NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
TOKYO REGIONAL OFFICE
May 28, 2003
The National Science Foundation's Tokyo Regional Office periodically reports on developments in Japan that are related to the Foundation's mission. It also provides occasional reports on developments in other East Asian countries.
Tokyo Office Report Memoranda are intended to provide information for the use of NSF program officers and policy makers; they are not statements of NSF policy.
Report Memorandum #03-05
2002 Survey on Research and Development in Japan:
Slight Increase in Expenditures from the Previous Year
In March 2003 the Statistics Bureau of Japan's Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications published a report on research and development (R&D) in Japan based on its survey conducted starting on March 31, 2002. The following is a summary translation of the overview of the survey results and was prepared by Ms. Kazuko Shinohara of the National Science Foundation's Tokyo Regional Office. She can be reached at kshinoha@nsf.gov
Based on the Japanese Statistics Law, the survey on research and development (R&D) expenditures and related data has been conducted by the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications every year ever since 1953 for the purpose of obtaining basic information needed for promoting science and technology in Japan. The outline of the questionnaire for the survey conducted starting on March 31, 2002 was as follows:
1. Organizations to which the questionnaire was sent and return ratio:
About 13,000 companies which have more than Yen 10 million (ca. $83,000) in capital and involved in R&D activities, including a small number of independent administrative organizations and special corporations: Return ratio was about 83 percent.
About 1,500 national, public, and non-profit research organizations: Return ratio was about 99 percent.
About 3,000 universities and inter-university research institutions, and technical colleges: Return ratio was 100 percent.
2. Items on the questionnaire:
2-1. Capital, sales, and profits
2-2. Total expenditures
2-3. Total number of employees
2-4. Type of university
2-5. Research field
2-6. Number of researchers
2-7. Number of employees by expertise
2-8. Number of Ph.D. holders
2-9. Breakdown of researchers
2-10. Recruitment/Transfer of researchers
2-11. In-house expenditures
2-12. Depreciation of concrete fixed assets
2-13. Research expenditures by type of research
2-14: Research expenditures by product/service
2-15. Research expenditures by the government-set "priority" areas
2-16. Research expenditures received from outside
2-17. Research expenditures paid outside
2-18. Nationality of the counter companies for international technology exchange
and the amount of transaction
3. Date/Period of the statistical data:
The number of researchers: As of March 31, 2002
Research expenditures: One year retroactive from the most recent account closing
date before March 31, 2002
SUMMARY OVERVIEW of the Survey Result
I. R&D Expenditures
The total R&D expenditures for JFY2001 in Japan were Yen 16,528 billion (ca. $138 billion), a 1.5 percent increase from the previous year.
The ratio of R&D expenditures against GDP was 3.29 percent, an increase of 0.13 percent from the previous year. These R&D expenditures were the largest in history.
The breakdown of R&D expenditures by performing organizations were: Yen 11,451 billion (ca. $95 billion) by companies, 69.3 percent of the total expenditures; Yen 1,843.6 billion (ca. $15 billion) by research institutions, 11.2 percent; and Yen 3,233.4 billion (ca. $27 billion) by universities, 19.6 percent.
The sources of the R&D expenditures were Yen 12,986.1 billion (ca. $108 billion) from private sector, 78.6 percent of the total expenditure and an increase from the previous year by 2.4 percent, and Yen 3,476.9 (ca. $28.97) from the central and local governments and non-profit organizations, 21 percent of the total expenditure and a decrease from the previous year by 1.8 percent.
The character of R&D expenditures for natural science were Yen 2,203.7 billion (ca. $18 billion) for basic research, a 0.1 percent decrease from the previous year; Yen 3,525.8 billion (ca. $29 billion) for applied research, a 1.7 percent decrease from the previous year; Yen 9,359.6 billion (ca. $78 billion) for development research, a 1.8 percent increase from the previous year.
Industrial R&D expenditures were dominated by manufacturing industries in an amount of Yen 9,884.9 billion (ca. $82 billion), 86.3 percent of the total industry R&D expenditures and a 0.7 percent increase from the previous year.
II. Number of Research-related People
As of March 31, 2002, the number of researchers involved in R&D activities was 756,300, a 0.7 percent increase from the previous year.
Of the total number of researchers, the number of women researchers comprised 10.7 percent, a 0.2 percent decrease from the previous year when the number was the record highest.
The total number of people involved in R&D activities was 972,500, a decrease from the previous year by 2.8 percent, which marked the third consecutive annual decrease.
III. Technology Trade
The income from technology exports was Yen 1,246.8 billion (ca. $10 billion), a 17.9 percent increase from the previous year. Payments for technology import were Yen 548.4 billion (ca. $4.6 billion), a 23.7 percent increase from the previous year. As a result, the technology trade balance (the ratio of income against payment) was 2.27, a decrease by 0.12 from the previous year.
The biggest partner of technology trade was the United States as in the previous year. The technology import from the United States dominated 70 percent of the total technology import, and technology export to the United States was 50 percent of the total technology export.