yukawa as an Astrophysicist
Kentaro Nagamine (Professor)
Department of Earth and Space Science, Graduate School of Science, The University of Osaka
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Q：What kind of connection do you feel between yourself and Hideki Yukawa?
I am not from the generation that had the opportunity to meet Hideki Yukawa in person, but I was deeply influenced by photographs and books I encountered when I was young. One image that left a particularly strong impression on me is the photograph of Yukawa strolling through the garden of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton together with Albert Einstein. There are also several photographs of him standing in front of the Institute alongside renowned theoretical physicists such as J. Robert Oppenheimer and John Wheeler.
What these photographs conveyed to me was the image of a Japanese theoretical physicist engaging in discussion at the very forefront of global scholarship with remarkable naturalness. I felt a strong sense of admiration when I saw this. In addition, reading Yukawa’s autobiographical essay collection, “The Traveler”, was also of great significance to me. This book does not focus solely on physics, but gently describes encounters with different cultures and people, as well as the uncertainty and joy of conducting research abroad.
From these writings, I sensed Yukawa’s attitude of continuing to think and explore the world as a human being before being a researcher. In that attitude, I found the essential appeal of the life of a researcher. Yukawa is often said to have loved Kyoto, but I believe he was also a true internationalist/cosmopolitan.
Influenced by these experiences, I decided to pursue graduate studies at Princeton University, which has remained at the forefront of cosmology since the time of Einstein. Looking back, I feel that I was unconsciously drawn to the path that Yukawa pioneered—speaking about universal physics beyond national boundaries. After enrolling, I attended seminars at the Institute for Advanced Study almost every week, and I myself walked many times through the same garden that I had once seen only in photographs.
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Q：How did you come to aspire to become a researcher?
I did not have a clearly defined goal from the beginning, but I think I always carried a quiet sense of wonder toward nature and the universe from childhood. The turning point came when I encountered relativity theory in high school. I was deeply fascinated by phenomena such as Lorentz contraction and time dilation, which defy everyday intuition.
I picked up the Iwanami paperback edition of “Relativity” by Albert Einstein (translated by Ryoyu Uchiyama) and was deeply moved by the fact that, through Einstein’s own words, the logic of the theory could be followed using only high-school-level physics. Later, as a university student studying general relativity, I learned that the theory possesses the power to describe not only gravity, but also the origin and evolution of the universe itself. That realization led me to strongly aspire to become a cosmologist. Much later, I also learned that Uchiyama had been a professor at The University of Osaka, which left a lasting impression on me.
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Q：What meaning does the Yukawa Memorial Room hold for you?
For me, the Yukawa Memorial Room is not simply a place to preserve history. Rather, I see it as a “living space” where young people who aspire to become researchers can feel something and be inspired. Just as I myself was deeply motivated in choosing my path by the image of Yukawa walking with Einstein and by the words written in “The Traveler”, the Memorial Room is filled with records of intellectual endeavor that transcend time and language.
I feel a profound sense of connection in the fact that I am now engaged in research and education at The University of Osaka, while also serving as a member of the Yukawa Memorial Room committee.
In addition, at the Graduate School of Science, The University of Osaka, there is a blackboard once used by Yukawa that was transferred from Columbia University. As I am doing now, it is freely available for anyone to write on. Seeing students regularly use it for discussion, I feel that they, too, may be sensing something of Yukawa’s presence.
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 Steering committee members of the Yukawa Memorial Room and the author (second from left), June 2025
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Q：Is there a work by Hideki Yukawa that you would recommend to high school or undergraduate students?
If I were to recommend one book, it would certainly be “The Traveler”. This book is not a technical exposition of physics, but rather a record of a way of life—how one engages with the world as a human being and continues to carry one’s own questions.
I feel that the title “The Traveler” embodies a humble self-awareness: that human beings are travelers who do not fully know where they come from or where they are going. As someone who studies the universe, I too might be described as one traveler among many, continuing to explore human existence from a cosmological perspective.
Reading this book, one comes to realize that becoming a researcher is not a privilege reserved for a select few with extraordinary talent, but a way of life in which one treasures curiosity and continues to hold onto one’s own questions, even while feeling uncertain. I sincerely hope that high school and undergraduate students who are uncertain about their future paths will take the opportunity to read this book and feel Yukawa’s presence more closely. I would also encourage them to explore the materials in the Yukawa Memorial Room, including Yukawa’s handwritten research notes and records.
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