Japan's Soai Kenso shares 2026 Nobel chemistry prize with France's Henri Kagan
In short
Soai Kenso, professor emeritus at Tokyo University of Science, was named a joint winner of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with France's Henri Kagan, the Nobel Committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced. It is Japan's tenth Nobel chemistry prize and the second year in a row that a Japanese researcher has won it. Japanese media counted Soai as the country's 31st individual laureate, or the 32nd Nobel award including the atomic bomb survivors' group Nihon Hidankyo.
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The Nobel Committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences named Henri Kagan of Paris-Sud University in France and Soai Kenso, professor emeritus at Tokyo University of Science, as joint winners of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the Dong-A Ilbo reported. The committee cited the discovery of nonlinear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis, and credited the two with showing how homochirality — the presence of only one of two mirror-image forms of a molecule — can arise naturally, according to the same report. It said Kagan is 96 and Soai is 76. [ 2 ]
For Japan the prize is its tenth in chemistry and its second in as many years. Kitagawa Susumu of Kyoto University shared the chemistry prize last year, Yonhap and the Hankook Ilbo reported. Both outlets said Japanese media now count 31 individual Japanese laureates, a figure that rises to 32 awards when the group Nihon Hidankyo, which won the 2024 peace prize, is included. They cited 28 Japanese laureates in the natural sciences, 23 of them since 2000, split across 12 in physics, 10 in chemistry and six in medicine. [ 3 , 4 ]
Yonhap reported that Soai was the first to achieve an asymmetric autocatalytic synthesis reaction known as the Soai reaction, in which a product that begins in near-equal proportions of two mirror forms drives itself to multiply in only one of them. The outlet said the work offers a clue to how substances essential to life were formed and is expected to lead to new drug development. The Hankook Ilbo gave the same description of the reaction and its expected application. [ 3 , 4 ]
Japanese coverage was immediate, the two outlets reported. Kyodo and Jiji carried flash news, Asahi and Nikkei published extra editions, and outlets including Yomiuri placed the story at the top of their homepages. Yomiuri described the result as following last year's awards to Sakaguchi Simon of Osaka University in medicine and Kitagawa in chemistry. [ 3 , 4 ]
Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae telephoned Soai to congratulate him, saying she was proud as a Japanese person, and said the government would expand investment in basic science, according to Yonhap and the Hankook Ilbo. Morikawa Kohei, president of the Japan Chemical Society, said the award to an honorary member of the society demonstrated the high level of Japanese chemistry. Kyodo reported that Tokyo University of Science, where Soai is emeritus, was in a celebratory mood, with students telling the agency the result was unexpected. The head of Soai's home village in Hiroshima Prefecture told Kyodo by telephone that it was an honour for the area. [ 3 , 4 ]
Why it matters
The award extends a run of Nobel prizes for Japan, which Korean tier-1 dailies present as evidence of sustained strength in basic science rather than a single result. Japan's prime minister used the occasion to say the government will expand investment in basic science, a signal of how the prize is being folded into science policy. Because the cited work on autocatalysis is described as a clue to how life-essential molecules formed and as a possible path to new drug development, the result carries weight beyond the ceremony itself.
Key facts
- The Nobel Committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences named Henri Kagan of Paris-Sud University and Soai Kenso of Tokyo University of Science as joint winners of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. [ 2 ]
- The citation was for discovering nonlinear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis, according to the Dong-A Ilbo. [ 2 ]
- It is Japan's tenth Nobel prize in chemistry and its second consecutive year with a chemistry laureate; Kitagawa Susumu of Kyoto University shared the prize last year. [ 3 , 4 ]
- Japanese individual laureates now number 31, or 32 Nobel awards including the group Nihon Hidankyo, which won the 2024 peace prize. [ 3 , 4 ]
- Soai was the first to achieve the asymmetric autocatalytic synthesis reaction known as the Soai reaction. [ 3 , 4 ]
- Japanese outlets including Kyodo and Jiji ran flash news and Asahi and Nikkei published extra editions, while Yomiuri placed the story at the top of its homepage. [ 3 , 4 ]
- Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae called Soai to congratulate him and said the government would expand investment in basic science. [ 3 , 4 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Soai Kenso, professor emeritus at Tokyo University of Science, was named a joint winner of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- The award is Japan's tenth Nobel prize in chemistry and the country's second consecutive chemistry win. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
- Japanese individual Nobel laureates total 31, or 32 awards when the group Nihon Hidankyo is included. [ 3 , 4 ]
- Japanese media reported the result with flash news, extra editions and top-of-homepage placement. [ 3 , 4 ]
- Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae congratulated Soai by telephone and spoke of expanding government investment in basic science. [ 3 , 4 ]
- Soai's research is linked to an asymmetric autocatalytic reaction known as the Soai reaction. [ 3 , 4 ]
Still unclear
- The wording of the Nobel citation and the description of the laureates' joint contribution. The Dong-A Ilbo frames the award as being for discovering nonlinear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis and for explaining how homochirality arises, while Yonhap and the Hankook Ilbo describe Soai's autocatalytic reaction specifically.
- Henri Kagan's age, affiliation and the details of his side of the work. These appear only in the Dong-A Ilbo report; Yonhap and the Hankook Ilbo name him only through the Japanese angle and give no detail on his contribution.
- The exact time the Nobel Committee made the announcement in Sweden. No document states a precise announcement time; only the Korean outlets' publication times are given.
- The full text of the Dong-A Ilbo report. The document is truncated mid-sentence, so the account of Kagan's 1986 work is incomplete.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- The Chosun Ilbo publishes a flash item saying Japan has produced a Nobel chemistry laureate for a second consecutive year. [ 1 ]
- The Dong-A Ilbo publishes a flash item naming Henri Kagan and Soai Kenso as the 2026 chemistry laureates, and Japan's 32nd Nobel award. [ 2 ]
- Around this time, the Yomiuri Shimbun's homepage carries the news at the top of the page, according to the Hankook Ilbo. [ 4 ]
- Yonhap files its comprehensive report, including the prime minister's congratulatory call and reactions in Japan. [ 3 ]
- The Hankook Ilbo publishes its account of the award and of the Japanese reaction. [ 4 ]
- The Seoul Shinmun publishes its report on the award. [ 5 ]