NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
TOKYO REGIONAL OFFICE

April 25, 2005

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 #05-03

The following report was prepared by Ms. Kazuko Shinohara of the National Science Foundation’s Tokyo Regional Office. She can be reached at kshinoha@nsf.gov

A questionnaire was sent to about 13,000 companies which have more than Yen 10 million (ca. $94,340) in capital and are involved in R&D activities, including a small number of independent administrative organizations and special corporations. Return ratio was about 82 percent.

About 1,500 national, public, and non-profit research organizations were also queried. Return ratio was about 99 percent.

In addition, about 3,000 universities and inter-university research institutions, and technical colleges were also queried. Return ratio was 100 percent.

Number of researchers: As of March 31, 2004
Research expenditures: One year retroactive from the most recent account closing date before March 31, 2003

The total R&D expenditures for JFY2003 in Japan were Yen 16,804.2 billion (ca. $159 billion), a 0.8 percent increase from the previous year, and a consecutive increase in the past four years.

Of the above amount, the R&D expenditures for natural sciences were Yen 15,492.8 billion (ca. $146), a 1.0 percent increase from the previous year.

The ratio of R&D expenditures against GDP was 3.35 percent, the same percentage as in the previous year. This rate was the highest in history.

The breakdown of R&D expenditures by performing organization was: Yen 11,758.9 billion (ca. $111 billion) by companies, 70.0 percent of the total expenditures; Yen 1,782.1 billion (ca. $17 billion) by non-profit research institutions, 10.6 percent; and Yen 3,263.1 billion (ca. 31 billion) by universities, 19.4 percent.

Table-4: R&D Expenditures by Performing Organization
(Unit: Billion Yen)

The sources of the R&D expenditures were Yen 13, 363.3 billion (ca. $126 billion) from private sector, 79.5 percent of the total expenditure and an increase from the previous year by 1.5 percent, and Yen 3,394.3 billion (ca. $32 billion) from the central and local governments and non-profit organizations, 20.2 percent of the total expenditure and a decrease from the previous year by 1.7 percent.

Table-5: Sources of R&D Expenditures
(Unit: Yen Billion)

Breakdown of R&D expenditures for natural sciences by basic research, applied research, and developmental research is Yen 2, 316.9 billion (ca. $22 billion) (15 percent), Yen 3,567.9 billion (ca. $34 billion) (23.0 percent), and Yen 9,607.9 billion (ca. $91 billion) (62.0 percent), respectively. Basic research expenditures increased by 0.8 percent, applied research expenditures increased by 1.8 percent, and developmental research expenditures increased by 0.7 percent, from the previous year.

Table-6: R&D Expenditures for Natural Sciences by Nature of Research
(Unit: Yen Billion)

If the R&D expenditures are viewed by specific purpose, Yen 2,071.1 billion (ca. 19.6 billion) (12.4 percent) was spent for Life Science, Yen 2,492.1 billion (ca. $23.5 billion) (14.8 percent) for Information Technology, Yen 768.2 billion (ca. $7.2 billion) (4.6 percent) for Environment, Yen 445.9 billion (ca. $4.2 billion) (2.7 percent) for Materials, Yen 136.9 billion (ca. $1.3 billion) (0.8 percent) for Nanotechnology, Yen 850.0 billion (ca. $8.0 billion) (5.1 percent) for Energy, Yen 153.0 billion (ca. $1.4 billion) (0.9 percent) for Space Development, and Yen 91.1 billion (ca. $0.9 billion) (0.5 percent) for Ocean Development. The expenditures for Nanotechnology field showed the highest increase from the previous year by 55.1 percent, followed by 38.6 percent for Materials field. Space Development and Ocean Development fields showed decrease from the previous year by 42.9 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively.

The number of personnel involved in R&D as of March 31, 2004 was 994,300, an increase by 2.7 percent from the previous year and an increase in five years after the previous increase. If it is viewed by the type of work, the number of researchers was 787,300 (4.0 percent increase from the previous year), the number of research assistants was 67,400 (0.5 percent increase from the previous year), technicians 62,500 (4.1 percent decrease from the previous year), and research administrators or other research-related workers 77,200 (1.7 percent decrease from the previous year).

Table-7: R&D Personnel
(Based on work hours: two half-day workers make one)
(Unit: Person)

If the number of R&D personnel is viewed by gender, 702,600 were male and 88,700 were female.

Table-8: R&D Personnel by Gender
(Counted by head)
(Unit: Person)

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