Soai’s Tokyo Nobel Lecture Centers Molecular Asymmetry

Japanese scientist Kenso Soai spoke in Tokyo on Tuesday about the asymmetric autocatalytic reaction behind his 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The Chemical Society of Japan hosted the lecture, which drew about 2,000 people, including online participants. The subject was the Soai reaction, named for the scientist whose research produced it.

The Soai Reaction

The reaction amplifies a tiny difference between two mirror-image molecular forms until one form predominates. Soai compared the forms to left and right hands. His lecture examined the reaction and the research behind it, according to the account of the event.

Soai published his first research findings resulting in the Soai reaction in 1990. Those findings came before the Tokyo lecture and the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which recognized the work described in the article. The account identifies the reaction as asymmetric autocatalytic and says it can amplify an initially tiny difference between the two forms.

About 2,000 people heard the scientific subject discussed at the lecture. Some attended online, while the Chemical Society of Japan hosted the event in Tokyo. The article doesn't give a separate count for people in the room or for online participants.

Soai is 76 and a professor emeritus at the Tokyo University of Science. The article identifies him as the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate and reports that he spoke about his research in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Questions and Research

During a question-and-answer session, Soai said, “I hope to study a wide range of possible causes for the left-right imbalances.” His remark described an interest in investigating possible causes of the molecular differences discussed in the lecture.

At a news conference after the lecture, Soai said, “I was interested in basic or rather fundamental matters,” explaining what inspired his research. The article reports that he discussed the motivation for his work at the conference, following the lecture.

The report focuses on Soai’s chemistry research, the lecture and his upcoming Nobel-related visit to Stockholm. It doesn't describe migration, demographic policy, national sovereignty disputes, political organizations or popular opposition. The account attributes no such claims to Soai or to the Chemical Society of Japan.

Stockholm Visit

Soai said he hoped to attend the Nobel Prize award ceremony in Stockholm in December, in “high spirits.” He also said he planned to discuss his research results in a lecture in the Swedish capital during the upcoming visit.

That Stockholm lecture is expected to highlight contributions by Louis Pasteur, the 19th-century French chemist and microbiologist who also studied molecular asymmetry. The article links Pasteur’s work to the subject Soai plans to discuss, but doesn't provide further detail about the planned lecture or its program.

Both the Tokyo event and the planned Stockholm lecture concern Soai’s research into molecular asymmetry. In Tokyo, he addressed the reaction that bears his name, answered questions about possible causes of left-right imbalances and described his interest in fundamental matters. The account gives no further details about the award ceremony beyond its scheduled location and month.