Dr. Saruhashi, what were you like as a child?
	I was brought up by doting parents and a brother 10 years older than me, and I was so attached to my mother that during my first few years of elementary school I would cry every morning at the thought of leaving her! I was also rather frail as a child and was often being examined by doctors, and I remember being so impressed watching women doctors go briskly about their work. Perhaps that impression was what later inspired me to apply to Tokyo Women's Medical Professional School. As a child I loved arithmetic and science, because each time I learned a new algorithm or formula I felt as if I had climbed a step higher and could see that much farther. It was so much fun to increase my understanding step by step. My teacher saw how eager I was to learn and let me use textbooks for the next higher level.
	What made you decide to major in science?
	One big reason, of course, was that I liked physics and chemistry. But another was my desire to become an independent woman. I still remember the elementary school teacher who stayed after school to coach a group of us for our middle-school entrance examinations. She was a widow with children of her own, and I'm sure she wanted to get home as soon as possible. Even as a child, I admired her for teaching us with such dedication and enthusiasm, and I began to sense what a precious thing independence is. Initially, my ambition was to set up my own medical practice, so I applied to Tokyo Women's Medical Professional School. I passed the examination, but I had such an unpleasant experience during the interview that I decided to apply instead to Imperial Women's Science College (now the Faculty of Science of Toho University), and that is where I went.