Multimedia Mania/abacus-multimedia-mania.iso/dp/0036/00366.txt

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$Unique_ID{bob00366}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Japan
Science and Technology}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{International Society for Educational Information, Inc.}
$Affiliation{Embassy of Japan, Washington DC}
$Subject{japan
research
technology
development
international
united
science
states
now
major}
$Date{1989}
$Log{}
Title:       Japan
Book:        The Japan of Today
Author:      International Society for Educational Information, Inc.
Affiliation: Embassy of Japan, Washington DC
Date:        1989

Science and Technology

Overview

     The history of modern science and technology in Japan dates back to the
latter part of the nineteenth century, when the newly opened country began
actively to study the knowledge that Europe had to offer. The Japan of that
period was poor in material resources, and the only way it could progress
socially and economically was through technological advances achieved by its
people-its only real resource.

     The essential dependence of Japan on technological progress is no
different today from a century ago. What has changed is Japan's place in the
international community, where it now ranks as one of the world's major
industrial countries. In view of its standing, Japan must promote research of
a sort that will contribute to the solution of problems that are global in
scale.

     This basic stance was formalized in the General Guideline for Science and
Technology Policy, which the Government approved in March 1986. The three
major planks of this program call for Japan to (1) conduct basic research and
other creative activity that will promote the advance of science and
technology in the future, (2) develop science and technology in ways that are
in harmony with the human beings and society that they are supposed to serve,
and (3) stress the international side of scientific endeavor in response to
the need for Japan to contribute to the rest of the world in this area.

Stages of development

     The 1987 White Paper on Science and Technology charts the course of
Japan's scientific and technological development in the period since World
War II in four 10-year periods. In the late 1940s and early 1950s the
emphasis was on rebuilding the war-ravaged structure of scientific endeavor
and acquiring technology from abroad. The following 10 years were a period of
consolidating the structure and moving toward independent research. The late
1060s and early 1970s featured projects of mammoth scale, along with a new
concern with the assessment of technology. And since the latter part of the
1970s, Japan has devoted much attention to the energy problem and has
stressed creativity in scientific work.

     Japan has now achieved a considerable degree of technological prowess,
particularly in the area of advanced technology. The country's scientific and
technological endeavors continue to be characterized by their almost
exclusive orientation toward civilian use and by the fact that they are funded
largely by the private sector.

R&D funding and personnel

     In fiscal 1955 (April 1955-March 1956) Japan's total spending on
research and development was (Yen)40 billion, or 0.84% of the country's gross
national product. This share of GNP was smaller than the figures for the
Federal Republic of Germany, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom,
and the United States, and the amount spent accounted for a mere 1% of the
total for these five countries plus Japan. By fiscal 1985, however, the
spending on R&D in Japan had reached (Yen)8.1 trillion, or 3.2% of GNP; the
amount accounted for 16% of the six-country total, and the share of GNP was
second only to that of the United States.

     The lion's share of R&D spending in Japan is by the private sector,
which accounts for 80% of the total. One recent feature is that businesses
are continuing to increase their R&D outlays even in periods of declining
sales. They are also actively undertaking basic research activities aimed at
increasing the high-technology content of their production.

     The number of researchers at work in Japan stood at 448,000 in 1985,
second only to the United States' 790,000. One difference from the other
major countries is the large share of engineering graduates, who make up
about half of the total number, and the relatively small share of those with
scientific degrees. In terms of the number of papers published in major
academic journals, the United States enjoys an overwhelming lead; Japan is
just now catching up with the Soviet Union and the major West European
countries. In the number of patents granted domestically, Japan ranks first;
in the number granted abroad it lies in third place behind the United States
and the Federal Republic of Germany. In its technology trade, meanwhile,
Japan has recorded a surplus on payments for new contracts since 1972, but
its overall balance, including payments under earlier agreements, is still
heavily in the red.

International cooperation

     Progress in science and technology and the increasingly large scale of
some research projects have made international cooperation indispensable in
a variety of fields. Examples include mammoth undertakings like fusion
research and space development; areas that require action on a global scale,
such as environmental protection; basic research designed to create new
intellectual property for all the people of the world; and other types of
science that deal with areas that are common issues for all humankind, like
the fight against diseases.

     Japan has entered into 19 agreements on scientific cooperation with 18
other countries and is also expanding its participation in multilateral
cooperative endeavors conducted regionally or through international
institutions. At the Venice summit in 1987 Japan proposed a "Human Frontier
Science Program" as a joint undertaking by the major industrial democracies.

     Within the country, efforts have been made to promote interchange
between Japanese and foreign scientists. In 1982 it became possible for public
universities to appoint non-Japanese as full-time instructors, and in 1986
the Law on the Promotion of Research Exchange came into effect, under which
foreign researchers could become members of the research staff of Japan's
civil service. The number of researchers coming to Japan from abroad has been
rising; in 1986 it reached 43,686, an 80% increase over five years before.
The number of Japanese researchers traveling abroad in the same year was
55,586, up 120% over 1981. Starting in 1986 the Japan Information Center of
Science and Technology began providing information on domestically published
research through a data base for foreign users, and the following year it set
up an international online network linking its data base with similar data
bases in the Federal Republic of Germany and the United States.

     Japan is also extending technological assistance to the developing
countries through its official development assistance programs, the provision
of equipment, the dispatch of experts from Japan, and the acceptance of
trainees.

Large-Scale Projects

     Japan is currently undertaking numerous large-scale technological
development projects, some of which are introduced below. Both private
industry and the research institutes of universities and the Government are
involved. While many of the projects are in areas that other countries are
also pursuing, some involve active cooperation between Japan and other
countries through exchanges of information and researchers.

Nuclear energy

     As of 1987 there were 35 commercial nuclear electric power reactors
operating in Japan, accounting for about 16% of the country's electricity
generation capacity and about 29% of the total electricity generated. The
current goal, based on the two major premises of assuring safety and
strengthening disaster-prevention systems for nuclear emergencies, is to
achieve a complete nuclear fuel cycle within the country. For this purpose
the private sector is now engaged in the construction of a large-scale
reprocessing plant and uranium enrichment facility.

     Japan started research on fast breeder reactors in 1968. In 1981 the
experimental reactor Joyo was constructed; test irradiation of fuels and
materials is now being carried out there. Construction of the prototype
reactor Monju was started in 1985 with a target schedule of bringing the
reactor to criticality in fiscal 1992.

     Research is also in progress in Japan on nuclear fusion. The main topic
at present is the attainment of an energy-breakeven plasma condition required
to create an experimental fusion reactor. In 1985 the JT-60 was built, a
Tokamak testing device on a par with the United States' Tokamak Fusion Test
Reactor and the European Community's Joint European Torus. In August 1987 the
JT-60 achieved the highest energy-breakeven condition ever reached in the
world at that time.

     In June 1987 the Atomic Energy Commission published the Long-Term
Program for Development and Utilization of Nuclear Energy. According to this
plan, the installed capacity of nuclear power plants is expected to hit 53
million kilowatts, corresponding to 40% of the country's total installed
electric generation capacity, in the year 2000, and to reach at least 100
million kilowatts, corresponding to 60% of the total, by 2030.

     Other areas in which the development of new energy sources is being
pursued include coal liquefaction and gasification, thermal power generation,
and solar batteries. Research also continues on energy-saving technology.

Space development

     Japan has already launched numerous satellites for various uses,
including weather forecasting, communications, broadcasting, and earth
observation. So far they have all been launched on rockets built using the
technology of the United States' Delta rockets. In August 1986, however,
Japan successfully launched an H-I rocket incorporating a second-stage engine
and inertial guidance system developed through its own technology. This rocket
carries a payload of 550 kilograms, and current plans call for it to be used
to launch seven working satellites by 1991.

     Work is now under way on the independent development of the H-II rocket,
with a 1992 target date for the first launch. Measuring 48 meters in height,
weighing 260 tons, and carrying a payload of 2,200 kilograms into
geostationary orbit, this rocket will rank with those of the Soviet Union,
the United States, and Western Europe. Japan has also started developing
manned space flight technology; it is preparing to work on its own space
shuttle, and it is also giving favorable consideration to the possibility of
becoming an active participant in a variety of international projects for
manned space development, such as the U.S.-led plans for a space station.

Aviation

     Japan's aviation technology has reached a level at which the country can
play a role on the international scene thanks to the expertise accumulated
through the development of the YS-11 and a number of other civilian transport
aircraft and its recent participation in the joint international design and
production of the Boeing 767 passenger jet. Current plans call for the joint
international development of the YXX, a civilian aircraft that is targeted to
start commercial flight in the early 1990s and will carry about 150
passengers. Japan is also working together with the Federal Republic of
Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States on the development
of the V2500 civilian jet engine.

     The Science and Technology Agency is pursuing research into short takeoff
and landing (STOL) technology and low-noise technology using Asuka, an
experimental STOL fanjet aircraft. Asuka's specifications represent a major
advance; with a length of 29.0 meters, a wingspan of 30.6 meters, and a weight
of 38.7 tons, the plane is designed to need a runway of no more than 900
meters. The plane completed its maiden flight successfully in 1985; in October
1987 it recorded a 509-meter takeoff, and in March 1988 it made a landing in
439 meters, less than half the length required by other jets of the same
size.

Marine development

     Major R&D projects now being conducted cover such areas as marine
biological resources, seawater and seabed resources, marine energy, the
utilization of space in the seas, and the protection of the marine
environment. Various types of marine research are being carried out with the
submarine Shinkai 2000, completed in 1981 and capable of withstanding depths
of up to 2,000 meters, Construction is in progress on the Shinkai 6500, a
three-person submarine made of titanium alloy and capable of diving as deep
as 6,500 meters, farther than the vessels currently operated by France and
the United States; it is scheduled to be completed in 1989.

Life sciences

     Active research is now under way in the life sciences with the aim of
clarifying the intricate working of all sorts of living things, and the
results are being applied in a variety of sectors, including health care,
environmental protection, farming and fishing, food processing, forestry, and
chemical manufacturing. In the area of genetic engineering, which is a topic
of special interest, a wide range of research is currently being carried out,
from basic biological investigation of the structure and functioning of
genes to such applied fields as the study of the causes of diseases like
cancer, the search for mass-production techniques for rare medical substances
like insulin and human growth hormones, the development of organisms for use
in industrial chemical and fermentation processes, and the raising of new
strains of crops and farm animals.

Superconductivity

     Superconductivity refers to the ability of some metals and other
substances to conduct electricity with no resistance when cooled below a
certain temperature. This phenomenon was originally observed in 1971 at 4K, or
4 degrees above absolute zero ( - 273 degrees Celsius). The process of finding
materials that would act as superconductors at higher temperatures progressed
slowly; the 23K level reached in 1973 was not bettered for over a decade. But
in January 1986 two researchers at an International Business Machines Corp.
institute in Zurich, K. Alex Muller and J. Georg Bednorz, found a substance
that exhibited superconductivity at 30K. Within the year a group led by
Professor Tanaka Shoji of the University of Tokyo's engineering department
confirmed the IBM findings using the same substance. This was followed by a
competitive rush by researchers around the world to achieve superconductivity
at even higher temperatures.

Looking to the future

     If materials could be developed that exhibit superconductivity at normal
temperature ranges, the potential applications would be enormous. Great
advances would become possible in electric power transmission, energy storage,
magnetic levitation transport, nuclear fusion, and Josephson computers, among
other areas. Japan, which played a part in setting off the rush to find
high-temperature superconductors, continues to be actively involved both in
the search for such materials and in research into their application and
production.

Maglev trains

     The Railway Technical Research Institute, which was spun off from the
old Japanese National Railways when the latter was privatized in 1987, is
continuing the work on superconductive magnetic levitation transport begun
by the JNR; it is now conducting repeated test runs of a maglev train on an
experimental track in Miyazaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu with the
aim of creating a system capable of practical operation. A speed of 517
kilometers per hour was reached in a non-passenger carrying run in 1979; in
1987 the train carried people in a levitated run that clocked 400 kilometers
per hour. The experimental train uses niobium-titanium alloy as the
superconductor in its linear motor and liquid helium as the coolant. The
problem with this helium, however, is that it is very expensive. If it becomes
possible to achieve the superconductivity desired at a temperature at least
that of liquid nitrogen, the cost will be cut by a factor of over 100.

Optical fiber communications network

     Japan is now working toward the creation of an information network system
that will integrate communications satellites, computers, and terminals of all
sorts and will feature a nationwide grid of optical fibers. These optical
fiber circuits are being put in place by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp.
and at present are being used for telephone links between key points; the
future plan is to put all sorts of information, including text, voice, and
image transmissions, into digital form and carry them over these circuits.
After the network is completed, mainframe and personal computers, word
processors, telephones, facsimile machines, and other sorts of equipment will
all be able to serve as network terminals in offices and homes; this will
make possible a wide variety of information exchange.

High-definition television

     The high-definition television system developed by Japan Broadcasting
Corporation (NHK) was demonstrated at Japan's Tsukuba Expo '85. This system,
popularly known as Hi-Vision, divides the screen horizontally into 1,125
lines, more than twice the number of the present Japanese standard of 525,
producing a picture of great clarity. The system also provides for a screen
width about 30% larger than that of the existing standards, adding to the
impact of the visual image. Regular Hi-Vision broadcasting is scheduled to
start with a broadcast satellite to be launched in 1990.

Fifth-generation computers

     In 1982 the Institute for New Generation Computer Technology (ICOT) was
set up to undertake a 10-year project to develop a new-generation computer
based on principles completely different from those of computers to date. The
aim is to create a machine whose functions imitate those of the human eye,
ear,and mouth and which solves problems with a thought process resembling
that of human beings. Applications under consideration include machine
translation and expert systems. This project is being conducted on the basis
of international cooperation, with many foreign researchers participating, and
the results are being shared with researchers around the world.