4) Special Edition: “Congratulations, Esaki-san!”
The special edition of the December 1973 issue of Electronic Materials (Click
to enlarge)
After it was decided that Esaki would win the Nobel Prize,
the December 1973 issue of Electronic Materials immediately printed a special
edition titled, “Congratulations, Esaki-san!” with congratulatory words from
17 people from the Japanese semiconductor industry.
He made a special mention of this in his own writing, “Pushing the Limits”
in a column called “Watashi no Rirekisho” (my resume) in the Nihon Keizai
newspaper, saying, “I felt impressed by the fact that I got words of congratulation
immediately.”
He also added;
<First, my boss at Kobe Industry, at that time Professor at Nagoya University,
Tetsuya Arizumi talked about difficult yet pleasant times there, and he mentioned
the evidence that there was a source in this time leading to the discovery
of this tunnel effect. Dr. Makoto Kikuchi of the Electrotechnical Laboratory
also commented, saying, "Rather than ‘a swan among ducklings’, he is
more of a ‘swan among swans’; but even with that said, he gives motivation
and energy to his colleagues and juniors". Professor Takuo Sugano of
the University of Tokyo quoted one researcher, saying, "Until now, the
Nobel Prize was in a distance, out of reach, but in the case of Esaki-san,
I feel that I am really lucky and proud just by being close to him. Professor
Junichi Nishizawa of Tohoku University said, "... Esaki-san's award is
not a matter of others’ business. It brings a refreshing feeling to the Japanese
semiconductor industry with only very few original works.">