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AsianScientist (Jul. 31, 2018) – Japan has always been known as a leader in technology and innovation. From high-speed trains to electronics and androids, the Land of the Rising Sun keeps on churning out one breakthrough technology after another.

The country was also the first Asian nation to win a Nobel Prize, when Hideki Yukawa was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1949 for predicting the presence of particles called mesons. Of the 26 Nobel Prizes that Japan has won, 11 were for Physics, seven for Chemistry and four for Physiology or Medicine. Most recently, in 2016, Professor Yoshinori Ohsumi won the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his discovery of how autophagy works.

Here are ten Japanese scientists from the 2018 Asian Scientist 100 list who are making an impact in their respective research fields.

1. Seiji Ogawa
   
   
   

   

   For his pioneering work in establishing the basic principles underlying functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), Ogawa was awarded the 2017 Keio Medical Science Prize.
   
   

2. Shimon Sakaguchi
   
   
   

   

   Together with Fred Ramsdell and Alexander Rudensky, Sakaguchi was awarded the 2017 Crafoord Prize in Polyarthritis for his discovery of regulatory T-cells.
   
   

3. Mitsuo Sawamoto
   
   
   

   

   A pioneer in the field of polymer science, Sawamoto received the 2017 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry for developing living polymers that can be reactivated. His technique of introducing free radical deactivators to the polymerization process allows scientists to control the reaction, and has been used to make improved coatings, dispersants and composites for commercial, biomedical and environmental applications.
   
   
   

4. Takashi Mimura
   
   
   

   

   Mimura was recognized for his invention of high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) with the 2017 Kyoto Prize. By constraining electrons within an ultrathin layer, HEMTs have contributed to the study of electrons with reduced dimensions.
   
   

5. Shigeki Goto
   
   
   

   

   In 2017, Goto was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame as a Global Connector for his role in expanding the internet in the Asia Pacific and promoting multilingual domain name standards.
   
   
   

6. Tetsuya Higashimaya
   
   
   

   

   Higashiyama, vice director of the Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules, won the 2017 Kihara Memorial Foundation Academic Award for his discovery of the molecules that guide pollen tube formation.
   
   

7. Shigetou Namba
   
   
   

   

   Namba was awarded the 2017 Japan Academy Prize for his pioneering crystallographic research that has helped to shed light on the flagella and secretion systems of medically important bacteria.
   
   

8. Yashuhiko Arakawa
   
   
   

   

   Arakawa won the 2017 Japan Academy Prize for his pioneering research on quantum dots, which are semiconductor nanostructures that are now being used in lasers and photonic devices.
   
   
   

9. Toshimitsu Yokobori
   
   
   

   

   Yokobori was awarded the 2017 Japan Academy Prize for developing theories that can be used to predict metal fatigue as well as estimate blood vessel elasticity.
   
   
   

10. Fumihiko Takasaki
    
    
    

    

    A central figure in the B-factory accelerator project at the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, Takasaki was awarded the 2017 Japan Academy Prize for providing experimental proof of the asymmetry between particles and antiparticles.
    
    

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    Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.