[A message for young child neurologists: a lesson from the Nobel Prize centennial].

The Nobel Prize was created in 1901, according to the will of Alfred Nobel who left tremendous estate by inventing of dynamite. In the fields of natural science, prizes are given to distinguished scientists in three categories, namely physics, chemistry, and physiology or medicine. During the past 100 years, the Nobel Prize have become undoubtedly the most prestigious international prize. Nobel laureates are always the most respected scientists in the world. There have been 478 recipients in the three categories, 177 of them belonging to physiology or medicine. In March 2002, an international forum commemorating the centennial of the Nobel Prize was held in Tokyo and Kyoto under the auspices of the Science Council of Japan, focusing upon creativity. Guest speakers including prize winners, officers of the Nobel Foundation, and members of the Nobel Committee participated actively. In particular, Japanese laureates, including Drs. Ezaki, Tonegawa, Shirakawa and Noyori met together at the Symposium, and discussed what is creativity and how it is nurtured? At about the same time the Centennial Exhibition of the Nobel Prize was held in the National Science Museum in Tokyo. From these two commemorative events, informative messages were extracted and given to young colleagues of the Japanese Society of Child Neurology.