Bonn 2025 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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SYNT: Nuclear Threats and Challenges – Japanese and German Views

SYNT 1: Nuclear Weapons Risk Assessment

SYNT 1.2: Hauptvortrag

Montag, 10. März 2025, 17:00–17:30, HS 1+2

Nishina Yoshio and Japanese Physicists Early Reactions to the Nuclear Weapons — •Kenji Ito — Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

This talk examines the early responses of Japanese physicists to the atomic bomb, focusing on Nishina Yoshio's transformation from leading Japan's nuclear research to advocating for peace after the war. Renowned for the Klein-Nishina formula, Nishina was pivotal in establishing Japan's quantum and nuclear physics research and led the Japanese army's wartime nuclear project. After witnessing the human and material devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where he assessed the bombs' effects soon after the explosion, Nishina became a vocal proponent of peace and an advocate for international control of atomic energy. He participated in the the UNESCO movement in Japan and served as vice president of the Science Council of Japan, setting a precedent for later physicists like Yukawa Hideki and Tomonaga Sin-itiro. In this talk, I discuss the achievements and shortcomings of Nishina's actions and visions in this context.

Keywords: Nishina Yoshio; atomic bomb; Science Council of Japan; UNESCO