Shinya Yamanaka: As a child, what career or life did you imagine for yourself?

The question

As a child, what career or life did you imagine for yourself?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

This is a standing question in The Guardian's decades-long The Q&A and also recurs independently in career and life interviews.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Shinya Yamanaka

Stem cell biologist; Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 2012

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

I was born in Osaka, Japan. It was 45 years ago. My father has a small factory in Osaka, and we lived next to his factory

Academy of Achievement interviewer, Academy of Achievement interview, 2008 source ↗

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Lee Child

First loved, then laid, then paid.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 June 2025 source ↗

Dominic West English actor

I wanted to race cars.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 December 2018 source ↗

Matt Goss English singer-songwriter

I wanted to be like Vidal Sassoon and wear the three-piece suit and be part of pop culture.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 12 March 2022 source ↗

Ian Rankin Scottish crime writer

In my teens, an accountant. In my 20s, either a rock star or a novelist.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 October 2020 source ↗

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Question How has a setback or failure set you up for later success? Failure & regret

Working at the hospital, I found that my surgical skills were not as good as I expected. One time it took me two hours to do a surgical operation which could have been completed in 30 minutes by other surgeons. My supervisors were very tough on new residents like me, and I lost confidence in my ability.

Recorded Laureate-written autobiography for Les Prix Nobel, Nobel Prize Outreach, 1 December 2012 source ↗

Question What is the biggest professional obstacle you have faced? Craft & work

my second failure in my career. But that second failure got me interested in knockout mice, mouse technology. So I think failure is important in my career

Recorded Academy of Achievement interviewer, Academy of Achievement interview, 2008 source ↗

Question Which book do you recommend most often to others, and what makes you pass it on? Taste & recommendation

A book also pushed me to become a medical doctor. I was deeply inspired by Torao Tokuda, a physician who founded a hospital group in the 1970s that tried to revolutionize the Japanese medical care system.

Recorded Laureate-written autobiography for Les Prix Nobel, Nobel Prize Outreach, 1 December 2012 source ↗

Question What is an unusual habit or small pleasure you are oddly fond of? Daily life

Well actually I was at home. I was doing some housework. So I was very surprised.

Recorded Adam Smith, Telephone interview recorded shortly after the prize announcement, October 2012, Nobel Prize Outreach, 1 October 2012 source ↗

Question What lesson has mattered most in your life? Time & hindsight

So I think failure is important in my career.

Recorded Academy of Achievement interviewer, Academy of Achievement interview, 2008 source ↗

Question What counsel would you give your twenty-year-old self — and what should they ignore? Time & hindsight

Well, I will bring this technology to clinics. I really want to help as many patients as possible. As you may know, I started my career as a surgeon 25 years ago. But it turned out that I am not talented as a surgeon

Recorded Adam Smith, Telephone interview recorded shortly after the prize announcement, October 2012, Nobel Prize Outreach, 1 October 2012 source ↗

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