"South Korea's scientific research strength is surpassing Japan's." Nikkei Chinese Network reported on the 6th that a 2022 survey of academic papers by research institutes affiliated with the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology showed that South Korea's world ranking in terms of quality surpassed Japan and ranked among the top 10. Previously, Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology released an English report stating that although Japan has one of the largest scientific research groups in the world, Japan's contribution to world-class research continues to decline.

Masanuki Igami, one of the authors of the report, said the survey results highlighted several areas that Japan can explore to improve its global status, "but Japan's current research environment is far from ideal and is unsustainable, and the research environment must be improved."


Less research funding and time

The "Japan Science and Technology Indicators 2023" report released by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology this year shows that Japan's total number of researchers ranks third in the world, second only to China and the United States. However, this team is not producing the same level of high-impact research as it was 20 years ago. Masanuki Igami explains: "The rest of the world has surpassed Japan in terms of output of high-quality research. The productivity of Japanese researchers has not declined, but the research environment in other countries has improved greatly over the past few decades."

From the perspective of academic research results, the report summarizes the ranking of the number of papers and the number of interesting papers. Looking at the average number of papers from 2019 to 2021, China ranks first (24.6%), followed by the United States (16.1%), India (4.0%), Germany (3.9%), and Japan ranks fifth (3.8%). In terms of highly cited papers (top 10% cited), China still ranks first (28.9%), the United States ranks second (19.2%), Japan ranks 13th (2.0%), and South Korea ranks 10th (2.2%). Looking back at the data from 1999 to 2001, Japan once ranked second in the number of papers (accounting for 8.8%), second only to the United States (27.5%).

"Part of the decline may be attributed to funding issues," Igami Masanuki said.According to relevant data, in the past 20 years, university research expenditures have increased by about 80% in the United States and Germany, 40% in France, 4 times in South Korea, and more than 10 times in China. In contrast, Japan's spending increased by only 10%.

Japan's "Asahi Shimbun" previously reported that Japan's research capabilities are declining, mainly due to the country's "select and concentrate" policy. Due to limited funds, Japan only concentrates investment in a few research fields, and budgets are often concentrated in a limited number of universities. It is especially difficult for researchers to obtain funding in the field of basic research.

However, Masanuki Igami believes that even if researchers receive adequate funding, producing high-impact research will still be challenging because Japanese researchers have so little time to devote to actual research. According to a 2020 analysis by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the proportion of time dedicated to research by Japanese university researchers fell from 47% to 33% between 2002 and 2018.

What is the strength of Japanese scientific research?

In fact, since Japan formulated the “5030” plan in 2001 (to produce 30 Nobel Prize winners within 50 years), 19 people have won the Nobel Prize. In the list of the 2023 "Citation Laureates" announced by the UK's Clarivate Analytics Institute (ISI) in September this year, two more winners are from Japan. Although Japanese scientists have repeatedly won awards, there are reports that the award selection has a certain lag and cannot reflect the true level of current scientific research.

Data from Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology show that the number of people receiving doctorates in Japan each year reached a peak of 17,860 in 2006 and has been hovering around 15,000 in recent years. Japan's "Asahi Shimbun" reported that Japan has set the goal of becoming a leader in science and technology, but if the brain drain of scientists accelerates, its ranking will only decline further.

So, how should we view Japan’s current scientific research strength?Lu Hao, director of the Comprehensive Strategy Office of the Institute of Japan, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview with a reporter from the Global Times on the 7th that the scientific research investment in countries such as South Korea is indeed growing faster, and the introduction and training scale of scientific research teams are also growing faster than Japan in recent years. However, considering that Japan has long been among the top countries in scientific research, the level of Japanese scientific research should not be measured solely from the perspective of current growth rate, but rather from the perspective of stock and stable increment. Japan has a training system that integrates industry, government and academia and supports each other. The model is relatively mature and the output capacity is stable. Generally speaking, Japan is not weak in terms of talent reserve and laboratory strength in scientific research. The total amount of capital investment in all aspects is still very large.

He said that judging from AI, semiconductor chips and other fields that are currently focused on development by all countries, Japan is at the same level as China, the United States, and Europe. Especially in the semiconductor chip industry, thanks to its strong basic research and development capabilities and the ability to transform basic disciplines into results, Japan's semiconductor chip materials have a very high market share and still have a certain influence.

Focus on key problems

David Pendleberry, head of Clarivate Analytics’ research and analysis department, believes that the number of papers and citations are not the only criteria for measuring scientific research capabilities. The scientific research soil that Japan has formed over the years can still nourish researchers.

Lu Hao believes that the problem with Japan's scientific research development is that there is a "ceiling" in the amount of investment. It often benchmarks itself against the proportion of scientific research funds and personnel in China and the United States. China and the United States are stronger than Japan in both aspects. However, in terms of qualitative or key investment areas, Japan intends to focus on research. In recent years, Japan has actively promoted a scientific and technological innovation strategy under the national economic security strategic system, emphasizing "strategic indispensability" and maintaining its dominant position in certain fields of international scientific research.

Currently, Japan is focusing on the development of theory and research and development in cutting-edge scientific fields such as AI big data, biological science, and quantum technology. It is strengthening cooperation with the United States in the field of high-process chips and strengthening joint research and development with European and American countries in the field of biological science.

In May this year, the Japanese government held an "AI Strategy Meeting" and stated that "it is important to cultivate basic research and development capabilities for generative AI in the country" and called for the improvement of a research environment suitable for top talents. Starting in 2024, Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology will begin to provide financial support to top talents engaged in the development of next-generation artificial intelligence.

Relevant sources from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology revealed that the country hopes to use high incentives to prevent brain drain. It is reported that the Japanese government has set a goal of cultivating 2,000 AI experts who can be active on the world stage by 2025, and tapping talents has become a top priority.