Explaining Quantum Physics to the Emperor of Japan
An Unexpected Encounter During my First Week in Japan — Lessons in Leadership
On a hot summer day in June 2014, I had about two minutes to explain my research to Akihito, the Japanese Emperor.
I had arrived in Japan for the first time only three days prior.
I was one of around a hundred young scientist from the US, Germany, France, the UK, and Sweden who took part in an annual summer program hosted by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).
JSPS aims to foster collaborations between Japanese and international universities, as well as attract foreign researchers to Japan. The main part of the program would see each of us spend eight weeks at a host institution, in my case Tokyo University, working on some joint research project that could potentially lead to a longer term collaboration.
But before going our own ways and moving to our final destinations, we all spent one week together at Sōkendai, the Graduate University for Advanced Studies (which feels more like a conference hotel than a university campus), located in the beautiful hills of Shonan, overlooking Sagami Bay.
This first week, which also included a short homestay with a guest family, was meant both for networking amongst ourselves, as well as an introduction to Japanese culture and language.
What none of us expected was what happened on day three.
After lunch there was a mysterious announcement that we were not allowed to go back to our rooms anymore until after dinner. As far as I remember there was no clear explanation for why this was the case and everyone was left quite confused.
Then some time during the afternoon’s lectures and Japanese classes we were each handed a piece of paper that explained what was going on.
The note started with “Their Imperial Highnesses, The Emperor and the Empress of Japan, are expected to be special guests to the reception this evening.”
I definitely didn’t expect this kind of welcome to Japan! But apparently the Emperor and Empress were spending some time in the nearby Imperial Villa and expressed their wish to meet the foreign researchers.
This also explained why we were not allowed back to our rooms. It was a simple security concern. However, this made for a slightly odd encounter.
Given Japan’s hot and humid summers we were all dressed very casually, some wearing nothing more than shorts, a tank top and beach sandals. Yet we were barred from going back to our rooms to change before the evening’s reception.
As afternoon turned to evening we could all feel the rising tension and excitement. Security personnel was being positioned all over the place as we gathered in the main hall.
After some waiting we were told to form a corridor along the middle of the room.
And then finally, the doors opened and Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko entered the room.
It was an utterly surreal situation.
The overly casual foreigners who didn’t know what to expect or how to behave. The extremely tense Japanese, many of whom didn’t even dare to raise their eyes and look directly at the Imperial couple (and who also seemed like they had no clue how to behave in this situation). Plus the few Japanese organizers who were actually aware of the visit in advance, and were accordingly dressed highly formal, further contributing to the overall weirdness of the scene.
The monarchs walked along the corridor and positioned themselves in the middle of the room. After a brief introduction, they gave a short welcoming speech, noting how delighted they were to meet the international delegation of researchers.
Finally the extreme formality was over and we were allowed to mingle again and talk amongst ourselves. Tensions slowly eased a little bit.
The Imperial couple remained at the center of the room and even allowed us to talk to them individually.
It turns out Akihito is actually a keen scientist himself, with several publications in marine biology, specializing in the study of the Goby fish. But his curiosity is not limited to fishes, and he is well known to have a broad interest in the sciences. So he was genuinely interested in what kind of research brought each of us to Japan.
After a handshake with the Emperor, which was quite a surreal experience itself, I also got a short chance to explain my research to him.
At the time I was working on the then completely new field of Quantum Thermodynamics, investigating questions such as how small can you theoretically make an engine. (Turns out extremely small, you can even use the different energy levels within a single atom to construct an engine).
I don’t remember exactly what I told him in my very limited Japanese, but I remember talking about 小さい機械 (“tiny machines”).
I didn’t really expect him to understand anything I was talking about. But to my huge surprise, once I had finished my explanation he asked some very insightful questions that showed that he not only politely listened to what I had said, but was genuinely interested.
The whole thing was over before I really understood what had happened, but it left me deeply impressed.
The Imperial couple, who were at the time both approaching their eighties, went out of their way to meet us random foreigners, and then stand in one spot all evening to listen to diverese bits of research spanning all the way from the humanities to the natural sciences. I would have been completely exhausted by the experience, and probably would have shut off after talking to the first few people.
Yet they seemed to truly enjoy the encounter, and genuinely engaged with each single person who talked to them, being present in the moment, truly caring.
Akihito embodies a very special kind of leadership. He is extremely humble, listens much more than he speaks, and when he does speak you immediately feel his empathy and understanding.
Empress Michiko was no less engaged. Not being a scientist she was more interested in people’s personal story and what they expected from their time in Japan. But she was just as curious as the emperor. Exuding a loving and warm personality, she even hugged some of us.
Again, I was truly impressed by their leadership.
And it is absolutely no surprise to me that they are so popular amongst the Japanese. Time and time again they have shown their support and care for the population. Especially in such difficult times as the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, they not only provided words of support, but directly visited the affected areas and gave hope to people.
Many other leaders could learn a lot from them.
This encounter was certainly one of the most memorable moments (of which there were many) during my first trip to Japan.
And it was actually not my last interaction with the monarchs.
Several months later, I was asked to write a Thank You / New Year’s Card on behalf of the German delegation, given that my Japanese was the best (which didn’t mean much).
With the help of a Japanese friend (who was also struggling to find the right words given the complicated politeness levels of the Japanese language) I finally penned a card.
I sent it to the head of the German JSPS office, who I was told would forward it through internal channels to the Emperor.
I never heard whether it arrived, and I certainly didn’t receive a reply.
But given the short encounter I had with Their Imperial Highnesses, I truly like to believe that they read it with a caring smile, even if none of us was there to see it.