Hideki Shirakawa of Japan and Americans Alan Heeger and Alan MacDiarmid have been awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for their discovery that some plastics can conduct electricity. Shirakawa, 64, a professor emeritus at the University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, said the honor came as a total surprise.
"I did not expect it, and I was indeed surprised. I think it carries weight in society, and I feel a sense of responsibility," the scholar told reporters at his home in Yokohama's Aoba Ward Wednesday morning.
"I believe I have worked in an area that will show development in the years ahead, but I thought my work itself is a thing of the past that no longer deserves a Nobel Prize," he said. Shirakawa refused to meet with the press Tuesday night, saying he had heard nothing from Sweden.