走到外面，大家都认识我的样子，因此没法买东西 了。希望大家快点忘记。”这是诺贝尔新宠——日本的“工薪科学家”田中耕一得奖后在一次记者招待会上的讲话。从这一点就可以看出他谦逊开朗的“平民”气质及他何以深受国民拥戴的原因。

—"It could be you!"

That message is resonating with Japanese of all stripes since a "salaryman" scientist won the Nobel Prize in chemistry recently.1

The previously unknown Koichi Tanaka became the country's second-youngest Nobel winner, and the only recipient of the chemistry prize to have no more than a bachelor's degree2. In a country where rank and prominence are usually determined by age, the 43-year-old chemist is breaking the mold and reaching a status usually reserved for pop stars and TV celebrities.3

"I wish I were still single," jokes Mr. Tanaka. "When I see myself on televisionall the time, I can't believe it is me."

Tanaka's award came a day after another Japanese, Masatoshi Koshiba4, won the Nobel in physics. Mr. Koshiba, a venerable5 scientist, pioneered work in detecting neutrinos, the universe's smallest particles, in supernovas billions of miles away.6

But it is Tanaka who has captured Japan's imagination. His method for viewing molecules has led to the creation of new medicines, winning him Japan's 12th Nobel Prize.7 (He shared the award with John Fenn of Virginia Commonwealth University.8)

Before the announcement, Tanaka was unknown in academic and government research circles. Even in his own technology company, Shimadzu9, he was on the second rung from the bottom of the promotion ladder10.

Now, he's a household name.

Tanaka's shy smile graces the covers of magazines, his endearingly awkward speaking style fills the airwaves, and his polite and open character is held up as a model of a lost Japan: humble, but technologically brilliant.11

"He's young, but has old-style manners ?nbsp;a rare jewel in his affluent generation," swoons Tamayo Marukawa, a popular female newscaster for the Asahi TV channel12.

But Tanaka is a reluctant celebrity. "To be honest, I wish everyone would leave me alone so that I could go back to the quiet life of family and research," he says.

Such sentiments are unlikely to be shared by Shimadzu, which is estimated to have reaped free publicity worth more than 1 billion yen ($8 million) since the awards were announced.13 Its share price has leaped by more than 50 percent.

Embarrassed by the lowly rank of their Nobel laureate, Shimadzu has promoted Tanaka to "fellow" and named a laboratory after him.14 Research societies that had never previously heard of Tanaka are clamoring to grant him honorary membership.15

Belatedly making up for Japan's previous lack of interest in his discovery, Kyoto University has asked Tanaka to lecture. Emperor Akihito awarded him the Order of Culture, the nation's highest honor in the field of culture and academia.16

The Tanaka phenomenon has been boosted by the laureate's charmingly ordinary personality. But it also reflects an obsession with the Nobel prizes in Japan and a broader craving for international recognition.

Last year, the Japanese government pledged that its scientists would win a staggering 30 Nobel prizes over 50 years — a five-fold increase on their record over the previous century.

To assist this drive, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science set up an office at Stockholm's Karolinska Institute ?nbsp;the perfect base from which to lobby the Nobel Foundation.17

At least one Swedish member complained that the prize-drive of the Japanese was posing "ethical problems" after members of the Nobel Foundation staff were invited for an expenses-paid trip to Tokyo.

Despite such criticisms, the effort seems to be paying off. Japan has won four Nobels in the past three years, and three straight in chemistry. For the government, this is the ideal way for Japan to shed its postwar image as a nation of imitators rather than creators.

But in Tanaka's case, the Nobel success has come despite the lack of official support ?nbsp;and perhaps this is why the country has reveled all the more in his achievement.18 Millions can relate to his pre-Nobel situation: a lowly corporate employee whose talents were largely unrecognized by the conservative, hierarchical19 domestic authorities.

And his success in being picked out by what Japan's media see as the most prestigious arbiter of international taste —— the Nobel committee —— has opened up a tiny window of possibility for others, even during Japan's difficult economic times.

"I am happy and think we can feel proud as Japanese," coffee-shop manager Takeshi Kubota told Reuters. "It makes me feel like trying harder, however tough things are these days."

1．自从最近一位“工薪”科学家获得诺贝尔化学奖以来，这种观点在日本各种阶层的人群之中引起着共鸣。

2．惟一的一位只有本科学历的化学奖获得者。recipient：接受者。

3．在这个等级与声望通常是由年纪来决定的国家，这位年仅43岁的化学家打破了常规，达到了这种一般只有流行巨星和电视名人才能达到的地位。

4．日本物理学家小柴昌俊，获得本年度诺贝尔物理学奖。

5．venerable：庄严的, 值得尊敬的。

6．他的创举是在数十亿英里之外的超新星上发现了宇宙中最小的微粒——中微子。

7．他发明的对分子分析的方法促进了新的医药的发明，并为他赢得了日本的第十二个诺贝尔奖。

8．本年度同时获得诺贝尔化学奖的还有美国科学家约翰·芬恩（来自美国里士满弗吉尼亚联邦大学）和瑞士科学家库特·乌特里希（来自瑞士苏黎士的瑞士联邦技术学院），他们三人共获得1000万瑞典克朗(约合100万美元)的奖金。其中芬恩和田中耕一分享一半奖金，乌特里希获得另一半奖金。

9．日本岛津制作所。

10．指他排在晋升阶梯的倒数第二层。

11．田中耕一羞涩的微笑闪耀在杂志的封面上；他那可爱的笨拙的讲话充斥在广播中；他那斯文礼貌而又开通的性格被看作是日本业已失落的民族特性：谦逊而在科技方面出色。

12．Asahi TV channel：朝日电视台，是朝日电视网络(由26家电视台组成)的中央台。该电视网络覆盖日本国的绝大部分。

13．但岛津制作所却不太可能会有田中这样的看法。据估算，在获奖消息发布后，岛津制作所知名度大增，得到了约10 亿日元（合800万美元）的免费宣传。

14．他们这位诺贝尔折桂者在公司里的低职位使岛津制作所很尴尬，因而目前他们已经把田中耕一提升为合伙人，并以他的名字命名了一个实验室。

15．科研界那些原来从未听说过田中耕一的机构也纷纷授予他荣誉会员的称号。

16．明仁天皇授予他日本文化及学术领域的最高荣誉——文化勋章。

17．日本学术振兴会在瑞典斯德哥尔摩的卡罗林斯卡研究院专设了一个办事处——以其为优良据点去游说诺贝尔基金会。

18．或许这就是该国为他所获得 的成就而欢呼的原因。

19．hierarchical：分等级的。