, born on February 23, 1870 in Okazaki,

Aichi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectur ...

– February 12, 1954) was a Japanese

metallurgist Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...

and inventor. He invented KS steel (initials from Kichiei Sumitomo), which is a type of

magnet A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, ...

ic resistant

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

that is three times more resistant than

tungsten steel Tungsten steel is any steel that has tungsten as its alloying element with characteristics derived mostly from the presence of this element (as opposed to any other element in the alloy). Common alloys have between 2% and 18% tungsten by weight alo ...

. This material, which had 250 oersteds magnetic resistance, was developed through rigorous basic research on steel and

alloys An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductility, ...

. Honda was born in the town of Yahagi (part of modern

Okazaki, Aichi is a city located in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 386,999 in 164,087 households, and a population density of 999 persons per km². The total area of the city was . Geography Okazaki is in the coastal plains o ...

and was a graduate of

Tokyo Imperial University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

. He was taught by the famous Japanese physicist

Hantaro Nagaoka was a Japanese physicist and a pioneer of Japanese physics during the Meiji period. Life Nagaoka was born in Nagasaki, Japan on August 19, 1865 and educated at the University of Tokyo. After graduating with a degree in physics in 1887, Naga ...

at the

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

. Honda's research on KS steel in 1917, and on improved KS steel in 1934 became the basis for his position that Japan's industrial development is dependent on basic research in major scientific fields. He later improved upon the steel, creating NKS steel. NKS steel was mentioned by

Taiichi Ohno was a Japanese industrial engineer and businessman. He is considered to be the father of the Toyota Production System, which inspired Lean Manufacturing in the U.S. He devised the seven wastes (or muda in Japanese) as part of this system. He wro ...

in his book as being one of the Japanese materials whose development was tied to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Kotaro Honda ,Albert Einstein,Keiichi Aichi,Sirouta Kusukabe

Honda, together with the academic Tokiatsu Hojo, setup up a research institute, which was supported by the Sumitomo family. It was later renamed Metallic Materials Research Institute. In 1931, he was appointed president of

Tohoku Imperial University , or is a Japanese national university located in Sendai, Miyagi in the Tōhoku Region, Japan. It is informally referred to as . Established in 1907, it was the third Imperial University in Japan and among the first three Designated National ...

, where he taught physics for several years. He participated in establishing the (千葉工業大学, ''

Chiba Institute of Technology is a private university in Narashino, Chiba, Japan. Abbreviated as , , , . The school was founded in 1942 in Machida, Tokyo. In 1946 it was relocated to Kimitsu, Chiba, adopted the present name at the same time. Four years later, it was moved ...

'') from 1940. He served as the first president of the

Tokyo University of Science , formerly "Science University of Tokyo" or TUS, informally or simply is a private research university located in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. History Tokyo University of Science was founded in 1881 as The Tokyo Academy of Physics by 21 graduates ...

from 1949. Honda was nominated for the

Nobel Prize in Physics ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...

in 1932, and was one of the first persons to be awarded the

Order of Culture The is a Japanese order, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japan's art, literature, science, technology, or anything related to culture in general; recipien ...

when it was established in 1937. He was also awarded the

Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memori ...

Elliott Cresson Medal The Elliott Cresson Medal, also known as the Elliott Cresson Gold Medal, was the highest award given by the Franklin Institute. The award was established by Elliott Cresson, life member of the Franklin Institute, with $1,000 granted in 1848. The ...

in 1931 and became a

Person of Cultural Merit is an official Japanese recognition and honor which is awarded annually to select people who have made outstanding cultural contributions. This distinction is intended to play a role as a part of a system of support measures for the promotion of ...

in 1951. He was posthumously awarded the Grand Cordon of the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...

. Honda died in 1954 in Bunkyo, Tokyo, and his grave is at the temple of Myogen-ji in Okazaki. On April 18, 1985, the

Japan Patent Office The is a Japanese governmental agency in charge of industrial property right affairs, under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The Japan Patent Office is located in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo and is one of the world's largest pa ...

selected him as one of

Ten Japanese Great Inventors The system of industrial rights in Japan celebrated 100 years of its existence in 1985. In celebration of the one-hundredth anniversary of the Japanese system of industrial property rights, the Japan Patent Office selected ten great inventors wh ...

Books available in English

*''Magnetic properties of matter'' / Kotaro Honda (1928)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Honda, Kotaro 1870 births 1954 deaths People from Okazaki, Aichi Japanese inventors Japanese metallurgists Recipients of the Order of Culture University of Tokyo alumni Tohoku University faculty Riken personnel