My research focuses primarily on auroras and radiation belts around planets, with a particular interest in wave phenomena and their roles in space. Space is filled with plasma, an ionized gas, and electromagnetic fields wiggle like waves. Although these wave phenomena are extremely weak, they can accelerate electrons to nearly the speed of light and cause charged particles to rain down into the atmosphere, producing auroras in the polar regions. I am curious about the conditions under which these phenomena occur using observational data from scientific satellites and results from computer simulations. I am also interested in plasma physics phenomena that are common to both space and fusion plasmas.

My interest in research was sparked by "Nozomi," Japan's first Mars explorer. When I joined the lab, Nozomi was about to launch. To prepare for analyzing observational data on how the Martian atmosphere escapes into space, I studied plasma instabilities caused by water-molecule ions emitted from the nucleus of Halley's Comet, because this phenomenon involves fundamental plasma processes similar to those occurring around Mars. Unfortunately, Nozomi failed to enter orbit around Mars, so I was unable to analyze the observational data I had hoped to study. Although things did not go as planned, my research eventually evolved from comet studies into simulations of Earth's radiation belts, which I continue to study today. Sometimes, an unexpected path can lead you somewhere even more interesting.

Find something you can lose yourself in. Learning is like mathematical integration: what you truly understand stays with you forever. Stay curious about science, keep your interests broad, and never limit what you might discover. There is something truly special about the moment when you realize that seemingly different things are connected. I hope you will have many such moments of discovery.