Physicists on the Left: Sakata and Taketani

As in wartime Japan, postwar scientists were asked to subordinate their individual freedom to conduct research for the interests of the much larger group—the nation. This was a source of continuing conflict. Despite Nishina’s call for science to first help revitalize the Japanese economy, Shōichi Sakata and Mituo Taketani responded by arguing for research autonomy and a commitment to basic research. This chapter focuses on the role of the two physicists, Sakata and Taketani, in the postwar democratization of science and technology. Despite great differences in socioeconomic background (described in the first two sections), both shared a common interest in Marxism, reflecting the times in which they lived. Both were particularly outspoken regarding the need for science and democracy in “modernizing” Japan. They held the view, as many scientists after the war, that science and democracy were matching wheels for social progress.1 The third and largest section of this chapter describes how Sakata and Taketani attempted to prove the veracity of this conviction

Mobilizing Science in World War II: Yoshio Nishina

We saw, in chapter 1, how the Japanese physicist was shaped by both social and cultural factors. Indeed, the samurai “spirit” can be considered a cultural resource, a construct, which Japanese used in both peacetime and in war. World War II provides a useful window to how physicists negotiated their multiple identities and sometimes conflicting loyalties. In this chapter, we focus on Yoshio Nishina, who effectively mentored a whole generation of physicists. He is also considered the father of the Japanese atomic bomb. Although Nishina’s lab lacked equipment and materials to pursue the study of the artificial disintegration of the elements, he wrote we cannot help to be tempted to do this sort of experiments, because there are so many problems which are awaiting their solution. It is quite possible that we come too late, but that does not matter, it is the way to their solution which interests us