Interviewer: Would you please give some advice to the young people wishing to study science?

Okada: Frankly speaking, I wouldn't encourage everyone saying, "Science is wonderful and it has rosy future, so why don't you take it?" During wartime, teachers at middle schools eagerly encouraged any excellent students to enter military or naval academies. I have the impression that encouraging young people to study science nowadays has something in common with that attitude. Rather, I like to suggest that young people study a field with humanity, a field that deals with human minds much more, such as religion. What I wish them to study the most is science that has something to do with the mind, but I also recognize that practicing it is rather hard.

Tanaka: The reason why I chose to study science is simply because it is interesting. Science might seem to have narrowed the unknown areas compared to the days when I was a kid. But the truth is that the number of questions still to be solved is increasing. I don't want young people to take just a glimpse at it and casually conclude that science has reached a deadlock. I'd like them to figure out the answers to what they don't understand by themselves, and to satisfy their curiosity. This may sound quite basic, but I want them to build up such experiences.

Interviewer: Anything else?

Tanaka: What should you do to nurture creativity? ---This question has been discussed quite often, and the answer is quite simple: Think for yourself. Knowing and understanding are different things. So consider for yourself, and get your own knowledge, enjoy the new knowledge, satisfy your intellectual curiosity and get inspired to study more.

Interviewer: What is your ambition for the year 2004?

Tanaka: I'd like to resume and concentrate on my activities as an engineer. I'd like to conduct experiments operating laboratory instruments and discover new things, and to develop new products. This is what I really want to do.

Okada: At this age, I don't have any particular aspiration. But still, there is something I want to do. That is proposing more opportunities where science and human minds can relate to each other. I have been working on it for last 10 years, and still I'm obsessed with this task. How simply can we describe science and let people understand it instead of enlightening them? I'm even thinking of employing the power of art for this purpose. I also expect many young people to get interested in this and join us.

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