THE Japanese miracle is over, and Japan must change direction, says the country鈥檚 latest White Paper on Science and Technology, published this week. After half a century of trying to 鈥渃atch up鈥� with Western technology, the policy has become outdated and should be revised, it says.
鈥淛apan鈥檚 economy is now faced with a maturing of her industry, the catching-up by developing and other nations, and intense competition from other industrialised nations,鈥� says the paper. But it adds that Japan has not yet moved into the development and production of high-value-added products such as software and telecommunications. The White Paper calls for 鈥渁 reassessment of the various systems that were effective in promoting science and technology when Japan was still busy catching up with advanced countries鈥�.
The document is largely an overview of the past 50 years, and a look at the future direction of Japanese scientific research. 鈥淯p until now, Japan depended on the technology of foreign know-how,鈥� says Ryuji Shimoda, director of the Research Division at Japan鈥檚 Science and Technology Policy Bureau. 鈥淏ut when we can鈥檛 look outside for this know-how, we need to look inside ourselves.鈥�
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Plans to generate more original research are hampered by young people鈥檚 lack of interest in science and a lack of creativity in researchers. To solve these problems, the paper calls for more flexible research structures, more mobility for researchers 鈥� who traditionally stay in one institution for their whole career 鈥� and the encouragement of more creative thinking.
The paper says there should be a shift in the direction of research away from manufacturing and into the service sector. In a survey carried out in March, the Science and Technology Agency found that health and medicine were most often listed as the most important areas for future research.
Shimoda says this reflects the ageing of Japanese society, for which health is a major concern. 鈥淲ith an increasingly ageing population, science and technology needs to play a role in solving these issues.鈥�
The White Paper also points out that many people have lost confidence in technology, following the failure of modern buildings during the Kobe earthquake in January and the nerve gas attack on the Tokyo underground in March. 鈥淭he Japanese public is less inclined than those in the West to trust in and view positively scientific and technological progress,鈥� it says.