The most important thing I learned at the University of Florida is that a Ph.D. and writing papers is very important in the United States.
— Shuji Nakamura
If I had gone to a big company, it would have been very difficult for me to do research freely. At a big company, say Sony, there are very, very good researchers. So I would have to ask them what I could do.
You work to earn money. But in Japan, that idea has a bad image, and you're not supposed to say that.
If Japanese companies don't reform drastically and implement English as their daily business language, the economy will only continue to contract.
Many researchers have joined the field and applied the LED to many new markets such as mobile phone screens, LED TV, and LED Lighting.
I am thankful to Nichia Chemical Corporation and its founder Nobu Ogawa, who gave me the research opportunity to create a blue LED.
The promise of energy savings, reduced carbon emissions and affordable lighting was there from the inception. The proliferation of the technology into areas such as displays, automotive, medicine and horticulture was unexpected.
I'm not sure whether I could win a Nobel Prize or not, but the Nobel Committee called me, and, 'You got the Nobel Prize.' So, I was so, so happy, and I was so surprised.
I wanted to quit Nichia. I didn't care about anything. It was OK for them to fire me. I was not afraid of anything.
My dream was to work for one of the big electronics companies like Sony or Panasonic.
There are still people in Japan who think money is something evil.
I hope that energy-efficient LED light bulbs will help reduce energy use and lower the cost of lighting worldwide.
I have been very fortunate to be supported by many people in my career. I also appreciate my personal friends, business friends, and my family who have been patient and understanding of my long working hours.
It's good to have high-quality competition. It helps drive research forward at a faster pace.
Basically, I like research because research is like to solve the quiz, you know. Always there is a problem, and I have to solve the problem. So I like those patterns. It's almost like research is sort of in a quiz.
I was so surprised because I'm not too sure whether I could win a Nobel Prize, you know, because basically, physics, it means that usually people was awarded for the invention of the basic theory. But in my case, not a basic theory, in my case just making the device, you know.
A small company like Nichia should do niche products.
The Japanese press likes me a lot, but the problem is the Japanese government. It's very bureaucratic.
I couldn't achieve the American dream in Japan.
It is very satisfying to see that my dream of LED lighting has become a reality.
The LED light bulb is more than ten times the efficiency of regular incandescent lighting, so it can save the world hundreds of billions of dollars in electricity costs.
For people who currently have to burn fossil fuels to produce meager, polluting light, LED lighting is a game changer.
When I started on my research, I never expected I could invent the LED and laser diode.
