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| The Olympus Waku Waku Project.....
Launched in April 2003, this is a voluntary program run by Olympus staff, especially researchers and engineers at the Hachioji Plant in Tokyo. The workers stage science seminars to teach local children how fascinating science can be. The main participants are elementary school children in Hachioji City. By March 2005 seven seminars had been held. Particular emphasis is placed on experiments and projects relating to light, which is Olympus' field of expertise. The program is very popular with children. |
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| The MIC-D digital microscope allows several children to view microscopic objects at the same time. Images showing unfamiliar forms and details on familiar objects always prompt gasps of surprise. |
When I was in elementary school, I learned that
universities had engineering departments that combined science with practical
work. That's when I decided to study engineering. I wanted to be an engineer.
You were a top student. My grades were so bad that the teachers were always summoning my parents to the school. I loved science, but as far as the school was concerned I was far from being a good student.
What prompted you to become a teacher?
After scraping through the university entrance exams, I majored in teacher training. Most of my fellow students planned to teach, and I just went with the flow. I never had any ambition to be a teacher, so when I actually found myself in a classroom, it was very difficult. The students wouldn't listen. When I asked them whether they understood something, they didn't answer. That was when I began to think about how to teach, and how to keep the students more focused.
You taught physics at high school, didn't you?
That's right. Physics is logical and pure. Workshop is based on
physics. I wasn't good at it, but I liked it.
Physics is the simplest science. All you have to do is the learn
the rules. My only experience of teaching was as a part-time private tutor
while I was at university. I found teaching quite enjoyable. Since joining
Olympus, I've sometimes acted as a teacher, such as at company training seminars.
I find this very enjoyable, too. Under the Olympus Waku Waku Project, which
we started as a voluntary program three years ago, I work with elementary school
and junior high school students.
That's interesting. I had no idea that Olympus had a program like
that. I've been so busy with my own work recently that I haven't had time to
see what's happening elsewhere. It's 10 years since I quit teaching and started
my present work. The time seems to have gone by in a blur.
Do you have any contact with corporate researchers and engineers like us?
Hardly ever. Even when I take part in corporate events, I mostly
talk with agency people. And when I make television programs, the directors
in charge rarely have a science background. As a high school teacher, I used
to go meetings of the Japan Society of Applied Physics.
The Japan Society of Applied Physics has made physics education
one of its areas of interest. I used to go to many of their meetings.
Forums like that gave me the opportunity to talk with other teachers
who shared the same interests. But now I feel that I'm starved of information and ideas.
The Waku Waku Project has benefited a lot from your work. A few
years ago I went to a summer science festival at the Science Museum in Tokyo's
Chiyoda-ku district. As I left, I bought a booklet that proved to be extremely
valuable when we were setting up the Waku Waku Project. I believe that you
were involved in creating the content of that publication.
You mean "Omoshiro Rikajikkenshu" [Fun Science Experiments]. The compilation of that book was led by Michio Goto, who's a teacher at the Kogakuin University High School. He wrote a book called "Kodomo ni Ukeru Kagaku Tejina 77" [77 Scientific Magic Tricks for Children], which became a major hit. He worked with another science teacher, Jo Moriguchi, and myself to create "Omoshiro Rikajikkenshu." We've published two volumes.
I have both. When we started the Waku Waku Project we borrowed many
of your ideas, including the artificial rainbow, the experiment that lets you
find gems in rock, and the process for making giant soap bubbles. We run the
program about once every three months. We do it mainly at elementary schools
in Hachioji City, which is where I work.
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