FUTURE DIRECTIVES IN LIFE SCIENCE RESEARCH IN JAPAN
KIYOSHI KUROKAWA
As one of leader countries in world economy and a member country of G7, Japan has assumed a major role in the second half of the 20th century in various fields of scientific disciplines. In addition, Japanese government has enacted a law in 1997 to allocate more budget in basic research in academic institutions to further advance basic research and technology, which will be vital to maintain the world leadership role of Japan in the next century. This will be of particular importance considering the scarcity of natural resources and the historical development of modern time Japan since the Meiji revolution in late 19 century. It is well recognized that life science research in Japan, as well as other science fields, has grown very rapidly in the last 20-30 years. This is reflected by the number of original research papers in highly acclaimed peer-reviewed journals. However, analyses of available data suggest that the outcome and the efficiency by which these research have been conducted may not be as effective when compared with other leader countries such as G7 and non G7 countries. Indeed, comparison of the citation of published papers per public money spent shows far greater figures for UK, USA, and Canada by a factor of 3-4 folds, than in other G7's. In addition, a relative citation index in each major scientific disciplines shows that the performance of Japan may not be as good as might be expected. These analyses and dissections for the underlying factors are of critical importance for the future implementation and modification of the life science research policy in Japan. I will analyze and discuss the structure of research in national and academic institutions in Japan as it relates to the historical and cultural characteristics of modern Japan to meet the future directives.