Japan struggling to keep ahead in digital era research

Japan is to boost research funding for artificial intelligence and automation technologies this year as it struggles to maintain its global scientific research competitiveness. Though still a leading research nation, experts say bold reform measures and fresh policies are needed if Japan is to keep pace as China has emerged as a strong presence in Asia in recent years.

After a decline of more than 5% since 2012 in the government’s science and technology budget, Japan’s Council for Science, Technology and Innovation in January announced a 7% hike in research funding to JP¥3.84 trillion (US$36 billion) for 2018, compared with the previous year.

The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is also heavily pushing artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics amid a labour shortage and an ageing population.

According to a tally by Japan’s Kyodo News, AI-related spending totals JP¥77.04 billion (US$723 million) in the budget for fiscal 2018, which begins 1 April. The news agency notes that while spending in this sector will go up 30% compared to the previous year, it is far short of the huge amounts being invested in research and development in AI by the United States and China – the latter has announced around five times that figure in various AI programmes, to become a leading AI nation by 2030.

“China is extending bigger funds, investment, and has a larger market for scientific research in comparison to Japan that is now grappling with a downhill situation,” said Eiichi Yamaguchi, professor at the Graduate School of Advanced Integrated Studies in Human Survivability, Kyoto University.

Some believe it is not just a matter of staying ahead in cutting-edge science. An editorial in the Japan Times newspaper this month noted that with AI being one of the critical features of the digital economy “assuming a role akin to electricity in the industrial revolution”, so “mastery of AI and leadership in the field could determine the future economic and military balance of power”.

Countries in Asia such as South Korea, Singapore and China, as well as India, are setting longer-term strategic objectives for research and development related to the digital economy, including AI.

And while Japan’s universities are seen as among the most innovative in Asia, scientists worry Japan’s long decline since 2000 will continue to have a negative impact on scientific performance, and not just in AI.

Drop in publishing

Japan’s share of science research published in high-quality international journals dropped by 6% between 2012 and 2016, according to figures from Nature Index published last year. Research output fell both in absolute terms as well as in comparison to other leading science nations.

For example, China’s growth in the number of scientific papers published internationally is double that of Japan – 28% between 2012 and 2016 compared to a 14% increase for Japan, according to a report in science journal Nature in March last year, which notes that Japan’s lead slowed in particular in computer science and materials science – fields directly linked to innovation in industry.

China’s science and technology budget was the equivalent of JP¥19 trillion (US$178 billion) – a tenfold increase since 2000 at a time when Japanese research funding has stagnated, and even dropped. Citing economic constraints, the government also slashed the operational budgets of national universities by 1% annually between 2004 and 2014.

Researcher instability

Another pressing issue, say scientists, is the instability faced by young PhD science students in terms of funding and employment.

“Doctoral graduates are discouraged from pursuing research as it is not recognised by big companies as an important contributor to corporate business. Lack of stable jobs and low funding for laboratories has forced many talented people to simply give up or leave Japan in search of better prospects,” explained Ryugo Hayano, who recently retired as a professor of physics at the University of Tokyo.

Hayano points out that by contrast China is eagerly trying to attract back its young researchers who have graduated from universities in the United States, offering high salaries and generous funding.

The Japanese government wants leading research institutions to compete globally for the best students and faculty. But according to Hayano: “Japanese language documentation and a small international faculty are obstacles to expanding our foreign student body.”

China’s top students, for example, prefer to study in the US rather than Japan.

Japan also struggles to attract foreign students into scientific research due to poorer funding prospects despite new ventures such as the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Science, which also promotes exchanges with Peking University in Beijing.

In a bid to boost private sector funding opportunities for research development in universities and among scientists in Japan and abroad, the ministry of education in 2011 launched a subsidy programme called Leading Graduate Schools. Selection, however, hovers at around 15 projects annually, from a pool of around 100 entries.

This slow impact, according to Hayano illustrates the difficulty of encouraging “healthy competition”, a concept not nurtured in Japan. Full-time jobs in established companies or academia are preferable to research projects that involve short-term risk.

Poorer job prospects

And students who want research careers are finding it more difficult to get jobs as budget cuts have reduced permanent research positions at universities.

“In the United States, good researchers can always find new jobs in the private sector, which is not the situation in Japan. Companies here prefer undergraduates who can be trained in the company,” said Hayano.

Kyoto University’s Yamaguchi calls for changes that include not only boosting funding but also key managerial action.

For example, he points out in his book Science of Innovation Policy, that Japan’s Small Business Innovation Research Centre has just 7% of its members holding a PhD compared to over 75% in the US equivalents.

Yamaguchi, who has started several venture capital funds to develop new technologies, says survival is tough. His company, POWDEC, a collaboration with business, has developed low-cost energy devices based on GaN semiconductor technology.

“If I were in the United States which appreciates innovation, this company would be far more successful. In Japan, the power wielded by big companies leaves little room for the rise of new enterprises,” he explained.