Kotaro Honda

Background

Kotaro Honda was born on 23 February 1870 in Aichi Prefecture.

Education

In 1897 he graduated from Tokyo Imperial University, where he studied magnetism and geophysics under Nagaoka Hantaro. From 1907 to 1911 he continued his researches in Europe, studying metallography at Gottingen University.

Career

Upon his return to Japan he became a professor of Tohoku Imperial University. Until his retirement from the post of president of the university in 1940.

He also served as a member of the Aviation Research Center, the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, and the Imperial Academy. In his late years he served as president of the Tokyo College of Science and held other posts in education.

In 1937 he was among those to receive the first Cultural Award.

Achievements

• he conducted numerous researches in the field of metallurgy, trained young men in the sciences, and founded the Steel Research Center, which later became the Research Institute for Iron, Steel, and Other Metals ol l ohoku University. He is particularly noted for his efforts to apply measuring methods employed in physics to the field of practical metallurgy.
  
  In 1917 he perfected high-quality steel known as KS steel, which was superior to the magnet steel used at the time in Europe and America, and in 1933 produced an improved version, NKS, or New steel. This last surpassed in quality the MK steel that had been perfected two years earlier by Mishima Tokushichi.