Chairs Signed by Japanese Laureates Displayed at Nobel Museum

Stockholm, Dec. 9 (Jiji Press)–The Nobel Prize Museum on Tuesday showcased chairs signed by past Japanese laureates, along with items donated by prize winners, ahead of the Nobel Prize award ceremony Wednesday evening. The museum, which opened in 2001, invites Nobel laureates to sign chairs used in its cafe as a long-standing tradition. On Tuesday, chairs signed by Japanese winners were grouped in one section and placed upside down on tables to allow visitors to view the signatures. The donated items include a painting from Susumu Tonegawa, winner of the 1987 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, that symbolizes his field of research. Tonegawa uncovered how genes generate diverse antibodies essential to the immune response. Also on display was a necktie with images of penguins and polar bears, both of which are susceptible to the effects of global warming. The necktie was donated by Syukuro Manabe, the 2021 Nobel Physics Prize laureate who was recognized for pioneering computer-based methods for projecting global warming and other meteorological phenomena. On Saturday, Shimon Sakaguchi, 74, a specially appointed professor at the University of Osaka, and Susumu Kitagawa, 74, professor at Kyoto University, who won this year’s Nobel prizes in Physiology or Medicine and Chemistry, respectively, visited the museum to donate personal items. Sakaguchi donated a volume of the manga series “Cells at Work!,” which features characters that are anthropomorphized cells, including regulatory T cells. Sakaguchi won the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the cells, called Tregs in short, that suppress excessive immune activity. He also donated mouse ornaments, including one crafted by his mother, Yoshiko, who passed away in January 2024. Kitagawa provided a sample of a metal-organic framework, or MOF. The material, also known as porous coordination polymers, is considered a promising solution to environmental and energy challenges. He also donated a handkerchief depicting the chemical structure of MOFs. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]