“Toast,” Prof. Emeritus Noboru Naito

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NoboruNaito

Professor Noboru Naito
(Shoshichi’s Classmate at Middle School)
Professor Emeritus, Shinshu University, Nagano, Japan

 

 

Although I thought that this “memorial reception for Professor Shoshichi Kobayashi” would be attended only by distinguished mathematicians and scholars of related academic societies and I might feel out of place, I accepted your kind invitation to attend this gathering as a Shoshichi’s classmate at Nozawa Middle School. My name is Naito, and I am at a loss for the moment by the request from the master of ceremony that I should play the role of proposing to have a glass of wine.

Shoshichi and I were together at the school for two years and nine months. One day he said to me “Figure out how to divide a given angle into three equal parts, by using only a straight ruler and a compass. “ I tried to find a solution by trial and error. By observing that I was still struggling seriously on the following day, Shoshichi grinned at me, saying “It has been proven that one cannot find a solution to this problem.”

Now I would like to propose to have a glass of sake or wine, pray his soul may rest in peace, and have a pleasant chat, thinking of Shoshichi. “Kenpai!”