Hidetaka Sakai

（ Associate Professor, Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences)

PhD in 1999 from the Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, 1999 Postdoctoral Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, 2000 Associate Professor (Jo-Kyoju), Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences, the University of Tokyo, 2007 Associate Professor (Jun-Kyoju), Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences, the University of Tokyo, 2015 Textbook on ordinary differential equations (University of Tokyo Press), 2019 MSJ Analysis Prize.

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Q. What was your favorite subject as a child?
A. Arts and Crafts
I remember I had a notebook full of drawings of the monsters in Ultraman, a Japanese TV show. I must have liked drawing. 

Q. What were you interested when you were in midle and high school?
A. I can't think of anything in particular.
I was a middle- and long-distance runner on the track team. I just ran absent-mindedly, not thinking about anything.

Q. What do you like about the Shool of Science at the University of Tokyo?
A. Excellent and well-taught curriculum. 
In fact, I am a little worried that students are too busy and do not have enough time to think about various things outside their studies.

Q. What are your hobbies?
A. Walking, singing, reading
I like taking long walks around town. I often go to karaoke, too. I sing alternating between Japanese and Western songs. I read books of all genres, be it philosophy, history, mathematics, novels, or manga (TN: Japanese comics).

Q. Where would you go if you could travel in time?
A. I would travel to a time long gone. 
To be honest, I do not want to go back in time because I enjoy my present life very much. But it is fun to imagine what I could do with my current knowledge if I went back in time.

Q. Do you consider yourself lucky?
A. I have always considered myself incredibly lucky.
I feel protected by something. Maybe it is because I lost my parents early.

Q. What is your source of inspiration?
A. ???
I do not think I know when or where I get my ideas. I do not proactively seek them out. Rather, I wait for them to come to me. I sometimes get ideas while I am taking a walk absent-mindedly.

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