I’ve been interested in a research regarding the physical phenomena, so called “Quadrupolar Kondo Effect”.
The Kondo effect is named after the Japanese physicist Dr. Jun Kondo, who has succeeded in explaining a bound state of conduction electrons and “magnetic” impurity in metals, theoretically in 1964. Now, the theory has been applied to the wide range of physical properties. In fact, not a day passes without hearing about the word “Kondo” in the laboratory of condensed matter physics all around the world. In 1980’s, the “(Electric) Quadrupolar Kondo Effect” as one higher rank of the (Magnetic) Kondo effect, is theoretically proposed by other theorists, however, direct experimental evidence has not been found. Recently, we firstly succeeded to observe a logarithmic temperature dependence of the quadrupolar response, which is theoretically predicted, in the rare-earth based metallic compounds by means of ultrasound at very low temperatures.
(DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.067201)

For the root of my aspire to an experimental physicist, I was strongly influenced my father, who was filled with curiosity. He is not a researcher but just a self-employed and deal in selling and repairing vehicles in a small town. However, he was like an amateur inventor on the side. For example, he was operating an electric vehicle by using electric energy charging by a homemade wind power generator. He was also performing school visit at local elementary school regarding the wind power generator. In my childhood, I played with my father’s old personal computer PC-8001 (4 MHz processor!) and amateur radio, soldering iron, radio-control helicopter, and professional video camera and so on. Such childhood plays with gadgets are also useful for the present research.

I believe that new physics develops in the laboratory which has always developing apparatus. I am endeavoring to handmade special refrigerator for experiments in collaboration with excellent technicians in the machine shop of Dept. of Science. Because it saves the taxpayer’s money, and I believe that low-temperature techniques/skills as traditional craftwork arts need to be preserved like this way. Indeed, Dr. Heike Kamerlingh Onnes discovered superconductivity after he developed homemade helium liquefier and refrigerators, and then he got a Nobel prize in 1913. His motto “Door meten tot weten” (Knowledge through measurement) is also my favorite motto.

When I was a postdoc in California, I happened to know the deep world of craft beer. Since then, visiting the microbrewery becomes one of my hobbies. When I visit to the research institutions in U.S. or Europe, I do enjoy local-beer tasting. I also love Japanese beer, my favorite is “Sapporo Classic (Furano Vintage)” in particular. It is my pleasure to tell my children how to pour a beer with golden ratio (7:3) and watching they are delighted to reproduce it.