Akira Yoshino, an honorary fellow at Asahi Kasei Corp., won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday for the development of lithium-ion batteries, which are vital components of smartphones and electric vehicles.
People shouted "Congratulations!" and applause continued for more than two minutes when Yoshino, 71, arrived at a press conference and received a bouquet of flowers shortly after 7:20 p.m. at Asahi Kasei's headquarters in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. He was dressed in a black suit and green tie.
"I'm very excited," Yoshino said at the beginning of the press conference. He was informed of his win through a call over a fixed-line telephone in his room.
"I heard 'Congratulations!' so I thought, 'Ah, here it comes,'" he said, drawing a laugh from the people at the press conference.
Yoshino smiled throughout the conference. "I'd been saying for some time, 'I'll definitely accept [the award] if my turn comes,' but when it did I thought, 'Really? For real?'" he said.
Lithium-ion batteries are essential for PCs and smartphones. However, Yoshino said he felt a "sense of resistance" about having a cell phone himself and so did not own one until he bought a smartphone about five years ago.
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