Despite a wobbly economy, Japan appears likely to top an ambitious goal to spend 17 trillion yen (U.S. $166 billion) on science and technology over 5 years. But Japanese officials aren't resting on their laurels: They are already working on a new 5-year plan that will address some of the problems created by expanding the country's scientific infrastructure.
The 17-trillion goal flowed from a 1995 law intended to boost the nation's publicly funded research efforts. This week the Diet is expected to approve yet another supplemental spending package, bringing total spending for 1996 to 1999 to 13.9 trillion yen. Officials are also putting the finishing touches on an R&D science-related budget for 2000 of 3.5 trillion yen that would boost the 5-year total to about 17.4 trillion yen.
"A lot of good things have come out of this [spending]," including a dramatic expansion of competitive grant programs and the introduction of postdoctoral positions and other schemes to boost the careers of young scientists, says Hiroyuki Yoshikawa, president of the Science Council of Japan, the nation's most influential scientific group. "But new problems have emerged," he adds, noting that there is insufficient lab space and a dearth of positions for those completing postdoctoral fellowships. Yoshikawa says he hopes to address both issues in the next 5-year plan, which begins 1 April 2001.
