Isamu Akasaki (赤﨑 勇, Akasaki Isamu, born January 30, 1929) is a Japanese scientist, specializing in the field of semiconductor technology and Nobel Prize laureate, best known for inventing the bright gallium nitride (GaN) p-n junction blue LED in 1989 and subsequently the high-brightness GaN blue LED as well.For this and other achievements Isamu Akasaki was awarded the Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology in 2009 and the IEEE Edison Medal in 2011.