First bronze statue of Prof. Hideki Yukawa in Kochi

TL;DR

This paper uncovers the history of the first bronze statue of Nobel laureate Prof. Hideki Yukawa, built in 1954 in Kochi, Japan, predating the more famous 1986 statue, and discusses its historical significance.

Contribution

It reveals the existence and background of the earliest bronze statue of Prof. Yukawa in Kochi, Japan, providing new historical insights.

Findings

The statue was built in March 1954 in Kochi.

Prof. Yukawa and his wife attended the unveiling.

The statue predates the 1986 Yukawa Foundation statue.

Abstract

The first bronze statue of Prof. Hideki Yukawa, the first Nobel Prize laureate in Japan, is found to have been built in March 1954 in the Yasu elementary school in the countryside of Kochi pref cture in Shikoku Island, Japan. It is also found that the bust sculpture was unveiled with the attendance of Prof. Yukawa and his wife, who were invited by the local people, soon after their coming back to Japan from USA where they stayed for five years for research. This bust bronze statue was contributed by the local people of the elementary school more than 32 years earlier than the well-known one of Prof. Yukawa built in 1986 by the Yukawa foundation in front of the Yukawa Hall, Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University in Kyoto city. Why the statue was built in Kochi is unveiled and the historical background is discussed.